Fax Is Dead Redux?or E-mail is Dead?
Here's what you receive, via fax, from Smith Barney if you send them an e-mail with anything important in it:
Reminder: E-mail sent through the Internet is not secure. Do not use e-mail to send us confidential information such as credit-card numbers, changes of address, PIN numbers, passwords, or other important information. Do not e-mail orders to buy or sell securities, transfer funds, or send time-sensitive instructions. We will not accept such orders or instructions. Your e-mail message is not private in that it is subject to review by the firm, its officers, agents, and employees.
Voice, fax, and written hardcopy are accepted.
Neither fax nor e-mail is totally dead. And, contrary to many predictions, for business applications, fax is very much alive and well.
GIF, a security and messaging software company, reported in a press release, "A recent Gallup/Pitney Bowes poll of Fortune 500 companies conducted in the US discovered that faxing is still the number-one method of sending and receiving international documents that must be executed, at an average cost of US $15-million per year. Although e-mail is still the most common form of business communication, until the digital signature is deemed as a legal entity, many industries are still reliant on faxing."
When you consider all the steps involved, the time it takes to send a fax manually is very costly for companies. By using computer-based fax, employees can streamline the faxing process by managing the entire chain of communication from their desktop, reducing the time to send a fax from 10 minutes to just seconds.
Now, consider e-mail: According to John C. Dvorak, a contributing editor of PC Magazine, "Business e-mail still seems to be flourishing, but personal e-mail appears to be on the decline. I have noticed that my e-mail in-box, once the spam is removed, contains fewer messages than it did a few years ago."
For business applications, e-mail remains a valuable tool. It is no less important than the telephone, the computer, or the fax media server.
To move to IP-based fax, we trust your choice will be Commetrex' BladeWare Fax Media Server. To learn more about BladeWare contact Alex Adams atAAdams@Commetrex.com.
Here Comes Web 2.0!
News Flash
Mountain View, CA November 17, 2011 - Google, Inc. announced today that it has reached agreement with AT&T to acquire all of the outstanding stock of the telecom operator. The all-cash transaction requires the approval of the shareholders of AT&T, but it is widely assumed that the offer will be enthusiastically accepted since the teleco's fortunes have been sinking as the Web 2.0 phenomenon has swamped the sluggish telcom sector.
Outrageous prediction, or is it a picture of things to come? You decide.
In has latest CEO Letter, Mike Coffee, Commetrex' CEO says, "Just when we thought we had today's technology framework figured out, here comes the Web 2.0 crowd to make things complicated." When, where, and how much will the Web 2.0 phenomenon affect telephony? At this point, no one can say. However, you can see some of it happening today as AOL, Google, Skype, and Yahoo add telecom features, showing an utter disregard for telephony tradition in the process. And new IP-PBX offerings are beginning to sport Web 2.0 features.
For the full story, read Mike Coffee's latest CEO Letter here. And remember, you heard it from Commetrex first.
V.34 Fax Modem Update
You may be aware that Commetrex has been developing a V.34 fax modem, and what a bear it is. For example, even before the image-transfer phase of a V.34 session begins, FSK, PSK, and QAM modems must execute. And then the fun really begins. V.34 is a beast, and our hats are off to the handful of organizations that have developed it themselves. This includes Commetrex, as we've now shipped an early version to our first V.34 customer.
We will add our V.34 fax modem to our licensed-media-technology product line. It will become a part of our OTF fax resource controller, which means it will be available to users of our MSP-H8 1-8-line analog PCI board and BladeWare's Multi-Modal Terminating Fax. Then, it will be integrated into the MSP-640 PCI board, which supports 120 V.34 fax receivers (the most MIPS intensive of the fax modems).
As licensed technology, the V.34 fax modem will be released in March 2007. The BladeWare and MSP-H8 version will be released in Q2, and the MSP-640 board will have it in 2H07.
Want to learn more? Please contact Tom Ray at tray@commetrex.com or 770-449-7775 X340.
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Save Big Bucks on Fax Infrastructure
The largest fax service providers have each invested several millions
of dollars in their national-footprint infrastructure. That's what it took
to purchase, install, and maintain TDM-fax termination servers comprised
of expensive multi-line fax boards. But that level of investment is no
longer required.
For the last two years, Commetrex has heralded the economic disruption
possible by combining its BladeWare fax media server with the services
of IP carriers capable and willing to write a T.38 service agreement. When
we began beating this drum, we were slightly ahead of the curve since
the carriers weren't quite there, but now that's changing. Some carriers
with older gateways that don't support T.38 fax relay are either upgrading
their software or changing out their gateway altogether. Either way, if you
are interested in going to market with a national-footprint fax service, your
required investment is relatively small compared with what it used to be.
Here's all you have to do: Call Commetrex, and we'll work with you to
resolve the questions below.
First, characterize your network usage. This means answers to the
following questions:
- Are you inbound, outbound, or both?
- If inbound, how many 10-digit numbers do you need?
- How many "call channels" or simultaneous sessions do you need to provide the class of service you plan to offer?
- How many minutes per month are you willing to guarantee to the IP carrier?
- What bandwidth connection do you need?
Now, go find a carrier. Consult with Commetrex to see whether we
have any experience with that carrier. Some happen to use gateways
that incorporate our T.38 technology, while, with others we have
performed interop testing.
At the same time, you should install your BladeWare system in-
house and run one of your applications or one of Commetrex'
ready-for-deployment applications. You will want to know the
following:
- The functional description of your required application.
- Linux or Win32?
- Number of ports, which should be the same as number three, above.
- Do you need to support just T.38, or both T.38 and G.711 pass-through fax?
Now, we need to validate the entire solution. Sometimes,
both you and your carrier are learning together, especially if
the carrier has only recently added support for T.38. For example,
if the gateway supports call-specific UDP redundancy settings,
what is the default? If it's less than three, can it be increased to
three?
Interested? Call Randy Salvo at 770-449-7775 X390 or e-mail him
at RSalvo@commetrex.com.
Commetrex Names CMO...BladeWare Sales Targeted
Tom Ray, former Vocalocity and VoiceGenie executive, has
joined Commetrex as Executive Vice President of Sales and
Marketing. As Commetrex' chief marketing executive, Tom's
responsibilities are comprehensive, but his background in the
media-server market is particularly strong, and should provide
a strong boost to Commetrex' burgeoning BladeWare marketing
effort.
Tom has 20 years of marketing expertise and a track record
of driving revenue growth in Commetrex' key markets. In addition
to his extensive knowledge of the voice industry, he has a keen
understanding of the unique requirements facing the Commetrex'
platform and solution-provider customers.
Tom has also held management positions at Fortune 500 firms,
including Nortel Networks, IBM, Sony, and Proctor & Gamble.
In his most recent role as Senior Vice President, Sales & Business
Development for Vocalocity, he led the sales activities for the
company's VoiceXML-based product suite.
Mike Coffee, Commetrex' CEO, commented in a recent press release:
"We are extremely fortunate to have Tom join our management team.
He has repeatedly proven his ability to build and execute aggressive
strategies and programs for sales growth. His wealth of experience
in the media-server market, especially in the VoiceXML/media server
resource control segment, adds an important dimension to our
leadership portfolio. We expect BladeWare sales to quickly
accelerate as a result of his efforts."
Tom's contact information is TRay@commetrex.com or
770-449-7775 X340. For the full press release click here.
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