January 2000

Callware Technologies • Sandy, Utah • 801-984-1100
www.callware.com

Price: $27,720

RATINGS (0-5)
Installation: 4.75
Documentation: 5
Features: 4
GUI: 4.75
Overall: A-

Helping the unrelenting push to make communications (fax, e-mail, and voice mail) easier to handle, unified messaging products are constantly improving. Callware’s latest version of Callegra — Callegra 5.51— includes the availability of nine languages. Different dialects of the same languages can be chosen as one or more of the nine available options. A speech-driven auto attendant and a Web-based interface (CallegraWeb) for remotely retrieving your messages will be available in Service Pack 1, which should be available soon after this review is in print.

INSTALLATION
To purchase the Callegra solution, dealers must go through one of two distributors: NetX or Alliance Systems. Through these distributors, Callegra usually comes bundled with customer-specified features. Aided by the dealers and distributors, customers are asked a series of questions so that the correct installation can be achieved. If a customer requires a free upgrade offer or patches, Callware handles the order. If it is a paid upgrade (such as adding ports), it goes through one of the distributors.

Since the system was already installed and configured, we checked a few details to make sure everything was working properly. We checked the port properties, greetings, box (user) properties, integration parameters, and fax properties by right clicking on the appropriate icon and looking through the settings. We also noticed the trace window, which shows the interaction between the script and the engine. This procedure took little time and can be easily administered.

We also configured new users into the system. Adding users only took moments, but it is currently difficult to import user information from a pre-existing file without manually typing the information. An easily administered import utility would help tremendously.

DOCUMENTATION
The bulk of the documentation we received from Callware came in a three-ring binder separated by dividers. We felt like we were back in junior high school. The only difference is that as junior high school students, we would never have had a three-ring binder that was as organized or as extensive. This is actually one of the most organized books we have seen. It contains useful information on almost every aspect of the Callegra system, including CallegraWeb and CallegraFax. It also has a table of contents and an index for every section of the manual.

There is also a CallegraDesk User’s Guide, many Telephone User Guides, and voice recognition guides. These guides are straightforward and easily comprehensible. The help files are context-sensitive and well organized, and even when you are configuring the system, help notes pop up so that you won’t forget to administer important elements of the configuration.

FEATURES
Several key features remain from past versions of Callegra. Callegra usually comes bundled in the package the customer has requested, can be configured for anywhere from 10 to 10,000 users, and runs with Windows NT. There is little need to replace hardware, even if a company needs to expand or update Callegra modules because of the reasonable system requirements outlined by Callware. Other features that remain from previous versions include:

• CallegraFax — send, receive, forward faxes from your desktop, fax broadcast, fax on demand, and notification of faxes.
• CallegraDesk — send and receive voice and fax messages from your desktop or laptop, integrates with your e-mail system, uses caller ID, and notifies the user through pagers, cellular phones, and message-waiting indicators.

Callegra 5.51 also boasts a bunch of new features, as well. With the use of any Web browser, users can access voice messages and faxes, thanks to CallegraWeb (included in Service Pack 1). Speech recognition capability (also in Service Pack 1) provides for a voice-activated auto attendant. Other new features include:

• New certified drivers, software, and boards — now works with the latest Dialogic and Brooktrout voice board drivers, Office 2000, Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5, and Gammalink fax boards.
• Urgent message and message notification handling — tells you of urgent messages; urgent messages are presented first.
• New reporting functionality — in addition to the trace feature.
• Users now have the ability to undelete messages that have been accidentally deleted from the system.
• There is now multilingual support for nine languages or dialects that can be supported simultaneously on the same system.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
The first test we make on any messaging system is to check whether or not the system is a true unified messaging system (fax, e-mail, and voice messages all accessed from one location). The latest version of Callegra falls into the “very close” category. Voice and fax messages are indeed integrated using either CallegraDesk or CallegraWeb, but e-mail must be accessed from a different application, such as Microsoft Outlook. However, you can now integrate voice messages and faxes into Microsoft Outlook if the system is set up that way. In this case, a separate inbox is created in Outlook for Callegra voice and fax messages. Voice and fax messages reside in Outlook but are an extra click away from being truly unified. Once you launch Outlook, you are prompted for your Outlook login and a Callegra login. One more click brings up your fax and voice messages. Unfortunately, this option is not yet available for Lotus Notes. One other feature that we should mention here is that if the Exchange server goes down, you can still obtain your voice mail and faxes from either your phone or CallegraDesk.

The integration of speech recognition is a valuable addition to Callegra. With relative certainty, the speech-driven auto attendant locates the name spoken by the caller, searches the database, and transfers the call to the correct party. In general, speech recognition is improving every day and will become more and more important for unified messaging systems, such as Callegra.

CallegraDesk allows you to play, route, forward, record, and delete voice messages and faxes. You can also add notes to these messages as well as send them as e-mail. We tested these functions without running into a problem, and the GUI was straightforward and easy to use. When you delete messages, the system synchronously deletes the message on both the client and server side, allowing for a cleaner and better organized system. By double clicking on the message you want, you can play messages effectively through either the phone or the GUI. There is also the option of searching through your address book to find the appropriate contacts to whom you would like to send the message.

Perhaps the most intriguing new addition to the Callegra system is CallegraWeb. When accessing any browser, you can remotely read faxes or listen to voice messages. You can also route, delete, add notes, or save these messages from this application. We entered our mailbox without any problems and were able to accomplish all of this functionality with little effort.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
For the most part, all of the graphical interfaces are organized in a manner that allows the user to apply them with ease. One of the only improvements we would suggest here involves the administrator GUI. In the boxes window, you can double-click or right-click on the box number to access the general information or properties of that box. However, you can not click any other part of that row, which would make the process just a bit simpler.

Of course, another improvement would be to provide faxes, voice messages, and e-mail in one inbox. In this way, users can be a little more efficient with their time, and true unified messaging can be achieved. Callegra is very close to achieving this using Microsoft Outlook. This should also be achieved for Lotus Notes. A Novell GroupWise integration is available in the Callegra for Netware product.

Some other major improvements that we suggest for the Callegra system involve adding more new features. An import option that is added to the administrator GUI’s menu would be valuable. This way, any files, such as a spreadsheet containing new employee information, can be downloaded into the system quickly. Text-to-speech functionality and extra wizards added would help make Callegra even easier to use, and are two additions that would improve the feature set of Callegra. Many of these suggestions may already be in the works for new releases of Callegra, but they are certainly worth mentioning.

Right now, there is also no desktop call control application integrated into this system. It is currently a separate product offered by Callware.

CONCLUSION
There are many aspects of this new version of Callegra that are very appealing — speech recognition, multilingual support, and CallegraWeb, just to name a few. Callware has also shown their ability to adapt and improve their unified messaging system quickly as new technology advances at accelerated speeds. For these reasons and for the fact that their GUIs are extremely easy to use, Callware’s Callegra is certainly worth considering.