MCI Inc. on Wednesday said it is working with Microsoft Corp. in co-developing Internet-based technologies, including an upgrade of MCI's web conferencing service that will be powered by the latest Microsoft Office Live Meeting software.

Under the terms of the companies' strategic relationship, the telecommunications company is combining its network services with Microsoft applications.

"Together, MCI and Microsoft are making converged applications a reality for our customers," Nancy Gofus, senior vice president of MCI product management, said in a statement.

The MCI Net Conferencing service, in combination with Microsoft software, allows for voice, video and document sharing. The service lets co-workers and business partners communicate via email, phone, web conferencing or instant messaging through a secure web portal and Internet transport.

Using Microsoft's 2005 release of Live Meeting, MCI plans to integrate web and audio conferencing capabilities, so users can better manage their audio needs in a web-based environment, company officials said.