With so much emphasis on Unified Communications (News - Alert) these days, communications solutions vendors are continually introducing new products and applications that will allow users to place calls, manage emails, and listen and respond to voice mails from anywhere — and on any device. 

 

But one aspect of Unified Communications that has fallen by the wayside in many instances is fax. Indeed, there are many businesses that still rely on faxing in their daily work, especially for those that require a legally binding document, which a fax is considered.

 

To address their needs, Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) and Sagem Communications have partnered to embed Sagem-Interstar’s XMediusFAX into OmniTouch UC, Alcatel-Lucent’s Unified Communications suite. The effort is directed specifically at those businesses that need to integrate fax capabilities into their IP Communications environment.

 

With the new solution, users are able to send and receive faxes directly through their email client, making them not only easier to send and receive, but also to track and store, just like their normal emails.

 

XMediusFAX uses standard T.38 FoIP (Fax over IP) technology that is both secure and reliable, and allows fax communication over IP networks. By integrating it with OmniTouch UC, it now becomes just another means of communication, and becomes optimized for use with other fax, email, voice, calendar, IM, and collaboration features as part of a Unified Communications solution.

 

Also, because it is an IP-based solution that is integrated into the communications platform, it saves considerable time, increasing productivity, including creating a streamlined method for broadcast faxing. In addition, it also creates an effective way to keep an audit trail, as with other means of electronic communication, ensuring compliance with regulatory and corporate policies.

 

Of course, the solution also saves costs, eliminating the needs for fax equipment and supplies, as well as dedicated analog lines for the faxes.

 

“Sagem-Interstar’s (News - Alert) FoIP platform is a simple and elegant solution that is easily customizable for OEM integrations on platforms such as Windows and Linux,” said Patrick Sevian, CEO, Sagem Communications.

 

Above simply providing an effective, IP-based fax solution that is integrated into the overall communications platform, the solution also underscores the collaboration that is driven by today’s Unified Communications market. Rather than reinvent the wheel — or the fax, in this case — companies like Alcatel-Lucent are partnering with other communications specialists to develop a complete, UC offering.

 

“At Alcatel-Lucent, we believe building the right relationships and joint solutions to support our customers goals is critical in today’s market,” said Tom Burns, President of the Alcatel-Lucent’s Enterprise activities. “With Sagem, we are bringing our customers the first IP Telephony offer with a fully integrated Fax over IP and multimedia solution as part of our OmniTouch Unified Communication suite.”

 

The new all-in-one solution not only incorporates fax into the IP solution, but it also generates a greater ROI on customers’ Unified Communications solutions.