The proposed acquisition by Milpitas, California-based Octel Communications Corp of San Jose neighbour VMX Inc (CI No 2,344) will create a business with some $350m in annual turnover. The combination will have a geographical spread of 42 countries, including areas where each has not had a presence, for example Scandinavia in Octel’s case and China in VMX’s. The combined installed base will be more than 30,000 systems and 17,000 users worldwide. On the technical side, Octel will build on VMX’s expertise in personal computer-based voice processing and departmental systems for voice-integrated electronic mail, while VMX will gain access to Octel’s Voice Information Services technology. The OctelNet voice messaging protocol will be extended to the VMX line, the VMXWorks board for creating voice applications will go into the Octel product line, but otherwise the products will go down two parallel lines, with labels and distribution channels remaining distinct; research and development, marketing and technical support will likely be pooled.
