To acquire the Zurich based software company that develops communications applications based on VoIP technology.

Microsoft Corp. yesterday announced that it has agreed to acquire media-streams.com AG, a software company based in Zurich, Switzerland, that develops communications applications based on voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology.

Microsoft plans to apply media-streams.com's technology, people and intellectual property to accelerate the delivery of its unified communications vision, bringing together various modes of communication including email, instant messaging, short message service, voice/telephony, audio, video and web conferencing.

"We are in lock-step with Microsoft's vision of bringing voice and data collaboration together, and we have built our business around delivering enhanced real-time communications for enterprise and small to midsize customers," said Erich Gebhardt, CEO of media-streams.com, a subsidiary of Microsoft. "We're excited to join Microsoft's Real-Time Collaboration Group and focus our technologies and people on delivering Microsoft's vision for unified communications to dramatically improve collaboration."

"Integrating voice communications with the rich collaboration capabilities of the Microsoft Office System will enable exciting new collaboration scenarios that will improve individual and team collaboration," said Anoop Gupta, Corporate Vice President of the Real-Time Collaboration Group at Microsoft. "media-streams.com's VoIP technology will become available as part of the Real-Time Collaboration platform from Microsoft, significantly enhancing the value delivered to customers and opportunities for partners. The acquisition accelerates our ability to deliver on our vision of unified communications," he added.