Esker and Onset Technology Partner to Automatically Route Inbound Faxes

Stillwater, Oklahoma (PROTEXT) - Esker and Onset Technology today announce a partnership pairing Esker's fax server products with Onset's ThruFax inbound fax routing technology. Esker's popular LanFax server software and Faxgate production fax software can now deliver additional productivity for users and system administrators because documents are automatically routed to the correct location using Onset's ThruFax software module. Onset has optimized the software for both new and existing Esker LanFax customers. The combination of these products will read and intelligently route inbound faxes without human intervention. Onset's ThruFax uses Intelliroute(TM) technology to identify the intended recipient on a cover page or document, intelligently match this with the corporate address book, and create an e-mail document which is automatically sent to the recipient. This integration of technology delivers the fax as editable text as well as the original fax image, allowing the receiver to edit and reuse the content in other applications. Traditional Routing Problem Fax persists as a fundamental form of business communication, and the use of fax automation is rising dramatically. While outbound fax automation is in widespread use throughout enterprises, inbound fax automation is less pervasive due to the difficulties of routing faxes once they are received. A recent poll* reveals that more than half the enterprises responding use fax automation, but less than 25% use it for inbound fax routing. While Esker LanFax software already supports a variety of attributes and techniques to route incoming faxes -- DID, RSCID, length of fax, time received, date received, and others -- the most desirable routing criteria is the recipient's name itself. On a fax, this information does not exist as machine-readable text, but as image data. Working together, Esker and Onset have successfully implemented a solution that correctly routes incoming faxes with up to 90% accuracy -- with no misroutes. * Gartner Group IT Vendor Direct Quick Poll data. Quick Poll data does not represent Gartner Group analysis or endorsement. The Esker/Onset solution The Esker/Onset fax routing solution works in conjunction with an installed fax server and a corporate e-mail network. When a fax arrives at the fax server, ThruFax analyzes the fax page layout and structure, "reads" the content and determines to whom the fax should be delivered. The fax is translated into editable text, which is provided in the message field of the e-mail. The bitmap image of the fax is also provided as an e-mail attachment. To the end-user, their fax simply appears as a message in their e-mail in-box, just seconds after it arrives at the fax server. "We began working with Esker about 15 months ago," says Drew Freeman, vice-president of sales and marketing for Onset. "ThruFax was developed in collaboration with Esker and several of their fax customers who conducted Beta tests. The result is a solution that is optimized for the Esker fax product line, both Alcom LanFax and Faxgate. It is very easy to setup, often taking no more than 20 minutes. Best of all, neither the sender or receiver of the fax has to change the way they use fax for ThruFax to read and route a fax. When ThruFax is implemented with an Esker fax server, it streamlines what is usually a manual process of routing inbound faxes, improving the time value of information and eliminating the significant administrative costs associated with manually retrieving and walking faxes to users." Customer experiences with this fax routing solution confirm its ease-of- use and value. In October 1997, the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP) installed a Microsoft Exchange server. "At that time, we wanted our faxes to come into end-user inboxes," states Bob Doster, director of computer services for IAFP. "We thought it would be nice if our e-mail and faxes could all be in the same place." IAFP receives on-average 200 faxes per day -- copies of relevant legislation, membership applications and renewals, meeting registrations, and other documents. Now that he has implemented ThruFax, nearly all of the faxes are routed automatically, with only about 10 faxes per day requiring manual routing. "ThruFax was very easy to implement and works very well," Doster concludes. "I am amazed at how my faxes automatically arrive in my inbox. It's really quick!" Pricing and Availability A free, 3-user version of Esker's Alcom LanFax is available via download from http://www.alcom.com. Alcom LanFax NT 6.0 pricing starts at $695.00 for 5 users and 1 fax line. Esker's Faxgate software pricing starts at $2,495. ThruFax is currently available and sells for $395 per server. A 10-user pack sells for $200 and volume pricing for additional user quantities is available. Esker is an authorized reseller of ThruFax. About Onset Technology Onset develops software that uses proprietary and external recognition technologies to streamline human-computer interaction. Onset's corporate headquarters are located at 125 Mission St., Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, telephone (831) 471-1360, fax (408) 480-5764. Onset's Web address is www.onsettechnology.com. About Esker Esker develops and delivers software products that integrate existing and emerging technologies, allowing enterprises to create better connections between people and information. The company's connectivity products include: -- Tun PLUS for terminal emulation, database access and networking services for traditional PC and multi-user Windows NT environments -- Esker PLUS, a two-tier Web-to-host solution for Intranet environments, and Corridor for Active Server, a three-tier HTML conversion solution for Internet/extranet environments -- Faxgate and Alcom LanFax for Document Distribution The company was founded in 1985 and is traded on the French Stock Exchange (Le Nouveau Marche: 3581). Esker's operations span North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific with 190 employees and an installed base of over half a million licensed users worldwide. All trademarks, service marks, product and company names are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Jerry Rackley of Esker, (USA) 405-624-8000 X246, or email, jrackley@esker.com. ots Original Text Service: Esker Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Jerry Rackley of Esker, (USA) 405-624-8000 X246, or email, jrackley@esker.com Web site: http://www.esker.com http://www.alcom.com http://www.onsettechnology.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT