[angrypsychokel]

I feel like such a tech-dunce.

My office wants to buy a new fax machine that will allow us (there are about 13 of us) to send (and possibly recieve?) faxes from our iMacs. I've seen lots of multi-function machines - but not really any stand-alone fax machines. Hell, I don't even really know what kind we need. Network fax? Do we need a fax server?

*frustration*

[ghporter]

You at least need a "network enabled" fax machine. It should have an ethernet port, as well as a telephone jack, and it should probably come with client software so your computers can send the pages in a compatible format (probably some sort of rasterized, laser-printer-style raw format).

Which models? Ya got me! But that's the terminology you need to use when you go to OfficeMax/Depot or wherever.

[C.J. Moof]

Got Panther? If so, you don't need to spend a penny more. Fax sharing works just like print sharing. We no longer receive faxes on paper to move about- the receptionist's computer answers the fax and puts the pdf in her email. She takes a look at the first page, forwards it to the recipient, mission accomplished.

It can work for outbound just like a shared printer works. We don't use it b/c we need to assemble too many pages from different sources, and printing 4 pdfs, combining them and sending that isn't easier than printing and faxing. But it can be done.

[ghporter]

Originally posted by C.J. Moof:
Got Panther? If so, you don't need to spend a penny more. Fax sharing works just like print sharing.

I don't like to dedicate a computer, even a really great one like an iMac, to something like faxing, print sharing, and so on. You need to leave it on all the time, and when you NEED to turn it off or restart it for some reason, Murphy's Law says that a crucial fax will arrive-and you won't get it. My personal preference, because of this and other things, is to have separate, dedicated equipment to do things like this.

OK, that being said, angrypsychokel specified he was looking for a standalone machine. This makes sense, since you often need to fax out paper documents, and dedicated fax machines handle that nicely. Of course, a good scanner connected to a fax-shared iMac and the right software package (fax management can get complex in a big office) will work in a cost crunch.

[C.J. Moof]

Who said dedicate?

Our receptionst uses a B&W G3/300 512 RAM on Panther to run Office and FMPro, plus of course a broswer and email client, while receiving every fax that comes in with zero issues. That machine's uptime is currently 17 days.

I wouldn't have done this setup on OS9, but Panther just works.

[ghporter]

Originally posted by C.J. Moof:
Who said dedicate?

Our receptionst uses a B&W G3/300 512 RAM on Panther to run Office and FMPro, plus of course a broswer and email client, while receiving every fax that comes in with zero issues. That machine's uptime is currently 17 days.

I wouldn't have done this setup on OS9, but Panther just works.

The OS is probably the saving grace here; I didn't trust 9 to not need attention for extended periods. I also didn't think that you could share a fax connection without experiencing a performance hit on everything else. I gotta start giving Panther the credit it has earned.

[bbales]

I recently got PageSender, (no offense to the built-in fax software, but I like this better) and it has worked fine. My question -- and I KNOW I saw this yesterday, but I can't figure out where -- is can I fax from my PB, connected via AEBS to my desktop. The desktop, obviously, has the built-in modem. I am reasonably sure I can do so, but I'm having difficulties accomplishing this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.