February 1999

Price: starts at $15,000.

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

AVT has long been a leader in OS/2- and client-side unified messaging for the enterprise. With the release of CallXpress 5.1 for Windows NT, AVT now offers a server-side option with support for Microsoft's Exchange/Outlook, Lotus Notes/cc:Mail, and Novell GroupWise environments, plus a powerful GUI and TUI, and version 5.2 of RightFAX, itself an Editors' Choice award winner in our September 1998 issue. The addition of updated support for Dialogic boards, optional speech recognition, multi-lingual text-to-speech, SMS, VIM support, and the ability to integrate with almost any PBX makes CallXpress 5.1 an appropriate unified messaging solution for most organizations. Combined with good documentation, powerful reporting features, and competitive pricing, CallXpress 5.1 can now boast of its own Editors' Choice award.

INSTALLATION
The installation of CallXpress 5.1 is not a fast process, but it's simple enough for a mainstream MIS manager without much CTI experience to complete. For testing, we started with three PCs, with the intention of installing server-side messaging using Exchange. Two of the PCs, both running NT Server 4.0, ran the CallXpress and Microsoft Exchange (version 5.5) platforms. AVT specifies that Service Pack 3 should be installed after installing the CallXpress software, and that the CallXpress server should not have Internet Information Server installed. Our third PC ran Windows 95, which we used as the client.

We networked the three computers, making the Exchange server the primary domain controller - here, AVT specifies that CallXpress itself should always be a standalone server. Next, we prepared our Teltone TLS-5 analog line simulator in place of an actual PBX system. (We often do this for enterprise-scale solutions - it doesn't make sense to learn the integration of just one switch when so many are available, and it helps us determine whether any installation issues are the fault of the software or the PBX.)

AVT's server came with its Dialogic Scbus line card and Brooktrout TR-114 fax board pre-installed. Optionally, you can install the Dialogic Antares 2000/50 speech recognition card. A security dongle attaches to the CallXpress server's parallel port, and its pass-through connector allows for a printer connection, but don't attach any other devices here. A dedicated port is best. For the Exchange server, ensure that the PC has at least a 200 MHz Pentium processor with 64 MB RAM and a 1.2 GB hard disk. Of course, we recommend installing UPS systems on both servers. Some final issues are addressed before installing the server software, including installing Service Pack 3, configuring memory allocation (split evenly between applications and a file cache), screen saver usage (there shouldn't be any), and configuring the NT guest account (which must be enabled manually).

Using standard install wizards and the administrator's login, the five main options available are: 1) installing the server and client, 2) installing the server only, 3) installing the client only, 4) installing the NetConnect Digital options, and 5) installing the automated agent. For most applications, AVT recommends the first (and default) option, which places the server software in a local directory and the client software in a shared directory. After choosing several customization options, the setup is complete.

CallXpress runs entirely as an NT service, but you may need to run the open lines utility before running the server for the first time and before changing the service start-up mode to automatic. From here, completing the CallXpress installation involves the RightFAX software; choosing between the proprietary, Lotus, or Outlook clients; creating mailboxes; and tailoring everything to your enterprise.

DOCUMENTATION
There are printed books, online books, software release notes, and user's TUI guides, along with a powerful online help system. All of the documents are first-rate, with an ample supply of screen shots, illustrations, white space, and bulleted lists/instructions. We would like to see two changes though: first, we think the Desktop Message Manager guide should be available in printed version; second, there should be a section of the primary installation/administration guide devoted to explaining the differences between using CallXpress without a third party e-mail server and using the Microsoft, Lotus, and Novell options. Without using Exchange, you can still use Outlook and the AVT extension for it, but this could be confusing. More - and more simplified - documentation would be a strong benefit here.

FEATURES
The CallXpress feature list is extensive. The ability to integrate with Exchange, Notes, cc: Mail, or GroupWise (all via Outlook or the proprietary client), along with the inclusion of RightFAX, are the primary features that make CallXpress a bargain - but there is much more than that. Desktop Message Manager lets you record and play voice mail using your PC's multimedia system or a telephone. Messages can be sorted, prioritized, and are adjustable during playback for speed and volume. When combined with Outlook, additional features include: access to voice mail, e-mail, and faxes; an option to edit subject lines and summaries; compounded messages combining voice, faxes, or data; the ability to save voice messages as audio files and faxes as graphic files; request return receipts or specify future delivery; message archiving; fax from any application; and Outlook's pack-and-go option.

CallXpress E-Mail Access gives message access via telephone. The TUI and text-to-speech engine provides data on the caller/sender, time and date and priority status, message savings/discarding/forwarding in voice-mail style, voice reply, and forward to fax machine. With client-side messaging, there's also a feature that saves e-mail in a separate queue so that those messages can be "read" first without having to skip through voice messages. Another feature is message notification, which will call your telephone or pager when new messages (with rules-based routing) arrive in your mailbox. This option and the Desktop Call Manager supply a five-user license with every system.

AutoAgent is another area where CallXpress is unique. Beside the unified messaging functionality, AutoAgent adds IVR to CallXpress. Programming is accomplished with Visual Basic, although an obvious shortcoming here is the lack of even a simple application generator. Minimum system requirements for AutoAgent include a Pentium 133, 64 MB RAM, NT Workstation or Server 4.0, Visual Basic 5.0, and a sound card/microphone that supports at least 8Khz .WAV files. Other features of CallXpress include:

• "Ready, Set, Go!" which helps to automate client set-ups by guiding subscribers through configuring their recorded name, personal greeting, and security code.
• COACH, the multimedia user tutorial.
• Live Reply: a "boomerang" feature for sending immediate replies to the message sender.
• QuickConnect: one-key transfer to a subscriber extension from the company directory.
• Extension Specific Processing: provides callers various options in IVR, set by subscriber.
• Caller Queuing: gives callers the option to hold while you are on another call.
• Personal greeting for specific calls.
• Choose from listening to the oldest, newest, or most urgent messages first.
• Cascade Notification: receive notification of your messages at any of nine numbers.
• Automatic fax queuing/routing.
• Transaction Processing Capture: saves spoken information from callers.
• Fourteen types of reporting.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
Although configuring CallXpress was not difficult, we did have two problems. The bad news is that we were unable to solve either of them, and AVT engineers tell us they've encountered both problems before and are still trying to understand them.

The first problem is that our TCP/IP network, composed only of the three related PCs, would not allow successful logins. Considering that we were able to ping each computer from every other computer and that we could see the network from any of the computers, we found this baffling. We eventually changed the network protocol to Named Pipes, which solved the problem, but everything from changing hubs and network wires, to full re-installs, to fiddling with every setting did not solve our TCP/IP problem. We'd be very interested in hearing from other AVT users who've encountered this problem, and we will share any comments with AVT's research department.

Our second problem was that the text-to-speech aspect of the TUI access would not function. We could dial in and access features before we enabled an account with TTS, but once it was active, we would dial in, enter the user name and password, and get nothing but silence while the administration/line status utility claimed it was checking the mailbox. We ended up using the client-side messaging instead of the server-side messaging because of this. Again, we'd like to hear from anyone else who has experienced (or who could shed light on) this issue.

Given the choice, we would choose a GUI that combined the Outlook version of Desktop Message Manager and the TUI. Such an interface would mean that fewer employees would require retraining, and with client-side unified messaging, the TUI provides a way for employees without computers (and road warriors) to receive and check messages through a simple telephone interface. Plus, you can always go out and buy a …For Dummies book about Outlook, which helps to smooth the learning curve.

The Outlook-integrated Desktop Message Manager is very powerful, with every additional menu and option added in an intuitive spot, but the standard Desktop Message Manager is another story: the windows are of the floating variety, the GUI is cluttered, and the lack of tooltips unnecessarily increases the learning curve. One thing that we like about the standard version is the comprehensive access to the configuration options.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
While it's easy to make a case to support client-side or server-side messaging in an organization, we'd like to see a utility to make for an easier transition in either direction. Small things like adding or editing subscribers mailboxes are simple enough with the administration program (which can be run from anywhere on the network), but the comprehensiveness mentioned above can also lead to confusion if all you want to do is add another user with the same options and settings as most other typical users. There is too much room within the standard Desktop Message Manager for users to adjust (or mess up) their own settings. We'd like to see a little more control available to administrators and a little less for subscribers.

The Desktop Message Manager might include optional copies of Outlook, because the standard version of the Desktop Message Manager is headed either for obsolescence or a major overhaul. Finally, the IVR should include visual app-gen functionality, and the installation/maintenance manuals could benefit from the inclusion of more examples and case studies.

CONCLUSION
Although CallXpress has its bugs, none were major, and we still think that AVT makes one of the most powerful and most accessible unified messaging suites available. MIS managers who have been around the CTI block may make a case to opt for the OS/2 version or for any of a half-dozen major competitors, but we would pit the features and cost of CallXpress (especially the server-side and fax options) against any of them. CallXpress certainly deserves high marks for being backward compatible, and we look forward to even tighter Windows integration (and perhaps some Web, contact manager, and IP integration) in future editions.