Occam Solution's Icetrak is a central point for messages. All message formats are converted into emails and are registered in your inbox. Even if your company server goes down, Icetrak remains accessible via the Internet. As all types of messages are sent to email, you don't need a fax, telex or even a phone.
There are already many unified messaging services on the market (see below). Icetrak is said to be unique, however, in covering all messaging systems, rather than just fax, email and telephone. The full range of messages that Icetrak can tackle is: email, voicemail, SMS (short messaging service for mobile phones), electronic data interchange and pager messages, faxes and telexes. Instead of a fax, telex machine and fixed telephone, all you will need to receive all your messages is a laptop with an email system.
The service is also available to mobiles with Internet access. No special software is needed to use Icetrak. All that is required is a TIF viewer – a program that allows you read the faxes – which comes as standard with Windows 95, and a listening device for the voicemail messages.
When a company registers for Icetrak, Occam provides it with a DDI – direct dial inbound, your personal telephone number – for incoming messages. People phone, fax, telex or page your DDI number, then the Icetrak system converts the message and sends it to your email inbox. With outgoing messages, the user can send any text-based message to the Icetrak server, and it will convert it into the required format. Icetrak also sends a confirmation email each time a message is sent.
If you have Internet access, it is possible to check on the progress of your messages. To access the Icetrak site, Occam will provide you with a user name and password, which gives you access to your personal message log, for both outgoing and incoming messages. The system also enables the user to prioritise messages and send them out off-peak. If your company server goes down, you can still use the system through an internet-based email, as long as you have the Icetrak server number.
Companies pay an annual subscription fee for Icetrak, and per message for outbound services. This subscription to Icetrack costs £40-70, depending on the number of clients you use (the more the better), and to receive incoming voice messages costs extra. You then pay for each outward message. Faxes cost from 10p a page, telexes 30p a minute and SMSs 18-27p, depending on the amount of text. Only successful transmissions are paid for.
Tilbury Douglas and Balfour Beatty are in the process of assessing Icetrak. Stephen Walker a business analyst with contractor Tilbury Douglas in Birmingham says about Icetrak: "The incoming system works well, but outgoing is still under investigation. We are considering other systems for faxes. It's unclear at the moment how cost effective Icetrak is compared with competitors." A full evaluation from Tilbury Douglas and Balfour Beatty is expected sometime in the next month.
Other unified message services on the market
www.efax.com Free fax to email service. Users receive a personal fax number when they subscribe to the service via the eFax website. To view the documents, users need a Microviewer, which can be downloaded from www.starhome.com. Mobile phone users can read fax and emails by SMS, or listen to emails via a text-to-speech engine. www.yac.com Users are given a DDI number at the YAC website, to which telephone, email or fax messages can be directed. Users can then pick up their messages on a telephone, fax or email system of their choice. Voice messages and faxes can be picked up by email or phone. Faxes are attached to emails. Voice messages are converted to MP3 files. www.virtualplus.net Virtualplus provides two services to Internet service providers. Messagepoint converts phone and fax messages, voicemail and email to the telephone. The service costs £10 per month. Messagejet is a free service, diverting voicemail and faxes to an existing email address. Available at Extreme, Demon, Excite, Infoseek and Cybercity. www.jfax.com After signing up for this free service on the Jfax website, users can have their voicemails and faxes sent to an existing email address. Emails and fax headers can be converted to speech so users can access them using the telephone. However, the Jfax service is limited offering voicemail and fax messages to a fixed telephone number.Source
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