The Mac Observer: My First Mac Was A Typewriter--Get A Fax Without A Fax/Modem

I think I am beginning to relate to this "I have the most new toys" syndrome that I frequently observe in that great computer user group I call the teckies, i.e., those who understand and care how a computer works. The more I learn about computers and use my Macintosh, the more I find myself getting a kick out of new innovations. I discovered a new one this week. It has to do with faxing from your computer without needing special software or your own fax machine.

Several years ago when I became the proud (albeit somewhat overwhelmed) owner of my first Macintosh, I received a fax software package along with everything else that I got. All I ever succeeded in doing with that software was to freeze up my machine. I never successfully sent a fax to anyone and quickly abandoned the whole concept of faxing from my computer. It may have been that I didn't have enough room on my machine for the software to run properly, or it may just be a reflection of my inaptitude at that time. Whatever the reason, I was totally intimidated by the whole experience. Now I am not so overwhelmed by the whole concept, but I also know that my current machine can't handle any additional large software packages. Last week I tried, quite unsuccessfully, to send a map to my new home to my twin sister Pat and my oldest daughter Vicki. Pat uses a PC and Vicki uses a Macintosh. I drew the map with a software package that neither of them has so I knew it wouldn't help to just attach it to an e-mail because neither of them would have been able to read it. I tried scanning the document and adding it as an attachment to a regular e-mail. That didn't work. I tried a cut and paste to make it a part of a regular e-mail. That didn't work either although I thought it would really solve the problem. It showed up perfectly in my original e-mail, but went through as only a title to the Mac and was totally rejected as an e-mail by the PC. I was convinced that I would have to rely on the dreaded snail mail, when low and behold, a co-worker e-mailed me with the address of a free service (you know how much I like free) that allows you to receive faxes through your e-mail. The service is called eFax.com and can be found at www.efax.com . This site has been in business for several years and is well set up and provides a great deal of information. In a nutshell it works like this: someone sends you a fax by dialing your eFax number and pressing send. The fax go through the eFax Service Center to be compressed and protected with your personal password for security, then it is instantly forwarded to your e-mail address. You must have an eFax Microviewer for your system. Windows users have to download something special, but it is available free. Mac users who already have Graphic Converter downloaded are all set. If not, they will have to get this great program to use the eFax. For more information about Graphic Converter see my column from December 23, 1998. To sign up you are asked to give your first and last name, e-mail address, zip code, and country as well as selecting the platform that will work with your machine. The person sending you a fax will incur the standard telephone charges that they incur for sending any fax. eFax.com does not add any additional service charges to you or the sender.

The site has anticipated a number of questions and provides answers up front for quick viewing. A sample of the questions and responses include:

Is the eFax phone number a local number? The response is that the numbers are all located in the Western United States which means some people sending eFaxes will have to dial a long distance number.

How can they provide the service for free? The response is that the basic service is free and the cost is paid for by advertisers. Basic services include an unlimited number of faxes to your e-mail address from anywhere in the world. They anticipate adding additional elective services for which there probably will be charges.

What are the hours? The response is that the service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Do faxes take a long time to download? The response is that a 2 or 3 page fax should take less than a minute to download using a 56K modem. (Note: this is a lot faster than our high end "regular" fax machine at work.)

So it all sounds easy and good - does it really work and is it simple? I contacted my sister and my daughter and asked them to sign up for eFax. Then I sent them each the elusive street map that was created with software that neither of them has. The results were perfect. Each of them received the fax shortly after I sent it to them and received an e-mail notice as they would for any other kind of e-mail. It took my sister longer to view hers because she had to download the special microviewer, but then doesn't everything take longer with a PC? I was able to send the fax to each of them at the same time by listing their eFax phone numbers. At the same time I was able to create a grouping which I named Family so that at any future point I can simply click on the grouping without having to list individual numbers again. Apparently each user has a different phone number assigned and that is how the company knows the message is for you. This is very important - be sure to list the '1' in front of the area code when you input the phone number. I forgot to do that the first time and someone out there is really ticked at me because the fax machine kept calling their regular number to send the fax.

A couple of other facts that are important. You can only receive faxes using this program. It is not currently set up so that you can send them. If you have no other method of sending a fax then you might not find this program quite so useful, however, my sister and my daughter are delighted with it because while they still can't send a fax from home, they previously had no way what-so-ever to receive a fax so they think it will be useful to them. Another fact concerns technical support. When we first signed up for the service we instantly got an acknowledgement, but also a message that they had so many new customers that there was a delay in assigning the individual phone numbers and setting you up. Within 24 hours I had my number as did the others. While preparing the column I had a couple of technical questions and I found the help desk to be very good. I not only received a written response to my question but a phone call as well.

If you have any tips, hints, or thoughts on these topics, make sure you write me so that I can share your thoughts with other readers.