Date: Fri 26-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Brand-efax

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Fax to E-mail

By Bob Brand

Can I FAX it to you? Now everyone with a PC and an ISP (Internet Service

Provider) connection can respond: " Sure! "

Many people who own a recently purchased modem are capable of sending and

receiving faxes. How often is this feature used? Probably never. Often a

product is purchased only to use a few of its functions. Sad, but true.

Perhaps we can change this.

Efax.com Inc, a Menlo Park, California company offers a service allowing

net-sters to receive faxes by e-mail. The price is right -- free. The complete

process is surprisingly simple. Here is how.

The eFax Website

The first step requires registration at the eFax.com website. The simple,

non-intrusive form takes less than a minute to complete. The most vital piece

of information required is an e-mail address that allows the receipt of file

attachments. (Note: eFax attachments cannot be used with a normal Juno

account.) Next, the "Terms of Service" contract appears on the screen. A user

must agree in order to proceed. Although I am not a lawyer, the only phrase

that some might find objectionable is: "By accepting this ETS, you expressly

consent to disclosures of your personally identifiable and other personal

information to third parties, and to our use of your information, as

enumerated in our then-current privacy policies, which are incorporated herein

by reference." In spite of some misgivings and visions of spam filled

e-mailboxes, I agreed. To date, over 100,000 users have signed up.

Next, this message appeared: "Due to overwhelming demand, we are currently

experiencing service delays. Your personal eFax number will be sent to you via

email as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience." There was a delay of

several days before receiving the confirming e-mail that included my eFax

number: [847-589-1244] and the four digit personal identification number

(PIN).

Back At The Site

After receipt of the account information, I returned to the eFax website. The

main page contains a convenient icon appropriately labeled "Need Viewer?"

(Keep in mind that fax messages cannot be viewed with word processing software

or most graphical viewers -- like the Netscape browser.) The two choices are

Windows 95/98/NT and 3.1x Microviewer. The Windows 98 viewer is a small 184k

bytes file. With a click on the icon, it downloaded to

D:/TEMP/Bob/eSetup16.exe. (Note: Macintosh/Linux/Unix users can use a viewer

that reads standard TIFF-F image formats). Next, I entered MS Explorer. A

traverse to the D:/TEMP/Bob/ folder was rewarded with the appearance of the

eSetup16.exe icon -- a small open envelope containing a red spiral. A double

click on the icon loaded the eFax Microviewer as a plug-in. Simple. Everything

was set.

Testing The System

EFax uses a phone number in Waukegan, Illinois -- (847) 589-1244. (Note: the

sender of the fax pays for the long distance phone call -- not the receiver.)

I downloaded and installed a 30-day trial copy of WinFax Pro 9.0 (a 28.3MB

file -- ouch!) from the Symantec website. Using WinFax, I created a "Myself"

Fax account using the phone number 847-589-1244. I waited until the evening

when phone rates were low and sent "this is a test" faxes to the eFax

Waukegan, Illinois exchange. With my USR Sportster V.90 modem, the

transmissions were 14,4000 bytes per second. Here are the results.

I sent faxes to my e-mail addresses at SNET (ISP -- SNET.NET), Netplex (ISP --

Netplex.net), Connix (ISP -- Connix.com), Freewwweb (ISP -- Freewwweb.com),

and NetZero (ISP -- Netzero.com). All the faxes arrived as e-mail with the

attachments with the exception of Freewwweb who experienced problems with its

e-mail system. The Freewwweb e-mail/fax finally arrived after five or six

days. Not recommended. However, all other ISPs tested handled the faxes

quickly (within minutes) and without error.

Next, I sent a fax to my Hotmail (free e-mail web based account) e-mail

address. Like the ISP e-mail accounts, it also arrived quickly without errors.

In fact, Hotmail provides an option to virus check the attachment using an

on-line McAfee scan. Very nice touch! (Note: web based free e-mailers like

Hotmail will remove inactive accounts.) If a Hotmail account is not used for 6

months, the account is completely wiped out. Be very careful about receiving

vital or sensitive e-mail/faxes with free web-based accounts.

Comments and Observations

Efax performs remarkably well. When the e-mail arrives, a click on the

xxxxx.efx attachment automatically launches the eFax Microviewer. The document

printed perfectly on my NEC laser printer.

The website sports a clean, clear layout. When a user enters the Account Area,

the log-on is performed by either a secure or non-secure server. A click on

the Activity Log produces a list of faxes received within the previous three

days. Changes to the user profile (such as a new e-mail address for receiving

faxes) are easy. When an e-mail change is entered, eFax automatically sends an

e-mail notification to the new address.

Tip: when setting up a fax to an e-mail account, make sure to test it before

giving out the phone number. Remember if you use WinFax (or other modem

software) for the test, disconnect from the ISP before sending the Fax. The

modem can only connect to Waukegan or your ISP one at a one time. Once

properly set up, eFax appears to work flawlessly. If you want to send me a

fax, the phone number is (847) 589-1244. I will reply by e-mail.

Try eFax. Highly recommended. Oh! Remember -- It's free!

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.eFax.com

http://www.symantec.com/winfax/wf_trial.html

(This is the 147th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Free PC is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next week,

happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real

People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and

suggestions to: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)