drew@cup.portal.com (Andrew E Wade) (08/11/90)
Mark, Yes they exist. Serveral faxmodem products exist. Check out most recent MacWorld (or was it MacUser?) for a review of products. We've just ordered the Orchid faxmodem because it integrates well with QuickMail (via FastGate Plus) so that you can send mail to fax easily. Any modem that supports BackFax (including Orchid) allows users to fax from any application just as they print. The idea is to choose the fax from the chooser just like you choose a printer, then print. So, your idea was exactly what they've done! [Caveat: i've read the lit, but haven't used it yet...] And you asked about leaving your mac as a file server for sending/receving across the modem. Several ways to do this. Since I use White Knight telecomm package, and it has this capability built in (called host mode), that's what I use. Works fine: call up, browse directories, send/recevie files, etc. White Knight comes with a "free" program called Okyto that is supposed to do only this function and make it fail-safe and easy, but I've found it hangs up, etc., so have stuck with host mode. Other telecomm programs probably have this kind of stuff, too; another popular one is Microphone II. Again, a recent MacWorld or MacUser had a review article on these. Also, there are programs specifically for this kind of stuff. Both Timbuktu (Farallon, Emeryville) and Carbon Copy allow the user of one mac to take over and run another mac (via network or modem), and of course include file transfer capability. Again, these have been reviewed in the mags recently. My reading was that Carbon Copy might have a better user interface, but I also have high regard for Farallon, producer of phonenet. Again, I've read lit but haven't used either of these. Hoping to, one day. -Drew Wade drew@objy.com