Microsoft issues case study about Telstra's use of FAXmaker for Exchange

London, UK, 1 November 2000 - Using GFI's FAXmaker for Exchange, Telstra - Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company - was able to save an estimated A$1.1 million in labor costs in the first year of use alone. The solution is detailed in a newly issued Microsoft Corporation business review about this case.

"The fact that a leading telecommunications organization such as Telstra has selected FAXmaker for Exchange to serve 70,000 users is a testimony to the product's scalability and reliability," declared Nick Galea, GFI CEO. "As Microsoft's case study shows, FAXmaker for Exchange in combination with Exchange Server is a robust cost-effective fax server solution that is well-suited to the needs of large and smaller organizations alike."

With fiscal 1999 revenue of more than A$18 billion, Telstra is one of Australia's largest corporations and has one of the best-known brands in the country. Telstra offers a full range of services and competes in all telecommunications markets throughout Australia.

As Telstra sends about 3,000 faxes a day - a rate that is increasing by around 50 per cent monthly - automating the faxing process with FAXmaker has made it easier for the organization to respond to customers, especially to confirm orders, resulting in improved customer service. Because FAXmaker integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange, user administration can be done from the Exchange administrator, resulting in increased efficiency and a lower total cost of ownership.

"There was a business demand to replace a manual, paper-based faxing of responses to customers with a desktop-based fax service," says Bill Dahl, Telstra's Manager, Messaging Technologies. "This was required to achieve greater efficiency and productivity, improve customer service and reduce costs. We had recently deployed Microsoft Exchange as our corporate messaging platform, and we were looking for a fully-integrated fax service."

FAXmaker, a leading native fax connector for Exchange server that allows all users to send and receive faxes from Microsoft Outlook or the Exchange client, was just the thing: "We liked FAXmaker for its ease-of-use, and it fit our requirements for seamless integration with Microsoft Exchange," said Mr. Dahl. "The product appeared easily deployable and could be integrated with mainframe systems. FAXmaker has minimal support demands, and is highly reliable."

To date, GFI has an installed base of more than 50,000 FAXmaker customers. Among these are Microsoft, BMW, Digital, Honeywell, Siemens, Volkswagen, Matshushita, Ericsson, OKI, Olivetti, Triumph Adler, Berliner Investment Bank, Bayersdorff A.G., PTT Telecom, Norwegian Telecom, Swiss Telecom, the US IRS, UK police and firefighting departments, German financial institutions, Giorgio Armani, Benetton and many more.

FAXmaker for Exchange won GFI the Microsoft Fusion 2000 (GEM) Packaged Application Partner of the Year award, and has also been awarded Product of the Year by Communications Solutions Magazine in 1999 and by CTI Magazine in 1998, as well as being selected as CTI Magazine Editor's Choice 1999.