31 January 2007

Smart business owners check voicemail, receive faxes and read e-mail with a single mouse click

A typical day for many workers in small businesses involves a round of tedious but essential actions, repeated over and over and over: Check for e-mail on computer and read messages. Check voicemail on phone and retrieve messages. Go to fax machine and check for incoming faxes.

But Rob Stauffert, a partner in Toronto-based Autobahn Media, a photographic, graphic arts and web design firm, has to do only one thing to keep on top of valuable messages: Check his e-mail.

Like a growing number of people in small business, Mr. Stauffert uses something called converged messaging. Voicemails and faxes are automatically forwarded as attachments to e-mails and show up in his e-mail box along with regular text messages.