AVT, Lotus, IBM Unify AS/400 Messaging
For the first time, AS/400 users now have a unified messaging solution for their Lotus Notes and Domino environment, as AVT Corp.’s (Kirkland, Wash.) CallXpress product has passed the IBM benchmark to provide that functionality in an AS/400 environment consisting of both Lotus Notes and Domino.
| CallXpress enables users to manage e-mail, voice and fax messages all from their Lotus Notes inbox. |
For AVT, the announcement marks its first foray into the AS/400 market and further extends its relationship with Lotus. In October of 1999, AVT and Lotus joined forces to provide comprehensive unified messaging for Lotus Domino (R5) server and Lotus Notes R5 client.
“Lotus came to us and said there were more and more customers deploying Notes and Domino on the AS/400,” says AVT director of marketing, Laura Johnson, noting that a report by IDC (Framingham, Mass.) says almost half of the 700,000 AS/400 units sold worldwide use Lotus Domino or will deploy Domino soon.
“Our existing customers are seeing the value of Notes and Domino on an AS/400 and are starting to use it for more than just e-mail,” says Nyrie Paloulian, IBM ISV manager for Domino/400. “As far as we know, no one out there has [unified messaging] for the AS/400 with a Notes and Domino environment.”
CallXpress extends the value of Domino, enabling users to manage e-mail, voice and fax messages all from their Notes inbox and access them all from a PC, telephone, or Web browser, regardless of time or place.
For instance, a mobile worker can dial into a single number and get access to their messages, regardless of format. CallXpress tells where fax messages originated and how long it is. It allows the user to listen to e-mail messages and reply to the e-mail over the phone. The message will be converted to text and sent as an e-mail reply to the sender. “Regardless of where you are and what type of message you have, we’re going to give you access to those messages,” says Johnson.
CallXpress can also notify a user when they have messages. “You can configure CallXpress to contact you at certain times of the day, to contact you with messages from certain people, things like that,” Johnson adds.
Jointly developed and tested in the IBM testing center, CallXpress will be marketed by all three parties involved. “We’re going to be introducing AVT into the AS/400 market,” says Paloulian. “This opens up new markets. We’re going to customers and giving them a complete solution from A to Z for unified messaging on a reliable, scalable platform.”According to Johnson, the adoption rate of its unified messaging solution has been taking off, particularly in the mobile workforce. “We have a great story and the AS/400 brings us the reliability that customers like to have,” she says. “It’s great for AS/400 customers because we’re bringing fax and voice messaging into their company and extending the value of Notes and Domino.”
Related Information:
AVT Corp. B2B Solutions Page (new window)Lotus Messaging Solutions Page (new window)