Inside Look at CallXpress Digital Networking

Re-engineered with CallXpress 7.91, Digital Networking has evolved to provide an even more robust and reliable voice messaging network.

What is Digital Networking?

Digital networking is an advanced CallXpress application that allows telephony servers to exchange voice and fax  messages over any network based on the TCP/IP protocol—a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or the Internet.

Digital Networking allows you to combine a number of CallXpress servers into a single, coordinated messaging system that serves an entire enterprise. Easy to view progress bars keep you updated when activity is underway between the master server and other nodes in the network.

In his second video blog documentary, Chris Sullivan interviews software engineers, Timothy Blaisdell and Bill Matzen to get an inside look at how Digital Networking works.

Related Articles

• Solution Brief: CallXpress for Large and Multi-Site Enterprises
• Press Release: Manatee County Expands Deployment of CallXpress® to Support Network Disaster Recovery Strategy

Sneak Peak of CallXpress 8 Web PhoneManager

Earlier this year I sat down with software engineer, Adam Warbington to discuss his role in the highly anticipated CallXpress 8 release.

In the following 3 1/2 minute video blog, Adam gives viewers a sneak peak at the newly designed Web PhoneManager (WPM) in CallXpress 8.  You’ll definitely want to check it out and watch as Adam highlights the cool new availability settings included in CX8.

What is Web PhoneManager?
WPM allows subscribers to manage their mailboxes through their preferred web browser, through the company’s intranet or possibly from outside the office through an Internet connection. This web-based utility is available through any web browser that has access to the server on which it resides. Within WPM, subscribers can also create and update name and greeting recordings for their mailboxes, and send new voice messages.

CallXpress 8 Web PhoneManager
With the release of CallXpress 8, WPM has been greatly enhanced with JavaScript/AJAX support for much improved usability when managing messages. Also, playback of messages using streaming audio has been changed to use MP3 audio through Adobe Flash Player for faster playback, greater browser and operating system compatibility, and greatly simplified installation and configuration.

Why upgrade to CallXpress 8?

So you’ve heard the buzz….CallXpress 8, AVST’s next generation feature-rich Unified Communications platform delivers high availability, scalability, centralization, cost savings, mobility and more.  But what does this mean to you?

It means that CallXpress 8 delivers the mission critical functionality you have been looking for while protecting your current and future communications infrastructure.

Here are the some of the highlights of CallXpress 8:

• High Availability and Disaster Recovery - New, multi-call server architecture delivers continuous high availability and avoids system downtime.   A multi-server architecture combined with Neverfail®, a fully synchronized hot standby, provides IT administrators with the peace of mind that CallXpress is running 24×7.
• Centralization – CallXpress 8 provides customers with the ability to centralize messaging and call processing applications by using their existing voice or data networks and deploying AVST’s survivable call server technology or SIP gateways.
• Speech -  CallXpress provides speech access to your company’s communication infrastructure and real-time call connectivity. It also offers hands-free mobile management of telephone calls, e-mails, fax messages, contacts and calendar and complies with the hands-free mobile phone laws enacted in many states and countries.
• Personal Assistant - Provides Find-me/Follow-me capabilities to automatically route calls to the most appropriate telephone based on their current presence as well as Calendar and Contact management for users of Microsoft® Exchange and IBM® Lotus Notes®.  When combined with existing mobility applications such as unified messaging, voice user interface, and single number/single mailbox, CallXpress 8 becomes the most mobility-enabled solution offered by AVST to date.
• Scalability - Now able to scale up to 384 ports and 40,000 users, CallXpress 8 doubles the scalability of previous versions and can be networked for larger capacity.
• Interoperability - CallXpress 8 is compatible with more than 250 TDM, IP-PBX, and Centrex integrations with the ability to support up to 10 switches on a CallXpress system.
   

Understand the Benefits of Upgrading to CallXpress 8

AVST believes it is critical for customers to continually utilize the latest version of software. Proactive upgrades ensure optimal performance, continued feature enhancements, increased stability, and ongoing compatibility with emerging communications technology. Click here to view a feature matrix that lists many of the features available with recent versions of CallXpress.

Related Links:

• CallXpress 8 Unifying Communications Brochure
• High Availability Datasheet 
• Personal Assistant Datasheet 
• Legacy Voicemail Replacement Datasheet

Defining the Right Path to Unified Messaging - part 2

(part 2 of 2 in blog series) I already spent some time discussing the purpose of Unified Messaging and provided a high level overview of the most popular feature sets. Now I want to take you behind the scenes and explore how Unified Messaging can be deployed.

So, let’s take a look at the various architectures used to support Unified Messaging in CallXpress. By architecture, I am simply referring to the different ways to connect your voicemail system, your telephone system, and your e-mail system to deliver Unified Messaging functionality. There are four generally recognized architectures accepted in the market today. AVST’s marketing department created a cool brochure that outlines the “Four Flavors of Unified Messaging.”   I’m going to break down each architecture for you so you understand them, and then I’m going to talk about what the implications are for using 0one of these architectures as opposed to another. Read more

Do You Understand these 5 Critical Considerations for Successful Unified Messaging Deployment?

Compliance

As mentioned in Tom Minifie’s "Message Archive for Compliance" blog post, compliance, electronic discovery, regulatory inquiries, and retention policies have become common topics within the business environment over the last few years.  Existing Federal and State regulations regarding the retention and storage of electronic information means that it is critical to pay close attention to corporate compliance issues when considering the various Unified Messaging solution architectures.

AVST’s Recommendation: Consult with your corporate compliance officer or legal counsel to ensure you pick the Unified Messaging architecture that best meets your organization’s compliance requirements.  If you haven’t already done so, make sure you read up on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) that impact electronically stored information (ESI).

Confidentiality

Preventing the external distribution of confidential corporate voice, e-mail and fax messages is, in many cases, as critical a consideration as compliance when evaluating Unified Messaging solutions.

AVST’s Recommendation: Thoroughly understand your organization’s requirements for protecting the confidentiality of corporate data to ensure you select the correct Unified Messaging architecture for your business.

Configuration

Selecting a Unified Messaging solution that has the architectural flexibility to future proof your investment is another critical consideration. AVST uniquely offers four different architectural options in its Unified Messaging solution to ensure your organization has the maximum deployment flexibility today and, just as importantly, the ability to change the configuration of your Unified Messaging solution in the future based upon the evolving needs of your organization.

AVST’s Recommendation: Attend an AVST webinar on Unified Messaging to ensure that you fully understand the implications of deploying each different Unified Messaging architecture.  We recommend the following recorded webinars: "Four Flavors of Unified Messaging" and "Defining the Right Path to Unified Messaging".

Capability

Understanding the capabilities of each Unified Messaging solution you are evaluating is another critical consideration. What are the features and flexibility of the solution? Does it meet the requirements of your users that will be accessing the solution via the desktop, web, phone and/or mobile device? Can you deploy different feature sets for different users?

AVST’s Recommendation: Complete the Unified Messaging checklist to ensure that the Unified Messaging solutions you are evaluating have the features and flexibility your organization demands.

Cost

Understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) for each Unified Messaging solution you are evaluating is another key consideration. Some questions to consider (and quantify) are:

• Do I have to buy licenses for all employees in my organization?
• How much will it cost me to add additional users in the future?
• How much is the annual maintenance?
• What additional hardware and software is required to deploy?
• Do I need to upgrade or replace my groupware solution to get Unified Messaging?
• Will the Unified Messaging solution integrate with my existing and future telephony infrastructure?
• How much additional cost is involved if I decide to switch groupware solutions in the future?
• How much will it cost to implement the Unified Messaging solution?

AVST’s Recommendation: Develop a clear set of pricing, configuration and support guidelines and apply it to each Unified Messaging solution you are evaluating. Consider a five year TCO timeframe to ensure that you have the whole picture

What Every IT Administrator Should Know about Reaping the Cost Cutting Benefits of Unified Communications

Has the struggling economy led you to re-evaluate how your organization communicates?  When AVST set out to deliver an open communication platform,  over 26 years ago, we did so with our customers’ pocketbook in mind! Here are some quick tips on how AVST’s Unified Communication solution can save your company money.

1. Our Unified Communication platform, CallXpress interoperates into your existing telephony and groupware infrastructure leveraging your existing investments and  minimizing  your short term capital expenditures;
2. Unified Messaging offers a single message access point for mobile and office workers increasing your employees personal productivity;
3. Self service applications like Auto Agent, Auto Attendant, Notification, and Speech-based Personal Assistant remove human latency and expense;
4. Internet based communication such as our Web PhoneManager reduces traditional telephone service to access voicemail and IT solution deployment costs for thick client (desktop) solutions;
5. Single number access for fixed and mobile environments increases call completion and productivity;
6. Software-based faxing eliminates fax machines and associated maintenance and supply expenses and improved individual productivity;
7. Unlimited voicemail mailbox licensing saves your enterprise significant cost on a legacy voicemail platform replacement;
8. Open standards based hardware significantly reduces ongoing maintenance costs and TCO of platform versus legacy platforms;
9. Telephone User Interface emulations minimize user training and associated cost when transitioning your legacy voicemail system to CallXpress;
10. Ala-carte feature delivery for different segments of workforce minimizes incremental licensing cost; and
11. AVST in partnership with CIT offers flexible financing plans

 Related Articles:

• UC End User Productivity Study Final - posted by Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst
  COMMfusion

Defining the Right Path to Unified Messaging

(part 1 of 2 in blog series) Unified Messaging is interesting. It’s been around long enough where there’s a number of ways to deploy it. Everyone has a slightly different idea on how you should do that. And if nothing else, when you’re done reading this two part blog post, you should understand the ways of deploying it, which in turn should give you some direction when making choices for your enterprise.

So what is Unified Messaging about? It’s really about access to messages. Unified Messaging provides easier, more productive access to all your message types: voice, fax and e-mail. Not only does Unified Messaging provide access to all your message types but it also enables access from the terminal or device you’d like to use, regardless of location. It’s certainly easy to see that sitting at our desks at work, we have an e-mail client and we spend much of our day inside there. Putting a voice and a fax message into that e-mail client makes it much easier to manage our activities. By integrating these items into a single system, I can now group all my messages based on subject or based on promotions and programs I am working on. I can also use the same way of working, the same kind of prioritization of the e-mail inbox to look for important messages to cover all types of messages, not just e-mail. But it goes beyond that because for some of us, working at a desktop all day long isn’t an option. In today’s mobile environment the urgency to receive messages in a timely manner is magnified, and the benefit of managing all your messages from a single screen is crucial. Read more

Message Archive for Compliance

Over the last few years, compliance, electronic discovery, regulatory inquiries, and retention policies have become common topics within the business environment. In fact, in December 2006, new US procedures went into effect that mandates all electronically stored information (ESI) is discoverable. Although there has been some debate on whether voicemail is included in this, companies must have a well defined electronic document creation, retention, and destruction policy for all forms of ESI.

AVST isn’t here to hand out legal advice on this issue. That’s what lawyers are for. However, AVST does spend a lot of time determining what we can provide within our products to help our customers solve these types of issues. In this case, we have elected to integrate with software designed for this purpose.

There are many products designed to help companies meet their compliance obligations. One such product is Symantec’s Enterprise Vault, the industry leader in e-mail and content archiving. Message archiving is already a common practice with e-mail systems. When companies deploy unified messaging (UM) in a server-based configuration, these archives can also include voicemail. However, many customers don’t deploy UM in this manner, or will want or need to archive voicemail with unique retention policies, separate from e-mail. To that end, AVST has worked with Vault Solutions to provide message archive functionality through integration with Symantec Enterprise Vault. The integration is provided by Vault Solutions’ Archive Accelerator product. With this combination, CallXpress voice messages are stored in the “vault” for future access.

To learn more about Archive Accelerator and support for CallXpress message archiving, contact Rick Ganis at rick@vault-solutions.com.

Related Articles:

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP)
• The Impact of the New FRCP Amendments on Your Business - An Osterman Research White Paper
  

A Bit of AVST History from Doug Murray

AVT’s first computer had a 8088 processor, 768K of RAM, a 20 MB hard drive, two 8 inch floppy drives and three telephony boards from a long defunct company named Computalker Consultants. We paid extra for the classy wood case. It was purchased in early 1983, which was before the IBM PC XT (which had a 10 MB hard drive) was announced. 

This computer served multiple functions for the business - software development, text editing of business documents and running PhoneXpress (the early name of CallXpress). The computer ran the MP/M operating system which supported multi-processing and time sharing which allowed us to work on four serial terminals simultaneously. We took live PhoneXpress calls on this system while we were using it for all of the other purposes; not a practice to be recommended! By the end of 1984 we had moved on to IBM XTs and were using Brooktrout telephony cards. In 1985 we graduated to IBM ATs and started using Dialogic telephony cards. We still use later generations of this technology today.

Related Links:

• AVST Corporate History: Did you know AVST was established in September 2003 from the combined businesses of Sound Advantage (established in 1997) and the AVT division (established in 1982) of Captaris, Inc.?
  
• And just for fun…the DigiBarn computer museum website has some additional photos of the CompuPro System 8/16 system

CallXpress 8.0 Beta Trial

• Multi-box Architecture
  CallXpress now has the capability of being deployed on a single server or across multiple servers for greater scalability and increased availability. CallXpress 8.0 supports up to 96 ports and 10,000 subscribers in a single server deployment or up to 384 ports and 40,000 subscribers in a multi-server deployment.
• Speech Recognition
  Adding Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) resources to the system allows customers to build speech-based auto attendants where callers interact with the system using speech commands rather than traditional DTMF keys. Additionally, a new Voice User Interface (VUI) allows subscribers to manage their messages and mailbox using speech commands.
• Availability and Find-me/Follow-me
  CallXpress can now control features like find-me/follow-me based on the subscriber’s availability. For example, an auto attendant transfer to a subscriber using find-me/follow-me and is "in the office", might ring their desk phone first, followed by their mobile phone. When the subscriber is "out of the office" it would only ring their mobile phone.
• Microsoft® Exchange®/IBM Lotus® Notes® Calendar and Contacts
  Using the new Voice User Interface, unified messaging subscribers can manage their calendar appointments and contacts. For example, a user can hear all of their meetings and appointments for the current day by saying "get calendar for today".
•  Web PhoneManager
  Web PhoneManager (WPM) has been greatly enhanced with JavaScript/AJAX support for much improved usability when managing messages. Also, playback of messages using streaming audio has been changed to use MP3 audio through Adobe Flash Player for faster playback, greater browser and operating system compatibility, and greatly simplified installation and configuration.
• G.729 Audio Encoding
  G.729 audio encoding provides support for remote workers and centralized voicemail where G.729 compression is used.
• Dialogic 1000 Series Media Gateway
  A Dialogic Media Gateway (DMG) can be used to integrate a local or remote telephone system to CallXpress using SIP between CallXpress and the DMG. The DMG then connects to the telephone system using analog lines with in-band signaling, analog lines with serial link signaling, or station set emulation.

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