Free SMS gateway enables users to send and receive SMSs from their email client

London, UK, 6 November 2003 – GFI, developer of the market-leading GFI FAXmaker fax server range, is launching a freeware version of GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP 11 that enables users to send and receive SMS/text messages from their email application. This allows them to easily contact business colleagues and associates who are on the road or away from their desk.

SMS gateway: Leverages the usefulness of SMSing in the corporation
Short message service - known as SMS or texting and used mainly in Europe and Asia - is a highly popular way of sending personal messages. However, SMS also has several uses in the corporate context:

• To notify roaming employees, such as sales people or technicians on the road, of any updates or messages
• To issue immediate alerts about emergencies and critical situations, for example, to alert a network administrator as soon as the Internet link is down
• To send important information to key customers or suppliers, thereby ensuring that the information is received by the right person, immediately
• For marketing or CRM purposes: SMS messages are personal and have a high response rate.

Advantages of using a gateway rather than a mobile
Although anybody with a mobile phone can send an SMS, GFI FAXmaker’s SMS gateway offers many advantages. Through it, users can type and send SMS messages much faster from their computer (rather than using their mobile phone pad) and can also use the corporate email address book for recipient mobile numbers. The SMS gateway grants organizations central control of SMS usage.

“This freeware offer will help administrators demonstrate the business value of using an SMS gateway, without requiring any investment” said Nick Galea, GFI CEO.

GFI FAXmaker’s SMS gateway implements an SMS server that uses one or more mobile phones to send the SMS. Alternatively, users can subscribe to an Internet-based SMS service.

About GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP 11 (commercial version)
GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP is a network fax solution for Windows 2000/2003 networks that allows all network users to send and receive faxes right from their desktop. GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP includes clients for all Windows OS versions and works with most popular mail servers and fax devices. GFI FAXmaker also includes an email-to-fax and email-to-SMS gateway, allowing all email users to send and receive faxes and SMS messages from their favorite email application. GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP integrates with an SMTP/POP3 mail server or Lotus Notes.

Standard GFI FAXmaker features include a multi-line fax server, inbound fax routing, print to fax driver for Windows, support for server-based rendering of Office documents, fax management features and more. GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP is the most competitively priced fax server on the market: A 25-user version sells for $695 and a 100-user version sells for $1750. Companies using GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP include Shell Oil Lubricants, Kawasaki Construction Machinery Corp. of America, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - The Hubble Space Telescope Project, DHL, Philips Business Communications and many more.  More product information and a free trial version are available at http://www.gfi.com/ffn/.

Obtaining the freeware version
The freeware version can be downloaded from http://www.gfi.com/ffn/. The download is a trial version of GFI FAXmaker for Networks/SMTP 11 (13Mb), however the SMS gateway remains active for two users by means of a free SMS serial key. The free SMS serial key can be obtained from http://www.gfi.com/ffn/freewareappl.htm. The GFI FAXmaker manual may be viewed online or downloaded at http://www.gfi.com/ffn/ffn11manual.pdf. User-to-user support is available at http://forums.gfi.com.