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Often – all too often, in fact – as businesses migrate from legacy to IP-based communications solutions, the fax is left behind. Until, that is, they realize what some claim to be an antiquated medium is actually a key part of today’s communications infrastructures, enabling the delivery of contracts, bills, official notification letters and legal documentation. However, planning ahead, smart businesses can alleviate any gaps in their ability to function normally by including IP fax capabilities when deploying new IP-based communications infrastructures.

Université de Montréal (UdeM), for instance, has deployed a complex next-generation communications system connecting its facilities that support its more than 700 courses and programs. A key component of its communications infrastructure had always been fax, which it says is still used today by the majority of its staff and employees, however, its existing analog fax machines had become outdated and many required upgrades or repairs. They also required retaining and paying for those separate analog lines.

Thus, UdeM sought out alternatives, specifically, IP fax opportunities, which would not only enable its staff to work productively, but would, in fact, increase their efficiency thanks to the capabilities of IP fax systems. One key factor would be the ability to continue to leverage UdeM’s existing fleet of multifunction devices.

As any wise business should, UdeM evaluated a number of IP fax solutions before reaching its decision. Based on its own conclusions, advice from its consultant, as well as recommendations from Gartner (News - Alert) and from one of UdeM’s key technology partners, Cisco, it selected Sagemcom’s XMediusFAX software-based IP fax solution.

The XMediusFAX solution was deployed with the assistance of Bell, a Sagemcom partner/reseller involved fully in the negotiation from start to finish including testing of the product from an early stage.

In addition to its ability to leverage existing peripherals, XMediusFAX also offers MS Exchange integration, French language support (a key feature for a Montreal-based institution), as well as simple integration into UdeM’s existing Cisco (News - Alert) VoIP infrastructure.

Having used and managed the XMediusFAX solution for more than a year now, it has found that, with minimal training, staff members have become more productive with much of the manual work with traditional fax systems having been eliminating, and faxes being sent from and delivered directly to individual users’ PC desktops. This also means remote or mobile workers have the same IP fax capabilities wherever they are connected.

“By investing in a state of the art fax solution, we have transitioned to an IP-based technology that is scalable and can grow based on our evolving requirements,” said Alain Courchesne, director of printing services, Université de Montréal. “The migration to XMediusFAX has allowed us to be more productive while reducing our usage of paper, electricity, and toner. I believe that we are well on our way to realizing our ROI expectations.”

By investing the time and effort into the right IP fax solution, UdeM has been able to streamline its processes, reduce its overhead, while being able to rapidly scale to accommodate its growing campus and satellite requirements.

The full case study can be downloaded from Sagemcom’s website: 

http://www.sagem-interstar.com/downloads/casestudies/UdeM-EN.pdf