Ryan are you sure this information is correct?
That is not my understanding at all abotu requiring additional hardware etc. Are you sure it doesn't integrate into Sametime?
Sametime Unified Telephony provides new unified communications capabilities to Sametime users. This will include: click-to-call/click-to-conference, aggregated IM/phone presence, embedded SIP sofphone, and rich incoming call management (find-me/follow-me) -- all across heterogeneous PBX environments.
SUT will require a separate license that will prereq a Sametime Standard or Advanced license. SUT middleware will be deployed on specific telephony-grade hardware, providing "five 9s" of availability required in the telephony world.
IBM Lotus Sametime Unified Telephony is going to be a separate product offering in that it will consist of its own back end server environment. This environment is made up of an entire PBX phone system to provide full VOIP.
The official release dates have not yet been set, but plans should still be to release in 2008.
There will be no upgrade path from Sametime Advanced since SUT will consist of certain required hardware, and must stand alone separate from any existing Sametime or Sametime Advanced servers.
Hope that helps a bit!
Ryan
Mr. Ryan, your comment has been very useful. It is important to know that it is a separate product and there isn't a path to upgrade from other versions. Regards, Albert Buendia.