Fax/Unified Messaging on CallPilot 2 2

[elturko]

Our office is moving to a new building and will be purchasing a new Option 11 when we move.

We're interested in having fax-to-the-desktop capability to reduce the number of fax machines in our building.

One solution we're looking at is CallPilot to power this. We spoke with a Nortel rep and he explained that there is "Fax messaging" and "Unified messaging." I understand Unified means that voice and fax messages are delivered to a user's e-mail box. I'm confused about fax messaging though; can anyone explain how it differs from unified messaging?

We're also looking at whether to give everyone 2 DID's (one for voice, one for fax) or whether to just use 1. As it was explained to us, if we just use one, the users may answer calls and hear fax tones, at which point they'd have to transfer the call to CallPilot. If that's the case, we definitely don't want to go that route!

Basically, if there are any thoughts/background/documents any one can point me to on this topic, I'd appreciate it!

Also, if there are other fax solutions you're using or would recommend (we've also looked at Captaris RightFax, which was very impressive), I'd love to hear those comments as well.

Thanks in advance!

Matt

 

[sandyml]

"Fax Messaging" is being able to receive faxes as well as voice messages in your voicemail box. If you do not have "Unified Messaging," then when you access your voicemail via traditional telset method, you would hear, "you have x voice messages and y fax messages.." You can specify a fax machine to send the fax message to, or have one predefined, all subject to your outcalling restrictions.
"Unified Messaging" (a/k/a Desktop Messaging) refers to merging your voicemail box into your email box. In that case, when you have your email open (say, Outlook), you will have an additional folder for Call Pilot messages. If you have fax messaging license for your mailbox, then you would see a combination of voicemail and fax messages in that folder. You can forward both voicemail and fax messages as regular email attachments, and you can append fax messages with a voicemail message when forwarding to others in your organization.

Rightfax is a dedicated fax server, whereas Call Pilot is primarily voicemail - it's a lighter-duty application to handle faxes. There may be additional costs for integrating fax in/out routing with your PBX, but it is a more powerful tool for managing faxes. Ywould need to weigh the benefits of each against the cost and your company's needs.

 

[ArchTelecom]

There are also a couple low cost fax server software packages that can recieve incoing faxes and route them via email. A couple different ways they work:
1. General Fax Number - Everyone has a general fax number which is routed to the fax server via PBX or POTS lines. When the fax is recieved the program "reads" the header using OCR and looks for either an extension number (DID) or name, then routes it via email to the end user. If it doesn't know what to do with the fax it sends it to an administrator.
2. DID based - Everyone has a seperate DID number fax line which, again, is routed either via PBX or by having DID trunks directly into your server. The DID is linked to a specific user, and, when the fax is recieved, it is routed via email to the end user.

I am sure there are many other options as I have not fooled with fax servers for a while, but these are a couple. Look on the web for some of the programs. You will need a voice or T-1 card for the server, or PC that is running the program.

 

[elturko]

Interesting... Thanks for the info guys!

A few more questions now based on what you told me:

So with fax messaging, the user would then hit a button while listening to CP messages that would send the fax out to a fax machine. (I assume it's simply "refaxing" from the PBX to the fax machine?) Can users still send outbound faxes with fax messaging?

Also, with RightFax I understand that faxes arrive as e-mails with TIF attachments. With CP's Unified Messaging, do the faxes arrive as TIFs or in a proprietary format? The reason I ask is that one feature that would be nice would be the ability to forward faxes received via e-mail to users outside our building who wouldn't have the CallPilot software installed?

Thanks again, and I look forward to your continued insight!

Matt

 

[HUGWideBoy]

I have CallPilot 2 with voicemail and Fax (I also used to have Rightfax Version 8)

Stick with Callpilot.

Rightfax has to sit on a dedicated server. With dedicted ISDN links. (it's not the most stable beast either)

Callpilot (using 2 DDI's) is easy to use, I have all my emails and fax's coming into outlook. I can use my pc to listen to voicemails or my phone. I can open the fax's preview them and then choose to print them or bin the nasty adverts ones.

And the best bit..callpilot 201i for a option 11 is just a card you slot into the system..no dedicated servers to worry about.

Lastly...you have all the nice people in this forum to help you config the server

 

[sandyml]

elturko,
Yes, Call Pilot faxes are also in the TIFF-F format. And you are correct, the system basically just "faxes" to another fax machine if you just have fax messaging. And this is normally a fax machine on an extension of your PBX -- to print to an external number, you would need to configure your Call Pilot and PBX security accordingly. You would want Unified Messaging option in order to create and send faxes outbound.

 

[elturko]

Thanks all... The information has been most helpful!