Concord Technologies Announces Integration of Internet Fax and Unified
Messaging Services with Symantec's WinFax PRO 9.0 New Services Deliver
Internet Telephony to Millions of registered users of WinFax PRO registered users.
August 31, 1998
SEATTLE, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Concord Technologies
Inc., a leading provider of enhanced messaging services, today announced the
availability of new Internet fax and unified messaging services that operate with
Symantec Corporation's WinFax PRO(TM) 9.0, which was released this week. The
services give the 15 million registered users of WinFax PRO the ability to bypass
traditional long distance networks to gain the convenience and cost savings of the
Internet for both sending faxes and retrieving voice, fax and email messages. This joint
marketing and development effort introduces Internet telephony to the mass market
through the world's best-selling fax software.
The Internet fax service, Concord Internet Fax(SM), allows users to send faxes from
WinFax PRO over the Internet using a dial-up or LAN connection via any ISP. By
utilizing this service, businesses can reduce their long distance fax costs by as much as
50 percent as well as eliminate the expense and time associated with printing and
manually faxing documents. Subscribers to the unified messaging service, Concord
Universal Mailbox(SM), are provided a single electronic mailbox for incoming voice, fax
and email messages. Users can connect to any ISP using WinFax PRO to retrieve
messages for free. Messages can also be retrieved using a Web browser, a touch-tone
telephone or a fax machine. The new services join Concord's existing 'WinFax PRO
companion services' Concord Fax Broadcast(SM) and Concord Fax Mailbox(SM), which
have been operating with WinFax PRO since 1994.
"With its new Universal Mailbox and Internet Fax services, Concord has proven that
they can deliver today on the promise of IP telephony to a wide range of business
users," said Christopher Calisi, vice president of Symantec's Remote Productivity
Business Unit. "The new services work seamlessly in WinFax PRO, offering significant
cost savings and unparalleled ease of use."
Concord Internet Fax
Concord Internet Fax combines the world's most robust PC fax software with
LAN-based faxing capabilities and the Internet to provide the most cost-effective and
convenient method of faxing available today. With the click of a mouse, Concord
Internet Fax allows WinFax PRO users to send faxes from WinFax PRO to any fax
number in the world. The faxes are sent over the Internet to Concord's Internet fax
platforms, which then deliver the faxes to their ultimate destinations over the lowest
cost route using a combination of data or public telephone networks. For its Internet fax
service, Concord deployed scalable, carrier-class fax platforms from Open Port
Technology (Chicago, IL), engineered to handle the capacity demands of a high-volume
service provider environment.
By allowing desktop PC-based faxing over an existing LAN, Concord Internet Fax saves
companies hundreds of hours of employee time by eliminating the need to print, retrieve
and manually fax documents. Because users submit faxes to Concord's service directly
from their PCs, businesses can implement PC-based faxing company-wide without the
need to install new phone lines and modems or purchase fax servers.
Concord Internet Fax also reduces a business' hard costs, with fax rates up to 50% lower
than those of long distance carriers. With businesses worldwide spending an average
of 40% of long distance costs on fax, the potential savings are significant. In addition,
the service offers real-time status reporting and automatic redialing when the fax number
is busy.
Concord Universal Mailbox
Concord Universal Mailbox provides the widest array of message retrieval capabilities
of any unified messaging service on the market. Subscribers to the service are provided
an 800 number and an email address for incoming voice, fax and email messages. With
an Internet connection from any ISP, messages can be retrieved into WinFax PRO or by
using a web browser to visit the Concord Message Center at www.concord.net. In
addition, customers can use a touch-tone telephone anywhere in the world to listen to
their voice messages as well as listen to text-to-speech header information for all
message types. Upon reviewing header information, fax and email messages can be
forwarded to print at a nearby fax machine. If the customer is using the touch-tone
handset of a fax machine, fax and email messages can be printed on the spot.
Concord Universal Mailbox targets businesses whose employees require easy access to
their messages while mobile and seek the benefits of confidentiality and electronic
archival for all of their messages. Optional features include international access
numbers, pager notification and email notification. Concord Universal Mailbox operates
on a carrier-grade platform supplied by PulsePoint Communications (Carpinteria, Calif).
"Concord Internet Fax and Concord Universal Mailbox immediately bring advanced IP
telephony services to a broad market, through off-the-shelf software," said Chris
Moore, president of Concord Technologies. " These services are going to change the
way people communicate, in both small and large businesses. They represent a leap into
the future which leverages the Internet to bring down costs and enhance functionality
and convenience. "
About Symantec Corporation
Symantec is the world leader in communications and utility software for business and
personal computing. Symantec products and solutions help make users productive and
keep their computers safe and reliable anywhere and anytime. Symantec offers a broad
range of solutions and is acclaimed as a leader in both customer satisfaction and
product brand recognition. Symantec is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC.
More information on the company and its products can be obtained at
www.symantec.com.
About Concord Technologies, Inc.
Concord Technologies is a visionary computer telephony company that provides
leading-edge messaging services to clients ranging in size from small office/home
offices (SOHOs) to Fortune 500 companies. Concord's services have been market
leaders in enhanced messaging since 1994 and are embraced by more than one third of
the Fortune 500 companies. The company is headquartered in Seattle, WA and has
software development offices in Toronto, ON. For more information, visit
www.concordfax.com.
WinFax PRO is a trademark of Symantec Corporation, and Concord Internet Fax,
Concord Universal Mailbox, Concord Fax Mailbox and Concord Fax Broadcast are
servicemarks of Concord Technologies, Inc. Other products mentioned are trademarks
of their respective owners.
SOURCE Concord Technologies Inc.
/CONTACT: Corporate Contact: Michelle Taylor of Concord Technologies,
206-256-7557, mtaylor@concord.net; or Public Relations Contact: Dan Conley of
Beacon Communications, 312-943-4158, dconley@beaconpr.com/
/Web site: symantec.com
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