In an effort to help enterprises preserve investments in unified messaging and network-based fax capabilities, Open Text, a global provider of enterprise content management and enterprise fax over IP, announced that it has developed enterprise fax functionality seamlessly integrated with Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange Server 2010.

 

According to company officials, the new functionality allows enterprises to migrate to Exchange Server 2010 while providing the ability to access faxing from mobile devices.

 

Working with Microsoft, Open Text developed the Exchange Connector for Exchange Server 2010, which routes faxes into and out of the Exchange Server 2010 system using Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition, a product offered as part of the Open Text ECM Suite. Open Text is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and 2009 ISV Line of Business Partner of the Year finalist.

 

“We have partnered with Microsoft for many years have a long track record of providing the market with a fax server solution integrated with Microsoft Exchange,” said Matthew Brine, vice president of the fax and document distribution group of enterprise content management specialist Open Text Corp, in an interview with TMCnet this week. “Our integration with Exchange Server 2010 ensures our customers will continue to have trusted that support as they migrate to the new platform.”

 

Faxing continues to be a “critical” requirement for many businesses that need signatures, drawings and other paper-based content, company officials explained. In industries and businesses such as banking, healthcare, mortgage companies and patent offices, faxes are recognized as important legal documents and vital to business operation, Brine said.

 

With Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition and Exchange Server 2010, faxing becomes an integral part of the overall enterprise infrastructure, providing a strong return on investment and reducing or eliminating the need for physical fax machines, company officials said.

 

“By developing and updating our fax solutions to work with Exchange Server 2010, we provide enterprises with continued fax functionality that is vital in many industries,” said Raul Camacho, senior product manager, Open Text Fax and Document Distribution. “What’s more, since faxing is built into the unified communications infrastructure users can easily receive, view, and send faxes from a variety of devices and locations, just like email.”

 

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is now available for businesses worldwide and will help organizations reduce costs, protect communications and improve user productivity, according to Julia White, director of exchange product management at Microsoft Corp.

 

“Open Text has a history of providing products with a deep interoperability with Exchange Server. Open Text Fax Server is well-proven in the marketplace and it gives customers a fax solution that seamlessly connects with Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging,” White said.

 

Today, Ontario-based Open Text has sold over 100,000 fax servers worldwide. Thousands of Open Text users have realized “hard cost savings through the displacement of traditional fax and document management infrastructure,” company officials said.

 

When a fax comes into an enterprise, Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging forwards it to the Open Text Fax Server, which processes the document so it can be transmitted to and viewed within Microsoft Office Outlook as a native fax message. It then routes the fax through Exchange Server to the recipient’s Outlook inbox. The original fax appears as an e-mail attachment that a user can select and view. Users can also send e-mail messages and attachments to the Fax Server from their Outlook inbox for faxing to recipients outside the enterprise.

 

A significant advantage of Open Text Fax Server, is that faxes are digitally protected, helping to prevent loss or unauthorized viewing of documents. Logging and auditing features provide the ability to review and track all faxes from sender to recipient, company officials said.

 

Open Text, which has sold more than100,000 fax servers globally, is a market leader in enterprise fax over IP and focuses on helping organizations reduce costs associated with standalone fax machines, integrate with existing VoIP and infrastructures and securely deliver business critical documents.