eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (08/06/89)
zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us (Jon Zeeff) writes: >I'm interested in getting a fax board for a PC (running dos or unix). >It's not going to save any money over a standalone machine, but I believe >that it will be more flexible. i'd suggest buying a cheap fax machine and a fax card instead of a scanner and a fax card... as far as fax cards go, i have to recommend the Brooktrout Fax-Mail 96 board. their board/software is always among the highest rated in the trade rag articles. they have a version of the board (more $) which will run under most PC-bus unix systems. they also sell PC-bus voice cards and software. Brooktrout also sells software toolkits for the boards and is willing to provide source for the fax-board drivers to those who sign cross-licensing agreements and pay a few hundred. there are at least 20 companies making PC-fax, so do read as many reviews as you can. PC-voice doesn't get as much press, but there are many in this market as well. things to watch for: can multiple fax/voice channels be run concurrently? how smooth is the background operation if you are stuck using DOS? disclaimer: i wrote all of the original fax drivers for Brooktrout's fax card as well as lots of other software. if you've got a PC-bus machine, fax and voice are great ways to expand its usable bandwidth! -- ...... Steve Elias (eli@spdcc.com);(6178591389);(6178906844) {} /* hi */