Here are some latest observations and perspectives brought
to my attention, comments welcome – MM
Open Text RightFax:
The folks at RightFax have a lot of newness to talk about; especially
with respect to branch offices, appliance fax, secure email, hosted fax, cloud-based
support, online access, and even a cool integration with the Cortado
Communications Server for mobile users. You would come to expect nothing less
from them as the dominant player in this space. Version 10 is solid and I now ask, “What’s next?”
etherFAX:
EtherFAX has come on to the stage with offerings that put the entire telephony infrastructure in the “cloud” – really cool stuff and it represents an alternative to FoIP and an alternative to supporting a telephony infrastructure internally. A good company to watch and I’m sure we will hear more about them.
EtherFAX has come on to the stage with offerings that put the entire telephony infrastructure in the “cloud” – really cool stuff and it represents an alternative to FoIP and an alternative to supporting a telephony infrastructure internally. A good company to watch and I’m sure we will hear more about them.
Biscom:
While we’re on the topic of “diss-ing” FoIP: A short time ago, Biscom introduced “Biscom IP FAX”, which they say stands for “High Definition-Internet Protocol Fax” (HD IPFAX). This is a proprietary technology they’ve developed that circumvents the need for a traditional PSTN or FoIP connection. Companies that require high definition, color imagery transfers can use IPFAX to transport at very high speeds via their encrypted internet connection. A great application for medical imaging, graphic arts, retail stores, and many other industries that require high resolution color image or color fax delivery.
While we’re on the topic of “diss-ing” FoIP: A short time ago, Biscom introduced “Biscom IP FAX”, which they say stands for “High Definition-Internet Protocol Fax” (HD IPFAX). This is a proprietary technology they’ve developed that circumvents the need for a traditional PSTN or FoIP connection. Companies that require high definition, color imagery transfers can use IPFAX to transport at very high speeds via their encrypted internet connection. A great application for medical imaging, graphic arts, retail stores, and many other industries that require high resolution color image or color fax delivery.
Question: Is color
fax an underserved market?? (Comments
welcome)
Sagemcom:
Their web site is stale and the latest news goes back to July of 2011. They hit the ground hard on the marketing front a few years back and had lots of good, captive messaging, online presence, product packaging, and all of that neat stuff we’re supposed to understand about social media. Their FoIP offering was touted to be superior and inroads were being made on the Cisco front too. Seems lately not much is happening with Sagemcom? A recent shake-up and key personnel may have had some effect and one wonders what they're up to now.
Esker:
More of the same here too. I don’t even know where to start so I simply checked out their web page to see what's new: Their overall layout and message is a bit confusing and off slightly, I found. Side-by-side with a very horizontal, "Document Delivery" targeted segment, are three very application-specific business segments: "Accounts Receivable", "Accounts Payable", and "Sales Order Processing". This seems disjointed to me and this is what they lead with on the home page. In the backdrop however, are the links to the products page which does get into each of their "fax" specific products. As a reviewer I am just not sure what they're trying to say about fax or document delivery exactly, but I am aware that they have a notable install base and lots of experience in the industry.
I will however, commend their targeted focus on the back-office, ERP (SAP, Oracle, etc.) space. If they could get their message on point, they will make more waves in production fax and other niches within the space.
More of the same here too. I don’t even know where to start so I simply checked out their web page to see what's new: Their overall layout and message is a bit confusing and off slightly, I found. Side-by-side with a very horizontal, "Document Delivery" targeted segment, are three very application-specific business segments: "Accounts Receivable", "Accounts Payable", and "Sales Order Processing". This seems disjointed to me and this is what they lead with on the home page. In the backdrop however, are the links to the products page which does get into each of their "fax" specific products. As a reviewer I am just not sure what they're trying to say about fax or document delivery exactly, but I am aware that they have a notable install base and lots of experience in the industry.
I will however, commend their targeted focus on the back-office, ERP (SAP, Oracle, etc.) space. If they could get their message on point, they will make more waves in production fax and other niches within the space.
Kofax:
As the supposed leader in the production fax rat race (if you believe Davidson, 2010), and, now that Topcall has assimilated into the Kofax Communications Server (KCS) - don't expect Kofax to sit idle in the great big, ever increasing pond of fish we call the fax server space. Unless of course, the fax product gets subsumed under the greater umbrella of Kofax products and solutions, that is.
The Kofax home page says nothing about fax, until you find the KCS page (which is a redirect page for the previous Topcall web URL by the way). As a matter of fact, they appear to go out of their way to not use the “f” word at all. That’s so last decade!
Still, they have a large chunk of the production fax market and their message is consistent however, yet centered on the “Business Communication Server” message which hasn't wavered much. And, the over-arching company message centers on “capture-enabled business process” so at least at some level the TopCall acquisition is a good fit. It all depends on where they go from here.
As the supposed leader in the production fax rat race (if you believe Davidson, 2010), and, now that Topcall has assimilated into the Kofax Communications Server (KCS) - don't expect Kofax to sit idle in the great big, ever increasing pond of fish we call the fax server space. Unless of course, the fax product gets subsumed under the greater umbrella of Kofax products and solutions, that is.
The Kofax home page says nothing about fax, until you find the KCS page (which is a redirect page for the previous Topcall web URL by the way). As a matter of fact, they appear to go out of their way to not use the “f” word at all. That’s so last decade!
Still, they have a large chunk of the production fax market and their message is consistent however, yet centered on the “Business Communication Server” message which hasn't wavered much. And, the over-arching company message centers on “capture-enabled business process” so at least at some level the TopCall acquisition is a good fit. It all depends on where they go from here.
GFI:
Now available on their 2012 version, GFI has a notable niche play in the fax server space. Their prowess in email and network security gives them a leg up on straightforward email and fax integrations. They have a strong MS Exchange, SMTP and IBM Lotus message combined with the FaxMaker product emphasis as a tightly integrated fax/email platform.
GFI seems to choose to stay out of production fax war games and focus on their core strengths which will probably give them a noteworthy share of the fax market pie nonetheless. Their search engine and ad word skills are top notch, as I cannot surf the web anymore without seeing a GFI advertisement presented to me just about everywhere I turn.
Now available on their 2012 version, GFI has a notable niche play in the fax server space. Their prowess in email and network security gives them a leg up on straightforward email and fax integrations. They have a strong MS Exchange, SMTP and IBM Lotus message combined with the FaxMaker product emphasis as a tightly integrated fax/email platform.
GFI seems to choose to stay out of production fax war games and focus on their core strengths which will probably give them a noteworthy share of the fax market pie nonetheless. Their search engine and ad word skills are top notch, as I cannot surf the web anymore without seeing a GFI advertisement presented to me just about everywhere I turn.
