Just the Fax for You Computer Users

Using a facsimile machine is as easy as using a copy machine. But you can also use your personal computer as a fax machine or turn your laser printer into a fax receiver.

IBM PC and Macintosh users have several options. A fax modem allows you to send and receive. A regular data modem, along with a subscription to an electronic mail service, allows you to send text-only faxes. Another device turns your laser printer into a plain paper fax receiver.

* Fax modem. This device, also known as a fax board, allows your PC to send and receive fax messages. Several are on the market, and nearly all come with software that lets you automate sending computer-generated documents to just about any fax machine in the world. Prices range from less than $200 to more than $1,000.

Some fax modems are external and plug into your PC or Macintosh serial port; others are on circuit boards that plug into an expansion slot on an IBM compatible PC. Some fax modems operate at full speed--9,600 bits per second (bps)--while others work at only 4,800 bps.

What are the advantages of using a fax modem to send computer-generated documents? To begin with, computer-generated outgoing faxes are a lot better looking than the ones sent via regular fax machines. That’s because the image doesn’t have to go through the degradation of the fax machine’s scanner.

Another advantage is that computer-generated faxes can be more easily automated. Most of the fax modems come with software that allows you to create directories of people you send faxes to. To send a fax, you just select the recipient(s) from a menu and press a key. What’s more, you can schedule the faxes to go out at any time of day or night, such as when phone rates are lowest. You can also use your software to generate junk fax mail--just what the world needs!

Confidentiality is another advantage. Incoming faxes wind up on the recipient’s hard disk instead of the fax machine’s tray. Sending a confidential fax from your PC eliminates the need to stand guard over the company fax machine as you wait for it to be scanned.

Fax modems also save paper and laser printer supplies by eliminating the need to print a copy.

But there are disadvantages. First, it’s more work than using a fax machine. You’ll have to fool around with plug-in cards, cables, software and configuration files. Instead of walking up to the fax machine to insert a sheet of paper, you get to load in memory-resident software, configure special modem drivers and figure out how to get the fax software to work with all the other programs on your machine.

And when it’s time to receive a fax, you have to make sure your PC is on and be certain that the fax software is running either as your primary program or in the background.

If you receive an incoming fax, you have to read it on your screen or print it out. If you want to send a copy of a brochure, newspaper article or other document that’s not in your computer, you’ll have to scan it first. Add another piece of equipment.

Nonetheless, if you decide to try a fax modem, you can choose from a wide range of systems.

One of the best deals for users of IBM compatible systems is the Fax96 from Fremont Communications of Fremont, Calif. This product, which plugs into a PC, costs only $195 and comes with basic fax software that allows you to send and receive faxes in the background, add an optional cover sheet, broadcast multiple faxes or send at a delayed time. It also logs incoming and outgoing faxes and allows you to print or view incoming faxes on screen. For an extra $100, you can upgrade the fax modem so that you’re able to call your home or office PC while traveling and have faxes forwarded to wherever you are.

Fremont Communications can be reached at (415) 438-5000. Fax: (415) 490-2315.

For portability, consider Touchbase Systems’ $699 WorldPort. This pocket-sized fax and data modem runs on batteries and plugs into the serial port of a laptop or desktop PC. The company, in Northport, N.Y., is at (516) 261-0423.

Macintosh users should consider Abaton Technology’s $599 InterFax, which serves as a 2,400-bps data modem and a 9,600-bps fax modem. It sends and receives in the background and lets you use the regular Macintosh print commands to “print” your document to a fax machine, anywhere. Abaton, a division of Fremont, Calif.-based Everex, is at (800) 444-5321.

* Regular data modem. As it turns out, you don’t even need a special fax modem to send text messages from your PC. If you have a regular data modem, you can connect to MCI Mail, CompuServe or AT&T; Mail and use those services to send faxes. It’s relatively inexpensive. MCI Mail, for example, charges 50 cents for the first half page plus 30 cents for each additional half page within the United States. Overseas prices are higher, but still within reach. A fax to England, for example, costs $1.50 for the first half page and 45 cents for each additional half page. I use MCI Mail or CompuServe to send faxes to my wife and children when I’m traveling with my laptop. For information about MCI Mail call (800) 444-6245. CompuServe can be reached at (800) 848-8199.

* Plain paper fax receiver. The Fax-O-Matic from Tall Tree Systems of Palo Alto is a little $399 box that turns a Hewlett-Packard compatible laser printer into a plain paper fax receiver. It doesn’t send faxes, but it does allow your laser printer to print them. That eliminates that smelly and expensive thermal fax paper. You plug the laser printer into the device, which comes with an extra parallel cable that allows your PC to continue to print to the laser printer.

There is no need to turn on your computer, nor do you need to load or run software. The unit can store up to 32 pages of incoming faxes in case the printer is off or is busy. Fax-O-Matic is a good companion product for people who use a fax modem to send documents but don’t want to go through the hassle of using their PC to receive faxes.

Faxes are printed at 150 dots per inch. That’s not quite as good as the standard 200-dots-per-inch resolution that you get with regular fax machines, but it is still quite readable. Legal and other oversized pages are automatically reduced to 8 1/2 by 11 inches to accommodate the paper generally used in laser printers.

Tall Tree Systems can be reached at (415) 493-1980. Fax: (415) 493-7639.

Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the author cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Lawrence J. Magid, P.O. Box 620477, Woodside, Calif. 94062, or contact the L. Magid account on the MCI electronic mail system.