Does your company still use fax machines for sending hard copies of documents such as contracts, invoices and visual instructions? If so, you will know that while the age of the fax is long gone, there is still a certain need to have a reliable fax service available at all times. Maybe not a regularly employed as the phone or email, but definitely relied on where word of mouth or a message on a screen will not surffice.
It is for this reason that developments are afoot in the US to combine the facsimile function with modern UC systems such as VoIP networks.
In the USA especially, more and more service provider networks are moving over to IP infrastructure and in turn, enterprises are following suit and expecting a seamless transition of all of their communication tools including the fax machine.
Writing for fiercevoip.com, Marc Robins explains that FoIP (Facsimile over Internet Protocol) has been looked into with increased interest but that there are significant issues with regards to the reliability of fax transmissions using existing VoIP standards.
Currently, according to industry sources, a typical, traditional fax service has a transmission fail rate of less than 1%. With FoIP it has been seen that that fail rate increases to a staggering 10%.
It is for this reason that FoIP hasn’t been put under the spotlight as an example of the flexibility of VoIP systems as other services such as VoIP Phones have.
Robins is Managing Director of The SIP Forum, an organisation that intends to pool the resources and intellects of researchers, engineers and service providers to address the issues with FoIP, and following a successful workshop at the VoiceCon trade show that attracted representatives from companies such as Cisco and Siemens Enterprise, put together a specialist task group to document the details of the existing problems with VoIP.
In a recent test study against VoIP handset competitors conducted by the Research Group for Telecommunication Networks at the Frankfurt Main University of Applied Sciences in Germany, snom VoIP phones portfolio have been awarded the highest “green” standard.
snom SIP phones received top grades for being the most energy efficient in a head-to-head test against six other VoIP competitors.
An article on voipmonitor.net reports that research assistants and engineers at FH Frankfurt tested a total of 23 VoIP phones by seven of the world’s leading manufacturers over a three-month period. A variety of use scenarios was investigated including idle mode, conversation, idle mode after a conversation, and three-way conference, and in each scenario snom phones had the lowest power consumption across each comparable product class.
It seems that snom VoIP phones are to be the choice for the savvy and ecologically concerned company who wish to not only save on power costs while contributing towards the sustainable use of the earth’s energy resources, but also maintain a communications system that utilises the highest quality VoIP technology available.
Avaya announced a foray in the mobile market with news that they will team up with DiVitas Networks to form a mobile UC partnership.
The new partnership is bound to prove fruitful for both parties considering the market share that Avaya have in the VoIP Systems industry, and the weight and reputation of DiVitas’ solution.
Doug Mohney’s article for Fiercevoip.com explains that DiVitas Networks’ solution is now integrated with Avaya Communications Manager and Avaya Modular Messaging to offer a dual-mode solution for mobile employees who wish to move seamlessly between campus-based wireless networks and cellular networks.
With support available for both Symbian and Windows Mobile based dual-mode handsets, DiVitas’s client provides the interface for the sending and receiving of calls through Avaya’s communications network. Key features of the Avaya/DiVitas solution include one number reach, mid-call management, presence availability, and access to corporate directories. In addition, integration with Avaya Modular Messaging enables users to visually retrieve their Avaya voice mail with the DiVitas client interface through a single voicemail box.
Transportation company, CSX Corporation have been used as the working case study for the new venture. Wishing to reduce it’s cellular pooled minutes and communicate time-critical information more efficiently, CSX decided to get dump the existing multiple handsets used by dispatchers in favour of Nokia e71 dual-mode handsets. This also allowed them to extend coverage to remote areas that have no cellular networks but do have WiFi networks available.
The increased use of Wi-FI meant savings on cellular costs as well as the benefit of having mobile workers continuously reachable on their desk phone number.
DiVitas originally joined Avaya’s DevConnect program in 2007 and was upgraded to Platinum Status in 2008, so it came as no suprise that Avaya selected DiVitas as its preferred dual-mode mobile UC solution.
