Fax Added to System i VoIP Solutions

March 11, 2008 Alex Woodie

Interested in getting FoIP, or fax over IP, along with your System i voice over IP (VoIP) solution? Then you may want to check out Sagem-Interstar, which next month plans to begin shipping a new version of its Linux-based FoIP server technology designed to work with the System i-based VoIP offerings from 3Com and Nortel.

VoIP plays a central role in IBM‘s Unified Communications (UC) strategy, but it’s not the only technology involved. E-mail is another important element of UC, as are instant messaging (IM), video conferencing, and Web-based collaboration tools such as wikis, blogs, and forums. All of this is being built on top of IBM’s Lotus Notes, Domino, and Sametime platform, although some pieces will also work with Microsoft UC components, notably Outlook.

Now IBM is giving fax some additional UC treatment through its partner, Sagem-Interstar, which plans to integrate its XMediusFAX T.38 FoIP server software with the System i-based VoIP solutions delivered by 3Com and Nortel. When the XMediusFAX fax offering becomes available in late April, it will allow customers to send and receive faxes directly from their Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients.

Customers will be served well by the combination of Sagem-Interstar’s “board-less” fax software and the System i’s UC offerings, says Jean Champagne, general manager of Sagem-Interstar, which is the North American subsidiary of the French company Sagem Communications. “Our integration for the IBM System i Unified Communications systems provides a very robust and cost-effective solution for faxing, voice, e-mail, calendaring, instant messaging and collaboration,” he says.

“Faxing is still a vital, legally binding means of B2B communication,” says Mike Rousseaux, the System i offering manager with IBM, “and with XMediusFAX, you will dramatically reduce communications costs and streamline business processes.”