Is Fax Dead Yet?

How can I fax or mail what I don't have?

Apparently their hosting service didn't get the email from their old e-mail account notifying them of the changes before they moved. They were supposed to CC: me of any notices, as well. The new security changes wouldn't allow that, either. I have the master account name (which is different from the domain name), the old master account and email passwords, but that isn't good enough. I don't have their new phone number, because I don't have long distance service. They call me or e-mail me, and I reply by e-mail.

I can't upload the pictures till they get their computer home, anyway. They will have to FTP them to the server, then e-mail me the text for each set of pictures. I have to crop and clean up the shots for each new page. I also need a couple dozen shots to create their new logo. In case you're wondering, they breed pure breed dogs, and sell a couple dozen puppies a year. They are inspected by the county for the conditions the dogs and puppies are in, as well as how they are cared for. I visited their Florida home and saw for myself that it was clean, and they were well cared for.

Someone had hijacked their old domain name a couple years ago, so I built aa new website for them. Then they jerks who hijacked the original domnain name posted a bunch of crap, thinking they couldn't be located. It took me less than ten minutes to find out where they lived, even though they didn't have a listed telephone, or even a correct mailing address. :) I was so sick at the time I couldn't go with them when they took pictures of that puppy mill. :(

I told them about a new domain name added to the account. They verified that, and that the date for the addition was right.

My credit union won't discuss anything online, and by phone all you can do is get them to reset the password to the default you stated with.

--
http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

If you have broadband, your ISP may have a NNTP news server included in
your account: http://www.usenettools.net/ISP.htm

Sporadic E is the Earth\'s aluminum foil beanie for the \'global warming\'
sheep.

Can you say computer phobic?

CPA's are somewhat behind the time when it comes to technology.

No, they are smart. And us guys should sometimes think about it as well. There is hardly anything more reliable than POTS. How often have you seen an NNTP error, a server not responding at all, or the "Ready" light on the modem being off? Phone and fax always work unless some kid wrecks out in a suped-up low rider and hits a major connection box in which case Internet would be dead as well.

Case in point: Yesterday before lunch someone needed to see a copy of a document, quickly. Internet was already off, plus I had to leave in about 30 seconds. Now try that situation via email attachment. I just slapped it onto the fax machine, keyed in the number, hit "Send", done. Took less than the 30secs I had.

The next case, about 2hrs later: I needed to see a quote from an EMC lab. Customer said that scanning would be cumbersome because the bizhub thingie is at the end of a hallway and he was in a hurry as well, didn't want to dash back into the office to then take that file and prepare an email. Told him to fax it, he was glad I had a fax. So he put it on the bizhub, keyed in my fax number, hit "Send" and went on to his meeting. Very practical.

Also, emails can linger in cyberspace for quite some time, especially at times when everybody is downloading the latest rap song. A fax is instant, point to point. I could hear the fax machine spool up about two minutes after the call, roughly the time it takes for a brisk walk down that hallway and keying in the number. There were days when the client's engineer had my answer text-messaged by the time everybody had taken their seat in the meeting room.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Not to be too much of a foil here, Joerg, but there are plenty of scanners/MFP machines out there that can directly e-mail a PDF from a scanned paper document. (Everywhere I've worked in the past 5+ years now has had one... they plug into your Ethernet network and then connect directly through whatever your Internet connection is...)

Typing in an e-mail address does take longer than dialing a phone number, though. :-) And you've made some good points that FAX definitely has some points in its favor over e-mail, but I'm not convinced those are compelling enough that FAX machines are going to survive much longer.

I have several billing situations where I E-mail the invoice, the responsible engineer signs it off and FAXes it back to me. Then I scan it and E-mail to their accounts payable department ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Well, try typing my email address into a machine that only has the numerical keypad. It's possible but a real pain when the meeting starts in 30 seconds.

My main gripe with the web is reliability. It ain't there. It's like VoIP where I am sometimes tempted to tell folks to get a real phone. But I have to tread carefully since they are often clients.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

scanners/MFP

Hmm, mine are nowadays very often accepted as PDF sans signature. Overseas clients then wire the funds which costs fees but saves the trip to the bank.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

30

onto

scanners/MFP

Yep. $25 + $12 = $37 typically :-(

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Indeed. When I was at the SoS a few years ago we installed two Savin

4075's that had scan to email features. People loved that.

30

onto

scanners/MFP

Hmm, BofA seems to charge less. I have the fees come in three tiers: $10, $20 and $28. Nobody has ever been able to explain to me what the basis for that is and when what gets charged. It's pretty much like the lottery.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

scanners/MFP

Usually until the first one has reached a Blackberry or some poor guy in Upper Podunk on a noisy dial-up. Downloading 1 of 1 Emails, 2% complete,

15 minutes remaining, shhhrk ... beep ... click. Been there many times, hated it, had the schematic faxed, done.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

30

onto

the

scanners/MFP

some

compelling

Mine come thru JP Morgan Chase...

$25 originating bank

$12 on Chase's end

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

30

onto

scanners/MFP

Well, blame the carriers for not giving better bandwidth or broadband connections everywhere.

30

onto

scanners/MFP

Easier said than done when the carrier is a monopoly and it's a sparsely populated area where the ROI for them would be near zilch.

Some folks out here are on Hughes Net which works ok. Except when the weather gets really bad or something. Then phone and fax is the only thing that gets through.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

30

onto

scanners/MFP

I have to use a web-based time accounting app, then either print the output to PDF and email, or to a dead tree and fax to my handler. Ain't computers wunnerful?

You or the client?

--
Keith

...

That doesn't produce much money.

The customer might not always right, but the customer is always the one who pays my bills. :-)

Thanks, Rich

30

onto

scanners/MFP

The client. But then my bank slaps on their own fee even though they shouldn't. Sometimes I can get that reimbursed by the bank.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Not necessarily. Case in point: Yesterday we needed a schematic while at the EMC lab. You know, the place where the Dollar clock ticks at several bucks per minute. So it had to be fast. Fax -> bzzzzzt -> beep -> done.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.