sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) (02/28/91)
I'm sure this has already been discussed, but a search through recent
messages didn't reveal much in recommendations or descriptions on use.
Seeing how I'm about to graduate and am looking for a job, I think it
would be a good idea to get a Fax modem for my PC. The local copy
store charges $1 per page for faxing, and I foresee sending many
resumes to NJ, NYC, Washington DC, and Los Angeles from Austin, so
this could add up. (I've already spent a considerable amount.)
I realize that standards probably haven't been established yet, but I
can't wait for them. So what I'd like to know is:
What input format do the Fax modems require? ...text, formatted text,
bitmap?
In what format do fax modems output received faxes?
How can I view received documents?
What are the general procedures for creating and sending a fax, and
receiving and viewing one?
Are PC fax modems compatible (baud rate, encoding, etc.) with
conventional fax machines?
What features should I look for?
Lastly, any horror/success stories? ...recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
--
Sanjay Keshava Student in the UT Austin Graduate School of Business
->|<- Class of July 1991, Information Systems & Finance
Greetings to fellow Anteaters ('84), Trojans ('87), and Longhorns ('91).
sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | ...!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!sanjayajayshah@alhena.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) (03/01/91)
In article <44845@ut-emx.uucp> sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) writes: >bitmap? > Can deal with plain text and .PCX files, most often, sometimes even TIFFs. >In what format do fax modems output received faxes? View on screen or print to Epson/HP-Laserjet. > >How can I view received documents? Say something like "viewfax msg00001.rec". >What are the general procedures for creating and sending a fax, and >receiving and viewing one? Basically, the software gives you handles through which you say you want to send file x to phone numbers a, b, c .... >Are PC fax modems compatible (baud rate, encoding, etc.) with >conventional fax machines? Yes. >What features should I look for? >Lastly, any horror/success stories? ...recommendations? The fax-modems all feel ok at the level of the technical specifications. The biggest irritations: you might hate the software the receive fax will (most probably) be inconvenient or won't work. A nice option is a "sendfaxmodem card" which only attempts send-fax duty. You should be able to receive faxes at school. -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Ajay Shah, (213)734-3930, ajayshah@usc.edu The more things change, the more they stay insane. _______________________________________________________________________________
wolf@netcom.COM (Buckskin Tech.) (03/01/91)
sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) writes: >What input format do the Fax modems require? ...text, formatted text, >bitmap? In my case, my faxmodem handles plain text, Epson FX printfiles, and PCX files. >In what format do fax modems output received faxes? Usually in a proprietary format, but they can usually be converted to standard bitmap files (TIFF, PCX) and printed. >How can I view received documents? With mine, I get a cheapo graphics display program that scales and scrolls on my VGA. >What are the general procedures for creating and sending a fax, and >receiving and viewing one? You can prepare your text or graphics with whatever app you like, export them to a format your modem understands, use your fax software to convert it, and send it (the faxmodem dials and connects by itself). To recieve, you can either let the faxmodem pick up an incoming call, or connect the call by hand (usually with a hot-key). The faxmodem will save the incoming fax to a file that you can later view and/or print. >Are PC fax modems compatible (baud rate, encoding, etc.) with >conventional fax machines? Yes. >What features should I look for? As one who has been there, look for good software. Also, there are a variety of send-only boards out there now -- if you only send, these can be cost- effective. >Lastly, any horror/success stories? ...recommendations? Glad you asked. I bought (for my home office) a Complete Communicator board from Complete PC. It includes a 9600 send/recieve fax, a 2400 modem, and a voicemail/forwarding system. After three months, I finally have the thing working reasonably well on a regular basis. The problem's not the board (I'm consistantly impressed with the hardware's performance) but the darned software is, to put it mildly, stupid. Since CCOM is actually a welding together of CFAX and CAM (The Complete Fax and The Complete Answering Machine) I can say that if you can live with the software, the CFAX is a good machine. Whatever you get, if you use Microsoft Windows, check out FaxIt. It's really neat. >Thanks in advance. You're welcome. - Phil @ Buckskin Technologies
tnixon@hayes.uucp (03/01/91)
In article <44845@ut-emx.uucp>, sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) writes: > What input format do the Fax modems require? ...text, formatted text, > bitmap? The fax modem itself wants data in compressed Huffman-coded format as specified in CCITT Recommendation T.4 -- the same format that is used to send the image on the phone line. The software that comes with most fax modems has the ability to convert from a variety of file formats into the T.4 image format. > In what format do fax modems output received faxes? The same T.4 image format referred to above. The software oftens adds headers or other information to the file for its own convenience, but the modem itself deals with only T.4. > How can I view received documents? That is a function of the software provided by the modem. Magnification capability is important (the resolution of most screens is much lower than fax), as is image rotation (many people load documents into their machines bottom-first, which causes them to come through upside-down and difficult to read on a screen!) > What are the general procedures for creating and sending a fax, and > receiving and viewing one? This varies with the software capability. Most want you to direct the output of your word processor or other program to a file on disk (some will redirect it for you), then process it through a program (either offline, or on-the-fly, depending on the software) to convert it to T.4 image format. > Are PC fax modems compatible (baud rate, encoding, etc.) with > conventional fax machines? Absolutely. They'd be useless otherwise. > What features should I look for? That's a big question that is difficult to answer. Again, remember that most of the functions are provided by the software -- the modem is pretty dumb. You have to decide whether or not receiving and sending in the background is important to you, or whether its OK to set the PC up each time you want to receive a fax. Will you be sending to one user at a time, or to distribution lists (I send to long lists on occasion, when sending press releases)? List management is an important function. Do you want to be able to design your own cover sheets, use different cover sheets at different times, or settle for whatever the software provides? What file/graphic formats do you need to support? Do you want an external modem or internal? Can you afford to have the modem use up one of your serial COM ports, or do you want one that is memory mapped or otherwise interfaces in a manner that doesn't affect existing serial devices? Do you want the modem to also have data capabilities, or is a dedicated fax modem OK (i.e., you already have a data modem)? What operating system do you run -- DOS, Unix, or something else -- since you have to have compatible software to use the modem? > Lastly, any horror/success stories? ...recommendations? My personal experiences are all with the AppleFax modem on a Macintosh, using both Apple's AppleFax software and BackFax from Solutions, Inc. BackFax seems to work great. In the PC environment, there is a lot to choose from. The Hayes JT Fax 9600 has received very good reviews in a lot of magazines, both for the quality of the modem itself and the software. Hayes provides DOS software, but there is very good software available also for Unix from several different companies. -- Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net
toms@utoday.com (Tom Smith) (03/02/91)
In article <44845@ut-emx.uucp> sanjay@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Sanjay Keshava) writes: > >I'm sure this has already been discussed, but a search through recent >messages didn't reveal much in recommendations or descriptions on use. > >Seeing how I'm about to graduate and am looking for a job, I think it >would be a good idea to get a Fax modem for my PC. The local copy >store charges $1 per page for faxing, and I foresee sending many >resumes to NJ, NYC, Washington DC, and Los Angeles from Austin, so >this could add up. (I've already spent a considerable amount.) > >I realize that standards probably haven't been established yet, but I >can't wait for them. So what I'd like to know is: > >What input format do the Fax modems require? ...text, formatted text, >bitmap? > >In what format do fax modems output received faxes? > >How can I view received documents? > >What are the general procedures for creating and sending a fax, and >receiving and viewing one? > >Are PC fax modems compatible (baud rate, encoding, etc.) with >conventional fax machines? > >What features should I look for? > >Lastly, any horror/success stories? ...recommendations? > >Thanks in advance. I purchased the Frecom FAX96 board for my PC. It is a fax board, not a Fax-Modem board. The board comes with software which will allow you to receive and send faxes. To send a fax, you just tell the software the number to fax to, and the name of the ASCII text file which you want to fax. I believe they just released an update which will allow you to fax word-processed documents as well. When a FAX comes, a TSR program in the background will take over your PC until the fax is received and then you can continue working. The fax is stored on disk, and can be viewed and printed using their software. I have had no problems with this board, and I know of two other people using the same board and they love it as well. I think PC Magazine did a review of Fax boards in their April/May or June 1990 issue. FAX96 was rated tops on this survey. By the way, the software automatically generates the standard FAX cover sheet for you. Good Luck. Tom Smith toms@utoday.com
root@zswamp.fidonet.org (Geoffrey Welsh) (03/02/91)
>From: tnixon@hayes.uucp >The Hayes JT Fax 9600 has received very good reviews in >a lot of magazines, both for the quality of the modem >itself and the software. Hayes provides DOS software, >but there is very good software available also for >Unix from several different companies. I'm not fond of the DOS software that comes with *any* FAX card. Generally speaking, they've got to be TSRs (since Mess-DOS isn't multitasking), and I despise TSRs (especially on my multitasking DOS box, where they sometimes interfere with other programs). The Hayes (Quadram... Asher...) JT-FAX 9600B card is an excellent product, its drawbacks being limited primarily to the price and the fact that the FAX card does not, by default, come with a 'normal' modem (last I checked, *1200* bps modem daughtercards were available!). I have used this card with software for both Xenix/Unix and QNX. -- UUCP: watmath!xenitec!zswamp!root | 602-66 Mooregate Crescent Internet: root@zswamp.fidonet.org | Kitchener, Ontario FidoNet: SYSOP, 1:221/171 | N2M 5E6 CANADA Data: (519) 742-8939 | (519) 741-9553 The mile is traversed not by a single leap, but by a procession of coherent steps; those who insist on making the trip in a single element will be failing long after you and I have discovered new worlds. - me