The Universal Inbox

Unified messaging systems bring together voice, fax, e-mail, and paging for less than ever.

Ilan Greenberg

Unified messaging systems, which provide an interconnected system for everything from e-mail and voice mail to faxes, have obvious benefits for end users -- especially for workers who prefer a single inbox.

A slew of new, increasingly sophisticated unified messaging packages has recently become available, each offering a slightly different road toward a universal communication destination. While certain trends are emerging, such as a predominance of support for Windows NT as a server OS platform, other requirements, suc h as type of mail system supported or telephony standard employed, are more varied. Choosing a unified messaging system calls for considering whether the software package is compatible with the netwo rk architecture an office environment already has in place (different solutions support a wide variety of file formats, for example). Cost is another factor, with prices ranging from a low monthly subscription to turnkey solutions running upwards of $40,000.

Look for technologies that combine the best of integrated inbox and real-time communication capabilities, such as a pop-up screen that provides relevant information when your phone rings, advises Brian Curran, product manager at Coresoft (Orem, UT). "In the whole unified messaging field we need to focus more on messaging and less on the concept of inbox. We still live in a real-time world, and messaging should be secondary. Products generally do one or the other, but there are a lot of benefits to doing both," he says.

There's no shortage of providers in the unified messaging system market (as the product listing shows). Industry observers say this is bound to change as vendors consolidate. This is already proving true at the high end of the market, as exemplified by the recent acquisition of the leading voice application maker, Octel, by Lucent Technologies.

Standardization will probably become the biggest issue for unified messaging systems. Many products are not yet compliant with the Windows telephony API standard, TAPI, but TAPI is going to become more and more prevalent. Another criterion, says Michael Stanford, chairman of Algo Communications, is network integration. Also keep in mind the potential of a messaging system to scale up to new technologies.

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Messaging Products

Product/ Company	Basic Features	Server OS	Access Method	Text-to- Speech	Pager Interface	Price
Axxess Inter-Tel, Inc. 800-669-5858 http://www.inter-tel.com Inquiry No. 1125	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, automated attendant	Server-independent	PC		*	$75-$150/user
CallWare family CallWare Technologies 800-888-4226 http://www.callware.com Inquiry No. 1126	Voice mail, e-mail integration, fax, automated attendant	NetWare	PC, telephone, Web browser		*	$75-$400 per user
CallXpress Applied Voice Technology 425-820-6000 http://www.appliedvoice.com Inqui ry No. 1127	Voice mail, e-mail, fax, Web server, interactive voice response (IVR), instant Web publishing	Windows NT	Fax, PC, telephone	*	*	$9000+
CenterPoint Coresoft 801-431-0070 http://www.coresoft.com Inquiry No. 1128	Voice mail, e-mail, IVR, fax server, call control, contact manager	Windows NT, NetWare	PC, telephone		*	$4695 (10 users)
Communicate 01 Communique Laboratory, Inc. 905-795-2888 http://www.01com.com Inquiry No. 1129	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, automated attendant (stand-alone), contact manager	N/A	PC, telephone		*	$179
D avid Tobit Software 800-468-6248 http://www.na.tobit.com Inquiry No. 1130	Voice mail, e-mail, fax, Web server, IVR, instant Web publishing	Windows NT, NetWare	PC, telephone, fax, Web browser, PDA	*	*	$2495 (5 users)
GroupWise Novell, Inc. 888-321-4272 http://www.novell.com Inquiry No. 1131	Voice mail, e-mail, Web server, contact manager, document management	NetWare, Windows NT, Unix, IntranetWare	PC, telephone, Web browser	*	*	$718 (5 users)
Hello! NT Enhanced Systems, Inc. 770-662-1503 http://www.esisys.com Inquiry No. 1132	Voice mail, e-mail, IVR, fax server, automated attendant	Windows NT	PC, telephone, fax, Web browser	*	*	$1000+
Intuity Audix Multimedia Messaging System Lucent Technologies, Inc. 908-953-2716 http://www.lucent.com Inquiry No. 1133	Voice, e-mail, fax server (adding Web server in 1998), automated attendant, contact manager	SCO UnixWare	PC, telephone, Web browser	*	*	$15,000+
IPost Universal Box/Courier IRDG, Inc. 888-476-7893 http://www.irdg.com Inquiry No. 1134	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, Web browser	Windows NT	PC, telephone, Web browser	*	*	$24.95/month
MediaMail Teline t Technologies LLC 770-239-1000 http://www.telinet.com Inquiry No. 1135	Voice mail, e-mail, fax, Web browser	Windows NT	PC, telephone, fax, Web browser, POP 3 e-mail client	*	*	$6900+
MVX-2000 S Macrovoice Corp. 800-622-7689 http://www.macrovoice.com Inquiry No. 1136	Voice, e-mail, fax, automated attendant, Web browser	Windows NT, Windows 95	PC, telephone		*	$7000
NeTrueLink NeTrue Communications 714-870-0861 http://www.netrue.com Inquiry No. 1137	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, Web server	Windows NT	PC, telephone, Web browser, fax	*	*	$7800 (4-port unit)
PremisMail Unified Messaging Voice Technologies Group, Inc. 716-689-6700 http://www.vtg.com Inquiry No. 1138	Voice mail, fax, Web browser	OS/2	PC, telephone, Web browser	*	*	$6000-$42,000
Repartee Active Voice Corp. 206-441-4700 http://www.activevoice.com Inquiry No. 1139	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, automated attendant, contact manager	OS/2	PC, telephone, Web browser	*	*	$8500+
Telephony OneStop Lotus Development Corp. 617-577-8500 http://www.lotus. com Inquiry No. 1140	Voice mail, e-mail, fax	Windows NT, OS/2, Notes	PC, telephone, Web browser	*		$50/user
Unified MailCall for Lotus Notes Phonesoft, Inc. 619-618-1900 http://www.phonesoft.com Inquiry No. 1141	Voice mail, e-mail, fax server, Web server, contact manager	Windows NT	PC, telephone, fax, Web browser	*	*	$2995+
Work Group Attendant Algo Communications Corp. 972-866-2000 http://www.algocommunications.com Inquiry No. 1142	Voice mail, e-mail integration, fax server, automated attendant	Windows NT	PC, telephone	*	*	$499.95-$1699.95
Key:   yes = *.  N/A = Not applicable.

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Ilan Greenberg (San Francisco, CA) has written about technology, science, and business for many publications, including the Los Angeles Times and U.S. News & World Report. You can contact him at ilang@ix.netcom.com .