January 1998

BY JOHN NEUSTADT AND JOE BORICHEWSKI

The challenge of managing the constant flow of information in our work lives can leave us feeling overwhelmed and stressed, not to mention making us inefficient and decreasing our ability to deliver quality customer service. Telephone data (such as voice mail and fax) and computer data (such as e-mail) have traditionally been dealt with separately, preventing integrated management and creating problems from inefficient message processing.

Over the past decade, however, software developers have been working on technology that integrates telephones and computer systems in a way that gives users better control over their communications environment, in effect putting many different eggs (messages) into a unified basket (a single inbox). One result of their efforts is unified messaging. Unified messaging lets people administer voice, fax, and, in some cases, e-mail messages from one desktop PC screen with a single graphical user interface (GUI). After years of refinement, unified messaging has come into its own, and is ready for the mainstream. Unified messaging applications have become missioncritical tools that are as necessary to your business as your telephone, computer, or copier.

EARLY ADOPTERS
Some organizations have seen the potential and power inherent in unified messaging, and have already made the investment. Eglin Air Force Base in Walton Beach, Florida, one of the country’s major testing sites for F-15 fighter planes, was an early adopter of unified messaging technology. Phil Block, program analyst for Management Consulting Research, Inc., the company that supplies telecommunications services for Eglin Air Force Base, credits unified messaging with streamlining the tedious and time consuming activity of checking for messages in numerous places. “People now actually enjoy checking their messages,” Block said. “It’s helped free up their time, allowing them to concentrate on more crucial tasks. Overall, our work environment has also improved, and people can work much more efficiently,” he added.

Several years ago, the Franke Contract Group switched from their old telephone and voice mail system to a powerful new unified messaging system. Swiss-owned Franke installs commercial kitchens for McDonald’s restaurants the world over, and its personnel work out of six facilities on two continents. With unified messaging, they can control their voice messages and be advised of faxes from a touchtone telephone anywhere in the world. Chris Zweifel, company operations manager who administers the voice mail system, praises the new unified messaging technology for its ease of use and reliance. “If you can read, if you know something about PCs, and you know the passwords, you can perform most operations yourself,” Zweifel said. “This is very different than managing the phone system, where you needed to call the vendor just to do something simple.”

HOW UNIFIED MESSAGING WORKS
When a caller leaves a voice or fax message on the voice mail server, the server notifies the unified messaging client on the desktop PC of the new message. The unified messaging client notifies the groupware server, but leaves the actual contents of the message on the voice server. Of course, the message can still be accessed over the phone. Any changes to the message are communicated between the client and the server. When you listen to a message over the telephone it gets marked as read in the client. Archiving a message in the client will actually store it on the voice server.

From the desktop, it’s easy to download a message and store it locally. The audio and fax contents are downloaded and attached to the message. The message is played the same way, but the contents are stored with the message on the PC instead of the voice server.

KEYS TO EFFECTIVE UNIFIED MESSAGING
Groupware vendors like Microsoft, Lotus, and Novell have developed messaging products designed to help people communicate and work together. Part of the messaging system consists of traditional e-mail � sending a text message between users — but groupware products go far beyond email. They incorporate features that let groups share data such as files and schedule information, store and organize contacts, and coordinate personal and group schedules with a calendar. The architecture of these groupware applications allows voice and fax vendors to develop powerful computer telephony applications that enable desktop access to all these types of messages. The way in which a unified messaging vendor integrates with a groupware application is very important in that the degree of integration greatly affects system reliability and performance.

The key to developing a reliable link between voice, fax, and groupware applications is tight integration between servers. It’s important to pay attention to the amount of voice and fax synchronization required with the groupware server and the degree to which audio files must be moved between servers. Voice and fax messaging systems that require a continual synchronization process or movement of messages between servers consume system resources and slow system performance. Synchronization also significantly increases the impact on LAN traffic and dramatically slows message delivery to the desktop clients.

One of the keys to successful desktop messaging is the ability to stream media communications between the voice processing server and the desktop. Systems that send audio as static files lead to long delays at the desktop while files download, and tend to decrease overall system performance. Streaming media ensures immediate and smooth playback and recording at desktop workstations, and cuts in half the impact of audio messages on localarea network (LAN) traffic.

One of the great features of unified messaging is the ability to store voice, fax, and e-mail messaging in the same groupware folder so users can place different types of messages on the same subject in a central location for future use. It’s a good idea to make sure that your voice and fax messaging system uses native groupware mailboxes that allow native messaging handling rules and search capabilities. A secondary or proprietary voice or fax mailbox may not allow these capabilities to work, and can cause real synchronization headaches.

Remote access for system administration and users is also a key for unified messaging. For users, the easiest type of remote access is to call the voice mail system and retrieve your messages via telephone. You can also dial in using a remote laptop and download all messages to your laptop PC so that they can travel with you. If you are remote, but want to get your voice and fax messages, you will need to connect to the network back at the office. Once the connection is made you can download new messages that will be delivered to the inbox. Outgoing messages that were composed while off line will be delivered automatically.

Another remote access feature is complete messaging capability through the Internet. Think about it � you can now send and forward voice mail and faxes anywhere in world using the power of the Internet. Users can send voice mail as a WAV file attachment and faxes as TIFF files to single or multiple parties. This means that users can send voice mail and faxes to people with desktop PCs who don’t even have a voice mail system or fax machine.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
As with any major purchasing decision, it is necessary to dedicate some time to researching the various products that are available. As this unified messaging features checklist underscores, there are several features to consider when choosing a unified messaging system:

Integration: How well integrated are the voice, fax, and e-mail architectures? The degree of integration greatly affects system reliability and performance.

Delivery: How are voice messages delivered to the desktop? Streaming technology delivers files with minimal impact to LAN traffic.

Management: How are messages saved in folders? Proprietary “foldering” systems limit access and provide ability to use native rules-based message management.

Remote Access: Does the system fully utilize remote access options? Remote access options are key for system administration and user message access.

CONCLUSION
Unified messaging, with its ability to increase workplace efficiency, is destined to become a missioncritical application for mainstream business users. With the ever-growing information overload of the digital age, together with the increasing need for supporting remote and mobile users, unified messaging offers an invaluable tool for accessing and managing information channels.

John Neustadt is marketing communications specialist and Joe Borichewski is enterprise product marketing manager at Active Voice Corporation, a leader in PC-based voice processing systems and a pioneer in developing Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI) solutions. Active Voice has recently announced a strategic partnership with Omtool, a leading provider of network fax solutions. This agreement will allow Omtool’s Fax Sr. product to be sold through Active Voice’s established distribution channels. As part of the agreement, Omtool’s fax technology will also be incorporated into Active Voice’s NTbased communications server. For more information, visit the companies’ Web sites at www.activevoice.com and www.omtool.com

As technology becomes more advanced, more options have become available to the mobile workforce. People are working based on their own schedules; they want to be able to work where and when they want to, while demanding the tools necessary to achieve this goal. Employees are working out of their homes, hotel rooms, and out of airport lounges �no longer following the traditional hours of 9 to 5. Budget cuts and the computer age have contributed to an independent workforce, now in charge of managing their own correspondences and calls. The Internet has become a main tool in business communication, dramatically enhancing communications.

Unified messaging has already taken the next step � we are no longer confined to communicate via phones, fax, and e-mail, we can now send and retrieve messages directly through our PC over the Internet. The key is technology that lets remote staff effectively manage their voice, e-mail, and fax communications from an Internet connection, anywhere, anytime. It’s no surprise that unified messaging saves time and money � the fewer devices you need to access to send, retrieve, and store messages � the more efficient you can be. The power of the Internet is limitless. With the Internet now at our fingertips, unified messaging takes another leap to improve communications. Imagine how much more effective your message becomes when it is heard rather than read. Let’s say you receive a voice mail message from a customer closing a big deal and praising you for making it happen. With an Internetbased messaging application, you can forward that voice mail message as an e-mail attachment to your manager. The manager, in turn, will experience the satisfaction of hearing the customer’s tone of delight rather than read an e-mail stating the same. The more senses involved, the clearer the communication. An Internet-based personal communications manager allows people to manage calls and messages from their PC.

Anywhere that they can set up and dial in can become their virtual office. Business communication is now empowered by the Internet with applications transforming the computer screen into a virtual communications center. With the click of a mouse, users can listen to voice mail messages, place calls, manage speed dial lists, and change telephone numbers and availability. This technology also enables users to send voice and fax messages as e-mail attachments to any Internet-based e-mail address.

No longer do you need to look at dozens of pages of fax copy and then trudge to the copier to circulate it around the office. You can now send those faxes as e-mail attachments to your colleagues. It’s all paperless when accessed through your PC; you can read and delete on screen or file those faxes for later reference. We’ve all sorted through those curled pages as they are cut off the fax roll. With an Internet-based personal communicaInternet-Based Personal Communications tions manager, you can read the fax on screen and if you want a hard copy, simply instruct it to print directly off your printer. What about those times you get back to your hotel room after a long day of meetings? You want to check your messages and faxes, but the thought of heading down to the front desk and paying a dollar per page for something you didn’t really need in the first place is not that appealing.

The explosion in the number of communication devices in the market has led to the widespread need for unified messaging. People love what is easy, and finding all of your faxes and voice messages in one inbox right on your PC is easy � it’s that simple. Startup time in the morning is cut in half when you don’t have to pick up the telephone to check your voice mail or take that trip to the central fax machine to claim what is yours in the pile. The Internet’s accessibility is growing in hotel lobbies, airport terminals, and business facilities throughout the world as the Internet is viewed as a business tool as common as the fax machine. An Internet-based personal communications manager provides one-stop shopping for all of your messaging needs.

Mary E. Stanhope is director of product marketing at Priority Call Management, Inc., which provides enhanced service platforms to the telecommunications industry. Priority’s ORYX platform offers one number, voice dialing, prepaid calling card, international calling, integrated messaging access, and additional valueadded applications to support today’s mobile professionals. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.priority-call.com

The payoffs of selecting products that are correctly architected are simpler installation and administration and the ability to use best of breed applications together to provide powerful computer telephony solutions. A good example of this is Active Voice’s Repartee voice processing server and Omtool Fax Sr. NT fax server working in conjunction with the Microsoft Exchange server.

Adding the power of true unified messaging, as provided by Active Voice and Omtool to Exchange, enables users to manage all types of messages right at the desktop, prioritize urgent items, and respond instantly, making them more efficient. For example, in the past, users could only access messages sequentially over the phone, and received notification of incoming messages users though a blinking message light. Users had no idea how many messages they had, who sent each message, when it was sent, or the length or subject. Now, with Active Voice’s ViewMail for Microsoft Messaging and Omtool’s Fax Sr. for Exchange, users can get an instant picture of all voice and fax messages and selectively access important ones before they listen. Users receive immediate notification of new voice mail messages: onscreen message notification, sound event, or blinking cursor. The intuitive ViewMail for Microsoft Messaging interface streamlines the process of listening to messages. Users can simply rewind a message, pause, or skip ahead using the mouse to click on the “rewind,” “pause,” or “fast forward” buttons.

VOICE MAIL FEATURES
Active Voice’s ViewMail for Microsoft Messaging for Microsoft Outlook and Exchange saves time by letting users reply to e-mail or faxes with voice mail, which is much quicker and easier to than email (speech is roughly five to ten times faster than the average typist). In addition, there’s no need to use spell check or revise the content. If you don’t like your messages, simply edit or re-record the message. Record keeping and documentation are easier than ever before. Both email and fax messages can be archived indefinitely along with email messages using Exchange’s Personal or Public folders. Also, these applications share Microsoft’s address book so that voice mail messages can be sent to anyone reachable by Microsoft Exchange, whether they have a voice mail system or not!

When someone leaves you a message, you get immediate notification of the message in your Inbox. ViewMail for Microsoft Messaging notification options can be set to play a custom message when you get a new voice mail, and even play the caller’s recorded name. As with email messages, just double-click to listen to a voice message. This activates a custom form to play the message. If your PC does not have a sound card and a microphone, you can use your telephone to record and play messages. Just enter your workstation extension number to connect and begin recording and listening.

With Omtool’s Fax Sr. Exchange/Outlook client, users can harness the power of a fax server from their desktop. Using any application that supports print-to-fax — such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access — users can send broadcast faxes out that can be delivered to internal Exchange users via the LAN, and to outside parties as an e-mail attachment or as a fax. Incoming faxes are stored electronically until the receiver wants to see them. Users can view their faxes on screen, send to a printer, or redirect faxes to any fax machine anywhere in the world from their desktop.