Alcatel-Lucent is the largest PBX IP Fax Server vendor in the world with revenues equivalent to about $20 million in 2009. The company offers a software-only FoIP (Fax over IP) fax server, which the company says yields a significant return on investment and costs appreciably less than leading legacy fax server solutions. SagemCom provides Alcatel-Lucent with this IP fax server solution on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis and SagemCom has proven its market leadership in FoIP by leading the industry for the last five years (per Davidson Consulting market research). The OmniTouch IP Fax Server integrates seamlessly with VoIP (voice over IP) technology and the T.38 fax relay capabilities of leading Alcatel-Lucent VoIP gateways.

This IP Fax Server complements Alcatel-Lucent’s OmniTouch Unified Communications (UC) Application Suite, and there by enhansing unified messaging with fax mail as well as e-mail and voice messaging. In fact, with fewer than 500 users, the IP fax server solution can be hosted directly on the OmniTouch Unified Communications server, further cutting the total cost of ownership. The OmniTouch IP Fax Server is also available as an independent application.

The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8450 IP Fax Server solution supports seamless interoperability and cost-optimized application integration through VoIP gateways, PBXs (private-branch exchanges), voicemail systems, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directories and MFPs (multifunction peripherals).

The 8450 IP Fax Server offers transmission and receipt of faxes from anywhere via secure web access, from any SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) based email systems, or from any desktop application through a virtual fax print driver. The IP Fax Server integrates tightly with Microsoft Outlook or IBM Lotus Notes supporting advanced features through user forms. Received faxes can be automatically routed to any user, emailbox, or printer through dialed number identification service (DNIS), call station ID (CSID) or automatic number identification (ANI). Top speed is currently 14.4 kbs and documents to be faxed can be converted from Adobe PDF (portable document format), HTML (HyperText Markup Language), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), and RTF (Rich Text Format). The unit may integrate with MFPs from Sagem, OKI Printing Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Lexmark or any others with a scan-to-email function or T.37 compatibility. The IP Fax Server user interface is offered in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. The system can be managed from a graphical web-based administration module that integrates with Microsoft directory services and offers exportable transaction logs. The IP Fax Server can be scaled to 10,000 users and 30 simultaneous ports and even supports business continuity via survivability through a server high-availability mechanism. The unit facilitates security and compliance by routing sensitive faxes directly to recipient mailboxes and by providing an audit trail of all transactions.

The IP Fax Server runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux-compatible platforms along with Microsoft Windows clients. The IP fax server offers virtual machine support and may be seamlessly integrated with the Alcatel-Lucent Business integrated Communication Solution (BiCS).

Compared to using fax machines, the 8450 Fax Server reduces printing costs by allowing users access to fax images so not every fax is printed out, reduces energy consumption and reduces the number of telephone ports required.