Microsoft Echoes: No phone number required

Microsoft’s grand plan to eliminate phone numbers by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley -- I've been puzzling over transcripts of a couple of recent speeches by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates where he discussed his vision for the end of phone numbers. But it wasn't until today, when I learned more about Microsoft's "Echoes" services platform for telcos that I began piecing together how Gates & Co. thinks Microsoft can do this.