Unified Messaging Services
Workplaces today use electronic messaging as their primary communications medium and file transport system. Most organizations use email for transferring and storing critical business records, including content like purchase orders, contracts and requests for proposal. The use of Instant Messaging (IM) is also on the increase, as are Web-based tools for communication and collaboration. Consequently, electronic messaging has become a critical utility in the operation of most enterprises:
• It must be available at all times
• It must meet unanticipated spikes in demand
• Its cost should be as low as possible.

Unified Messaging, a subset of unified communications, uses a wide variety of convenient devices to enable users to access and process all message types from any location. Unified messaging integrates the email, voice mail, fax server and web server systems of an enterprise. It uses the groupware system of the enterprise as its common message store and for processing for all message types from the email messaging clients.

Key Pain Area’s in Unified Messaging
Seamless Communication:
Today, enterprises are looking for messaging solutions which will enable users to communicate with each other irrespective of the technology. Pain points in communication include
• Spam
• Downtimes
• Access issues
• Bandwidth and
• Loss of data.

Planning day-to-day activities:
Improper planning can result in lost business opportunities. Planning helps employees cope with the fast-paced global economy by multi-tasking. By tracking their day-to-day activities, they can ensure prompt deliveries to their customers. Thus, business and customer meeting schedules, task notes and other schedules are expected to be available for easy and instant access anywhere.

Instant access to information (Repository):
Employees expect information, irrespective of its format, to be available in a common repository for instant access. While on-the-move, employees seek valuable information to be collated with proposals, presentations and reports for business meetings. Instant availability of such information is an advantage and helps employees to achieve business goals and targets. Unavailability of information can lead to
• Delays in seeking information
• Improper compilation of information
• Loss of business opportunity to Competition

Anywhere Access:
Employees need access to all their messaging data at any given location- even while travelling. Companies that provide this access can lower expenses, increase efficiency, and provide their employees with the tools they need to excel at their jobs. Lack of access can lead to
• Reduced productivity of employees during travel
• Delayed response to business needs
• Loss of business opportunity

Sify’s Unified Messaging Solutions
Sify offers unified messaging solutions across two different platforms:
• Microsoft
• Open source

Microsoft platform

MS Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is a messaging and collaborative software product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is widely used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure solutions. Exchange's major features consist of electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks, and support for the mobile and web-based access to information, as well as supporting data storage.

MS Share point
Microsoft Office Share Point Server is a new server program that is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Share Point Server can facilitate collaboration, provide content management features, implement business processes, and supply access to information that is essential to organizational goals and processes.

MS OCS
Office Communications Server manages all real-time (synchronous) communications including instant messaging, VoIP, audio and video conferencing. It works with existing tele-communications systems, so business can deploy advanced VoIP and conferencing without tearing out their phone networks.

Supported Applications

Microsoft
Exchange
SharePoint
Office Communication Server
Fore Front Security Suite

Open Source
Postfix
Q mail
Open LDAP
Courier IMAP
Spam Assassin
Tiny DNS
B I N D
Ensim Unify Enterprise
Blackberry Enterprise Server
Symantec Netbackup
EMC –Legato Networker

Open Source

Q-Mail
Q-Mail is a security mail transfer agent that runs on UNIX. It is used predominantly by customers looking out for security and faster mail transfer.

Postfix
Postfix is a free open source mail transfer agent (MTA), a computer program for the routing and delivery of email. It is intended as a fast, easy-to-administer, and secure alternative to other MTAs.

Open LDAP
OpenLDAP is an open source implementation of the Light weight Directory Access Protocol.

Courier IMAP
Courier-IMAP provides IMAP access to Maildir mailboxes.

Spam Assassin
An open source based Spam filter that uses a wide variety of local and network tests to identify spam signatures.

Tiny DNS & B I N D
Both Tiny DNS and BIND does authoritative name serving
Besides these Sify also support the following applications
• Ensim Unify Enterprise
• Blackberry Enterprise Server
• Symantec Netbackup
• EMC –Legato Networker

Sify’s Service Offerings
Sify provides complete solutions for messaging infrastructure services by offering Design, Implementation and Management services for Messaging environments of all sizes. Sify also offers Dedicated and Shared Messaging services hosted on Sify’s own information infrastructure.

Sify’s Approach
Sify follows careful planning and design while Implementing the UM environment in order to provide uninterrupted service for users. These practices are vendor agnostic.

• Gather user and business requirements: For a successful UM design and deployment knowledge of user’s needs and business requirement is important.
• Maintain documentation: In a multi-site implementation, it is vital to document configuration settings, design consideration, technical notes, and similar details. Sify prepares and maintains a master reference document that includes all server, gateway, dial plan, port, and access number information for each site. Additionally, the reference document also includes support contact information.
• Plan: For businesses and messaging environments of all sizes, it is important to analyze the risks, dependencies, technical requirements, and trends for proper provisioning, hardware sizing, and workflow.
• Verify deployment: Sify verifies that UM features function properly after deploying UM servers.

Sify’s Uniqueness
• Sify is one of the oldest and largest email technology provider’s in India for both Consumer Messaging Services (over half million active Mailboxes) and Enterprise Messaging services. It designs, migrates and supports over 400 large and small enterprises together on Open Source Shared Linux based Mail Platform and Microsoft Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Platform (HMC 4.0).
• Sify provides open-source messaging technical expertise to large financial institutions for
managing both on-premise (80,000+ users) and hosted mail solutions (400,000+ users).
• Sify is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
• Sify’s Infrastructure Management Services team remotely manages over 30,000 seats of
Microsoft Exchange for several customers across the globe.