TOPCALL Announces Communication Process Re-engineering for Novell GroupWise

Business Wire, August 21, 1998

VIENNA, Austria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 21, 1998--TOPCALL International AG, (Easdaq: TOPC.ED, USA: TPCIY), the Austria-based fax server and unified messaging systems vendor, today announced a key new product, TC/LINK-GW, which extends the TOPCALL concept of Communication Process Re-engineering (CPR) to Novell GroupWise users and administrators. With TC/LINK-GW, GroupWise users are provided with a single communication solution for fax, Internet mail, X.400, telex and integrated archiving. The new link supports directory synchronization with NDS (Novell Directory Services) and GroupWise scheduling. In addition, TOPCALL offers enhanced status reporting, least cost routing features and archive retrieval directly from the GroupWise client.

"TOPCALL's new link software shows the power of the directory by leveraging NDS. It further improves the close integration between the TOPCALL enterprise fax and messaging system and GroupWise and reinforces the excellent relationship between our two organizations," says Paul Kemper, Marketing Manager, at Novell.

"TOPCALL is designed to consolidate diverse communications media through a single system," comments TOPCALL CEO, Martin Hannah. "This new development enables TOPCALL customers to further expand their systems. We also expect to further expand our user base worldwide."

The new software module is fully backward compatible, offering an easy migration path from earlier versions of TOPCALL's solution for GroupWise. Multiple TC/LINK-GW modules can be installed on different systems to provide fault tolerance and increase total throughput. This is especially beneficial to users who make extensive use of the integrated document conversion facility.

TOPCALL delivery and non-delivery notifications are automatically interpreted by TC/LINK-GW and the sending status is updated accordingly in the GroupWise outbox. GroupWise delivery and non-delivery notifications initiate status changes on the TOPCALL system. GroupWise scheduling is fully supported. When a user arranges an appointment for an external address, a message is automatically generated and transferred to the TOPCALL system in GroupWise format. Users can send messages and attachments from any GroupWise client, either via fax or any other messaging service. Monitoring of TC/LINK-GW is handled by the TOPCALL monitoring console, which posts error messages to the NT event log. Additionally, SNMP traps are provided for remote monitoring via HP OpenView or similar management consoles.

Herbert Blieberger, Technical Director at TOPCALL International, comments: "The combination of TOPCALL's integrated fax and messaging product for users of GroupWise and NDS is a powerful solution for existing Novell customers, who have not yet converted to GroupWise 5, as well as for new users implementing version 5 immediately."

Another key advantage of TOPCALL's solution for GroupWise is the product's integrated archive storage and retrieval system. The high-performance archive enables companies to centrally store all types of messages -- fax, telex, X.400 and Internet mail, including binary attachments. This makes it much easier for users to search and retrieve specific documents, even many years later.

TC/LINK-GW can be installed directly on the TOPCALL system or on a separate Link server. The software module, which is fully year 2000 compliant, is available immediately from TOPCALL or through the company's worldwide network of distributors and system integrators.

Novell

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed networks, Internet, Intranet and small business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com

TOPCALL is a market and technology leader in Fax and Unified Messaging solutions for medium to large-sized organizations. The company's Communication Process Re-engineering (CPR) approach offers organizations a tightly integrated, highly scaleable messaging strategy for multiple platforms (SAP, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, GroupWise, and more) and multiple communication services (fax, telex, Internet Mail, Short Message Service, X.400 and EDI), as well as a universal messaging archive. TOPCALL solutions are available worldwide through 22 direct sales and support offices and 13 distributors with a total of 35 locations and over 3,000 TOPCALL solutions installed in 40 countries. The worldwide headquarters of TOPCALL are located in Vienna, Austria.

TOPCALL International is a world leading vendor of fax servers and unified messaging systems. The company is listed on the EASDAQ (Symbol: TOPC.ED). Information on TOPCALL is available on Bloomberg under the symbol TOPC ES and on Reuters under TOPC.ED. Additional information is available on TOPCALL's home page: http://www.topcall.com.