FAXCOM¡ Fax Servers Add Support for Exchange 2000 and Active Directory

Biscom extends unique leadership position in directory-enabled fax servers

Dallas, TX (October 10, 2000) - At the Microsoft Exchange Conference, Biscom announced that version 8.0 of its FAXCOM for Exchange product will provide full integration with Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and Active Directory.

"Executing on our vision, we are extending our leadership position in the directory-enabled fax server market to be the only provider of fax servers that offers full enterprise level support of both Microsoft's Active Directory and Novell's NDS," states Don Dunning, Biscom's President.

Directory-enabled fax servers reduce the total cost of ownership by implementing an enterprise fax strategy that provides centralized and remote administration of fax users and queues via a common user interface. Training requirements are also reduced because administration is done through the same interface that is used to manage servers, users and other network resources, rather than through a purely proprietary interface that is unique to the fax server. With FAXCOM for Exchange 8.0, administration is done via Microsoft Management Console (MMC). Fax users and queues can be created and administered via MMC from any authorized location in the enterprise, and the data for fax users and queues is stored in Active Directory.

FAXCOM for Exchange enables users to send and receive faxes from the Microsoft Outlook and Exchange environments. Because FAXCOM for Exchange is implemented as a connector, no additional software needs to be installed on the client. To send a fax, the user simply selects contacts from the phone book, attaches the relevant files and sends. A native file conversion and rendering engine in the server converts attached files from most common desktop applications into fax format. Inbound faxes are routed automatically into user mailboxes or, for workflow applications, public folders. The product's robust architecture supports multiple connectors, Exchange servers and fax servers to provide redundancy and recovery from network points of failure. FAXCOM for Exchange has also been certified to work with unified messaging products from Lucent, Nokia, and Active Voice.

Some key features of FAXCOM for Exchange 8.0 include:

• All user, group, printer, public folder information is read from and stored in Active Directory. FAXCOM for Exchange version 8.0 includes custom property pages that extend the Active Directory "Users and Computers" Microsoft Management Console snap-in to manage schema extensions for these objects.

• Fax queues configuration data is stored in the "Configuration" partition of an Active Directory database. A Biscom extension to the Active Directory "Sites and Services" MMC snap-in manage and install multiple fax queues on remote Windows 2000 servers. Multiple remote and local fax queues throughout the enterprise can be managed from a single MMC workstation.

• FAXCOM for Exchange connectors are managed from the "Connectors" node in the Exchange System Manager.

• The assignment of users to fax queues is integrated with Active Directory "Group Policies."

• The ability to create and manage multiple fax queues and multiple FAXCOM for Exchange connectors in a single Active Directory domain allows for a distributed, load-balanced and redundant fax solution for the enterprise.

According to Gus Agudelo, lead architect for directory-enabled products at Biscom, "FAXCOM for Exchange 8.0 will evolve into a FAXCOM for Active Directory 'suite' product that is similar to FAXCOM for NDS as we add support for non-Outlook clients, including Biscom's Windows-based FAXCOM Manager, FAXCOM Web Client, and mobile devices."

FAXCOM for Exchange version 8.0 will ship in Q1 2000. Current users of FAXCOM for Exchange version 6.19 who are running Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and migrate to Exchange 2000 Server will not be required to upgrade their version of FAXCOM for Exchange in the short term.

"Most of our customers who have a migration strategy from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000 Server will take over a year to complete this process and will operate in a mixed-mode environment," according to Tomas Keri, the lead architect for FAXCOM for Exchange 8.0 at Biscom. "We have also tested our current version of FAXCOM for Exchange, version 6.19,with Exchange 2000 Server and have confirmed that the product works perfectly with Exchange 2000 Server operating in mixed mode."

For more information on Biscom and Biscom's products, visit Biscom's web site at www.biscom.com, send an email to sales@biscom.com or contact a Biscom account representative at 1-800-477-2472 (978-250-1800 outside U.S.A.).

About Biscom Founded in 1986, Biscom is widely recognized for its pioneering advances in the technology of enterprise fax management. FAXCOM fax servers operate on heterogeneous networks with a variety of operating systems, messaging applications, and ERP applications to simplify and control the process of sending and receiving faxes throughout the enterprise. Biscom provides end-to-end fax solutions that are reliable, scalable and flexible. Biscom's complete fax solutions offer on-site installation, T1 and PBX integration, 7x24 support, application consulting, and expert imaging, network and communications engineering support. FAXCOM fax servers have won numerous awards, including, most recently, the NetWork Computing Well-Connected Award for the year 2000.

©2000 Biscom, Inc. FAXCOM¡ is a registered trademark of Biscom, Inc All other registered trademarks or trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice.