Find the fax server product to handle your workload
As I reported last month, the Windows NT market is virtually awash with fax server products. So many NT-based fax server products are available that it's taken me months to work my way through them. Picking the product that best suits your needs is a challenge. If you don't have months to invest in a comprehensive evaluation, you can take advantage of the time I've spent reviewing these products to get a head start on your search for the appropriate fax server.
Last month I reviewed Faxination from Fenestrae, FAXport from LANSource, RightFAX from RightFAX, and Zetafax from Zetafax. I also reviewed Brooktrout's TR114 fax adapter. This month I'm looking at FACSys 4.1 from Optus Software, FaxFacts from Copia, Fax Sr. from Omtool, and FaxWorks Pro LAN from Global Village Communication. Please note that I'm not implying any ranking in regard to how I'm presenting the reviews. The magazine issue and order the reviews appear in are simply luck of the draw.
I'll wrap up the rest of the products on the market next month. And I'm sure the squelching noise of fax negotiation will fade from my memory sooner or later.
FACSys 4.1
People equate NT with Intel CPUs. This bias means that if you are an Alpha-based NT shop, software is hard to find. If you want to use a fax server on your NT Alpha server, what choices do you have? The FACSys 4.1 fax server package from Optus Software is one option.
FACSys includes several features you will find useful in an enterprise fax server environment. The software is a true client/server application and supports connectivity over NetBEUI, IPX, TCP/IP, and named pipe connections, allowing for connectivity in a range of networking environments. The software supports Class 2 fax modems in addition to fax boards from Brooktrout, GammaLink, Intel SatisFAXtion, and FerrariFax. For inbound faxes, FACSys lets you route faxes to users using Direct Inward Dialing (DID), dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF), and Customer Subscriber Identification (CSID) when you use a routing-capable fax board.
FACSys maintains a user database with various options to control user access to fax server resources. The software has an undocumented command-line utility, NTSYNC, that lets you import your NT user database into FACSys. Alternatively, you can use one of the various FACSys email gateways. For example, if you have the Exchange gateway, you can import user settings from the Exchange recipients folder.
In terms of interaction with email systems, FACSys offers support unparalleled by any other fax server. A standard feature (not an optional add-on) in the FACSys software is the ability to interact with up to 32 different email systems. The package is fully integrated with Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Mail, Novell MHS, Novell Group-Wise, Lotus cc:Mail, Lotus Notes, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)/Post Office Protocol (POP) 3, and SAP R/3. The package will automatically route inbound faxes to your email software in TIFF, G3/G4, or DCX format. When you use Microsoft Exchange, you can use the Least Cost Routing (LCR) services that Exchange Server provides to reduce your faxing costs.
For my testing, I loaded FACSys on my Digital Prioris HX-590 dual-Pentium-processor server, running NT Server 4.0 with a Brooktrout TR114 fax board. The product will install on NT Server 3.51 or 4.0 or NT Workstation 3.51 or 4.0 on Intel or Alpha platforms. Installation took 2 minutes. After loading the CD-ROM and executing the setup program, I answered a few questions, and the setup program proceeded with the installation. To complete the setup process after the installation finished, I had to add users, configure devices, and perform other administrative tasks using the default Admin user the software installs for you. I performed these administrative tasks through the FACSys client software program, which I had to install separately off the distribution CD-ROM. Screen 1 shows a send-fax session I was able to initiate shortly thereafter.
Like many other server-based programs, FACSys includes threshold alerts that monitor your fax server's resources and perform key housekeeping chores automatically, reducing your overall systems administration activity. Configurable alerts include a low disk space alert (which is always a problem, even without a fax server) and a channel error threshold alert (which can indicate a failing hardware component or poor-quality telephone circuit). An example of a housekeeping task includes the ability to delete any fax more than a certain number of days old. Unfortunately, FACSys does not have a corrective action capability that lets you automatically perform a task when an alert occurs (e.g., deleting any faxes older than 7 days when the software determines the server is low on disk space).
FACSys offers the FACSys Web Agent as an add-on component. The Web Agent is an extension of the FACSys server that lets users with Web browsers connect to the system and send and receive faxes. This solution lets your offsite users—people in a satellite office or roaming users who connect to your site through various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) around the country—access fax resources. The service is not open to anyone who connects to your Web site. Before accessing the Web server, users must log on with a valid username and password. They receive faxes as GIF images that they can read in their browser. To send a fax, users enter administrative information (destination fax number and so on) through a standard HTML interface, and documents to be faxed are sent to the server via FTP.
FACSys has a segmented licensing system. Although the price is higher than some competing products, if you need Alpha support, this product is the one to consider. The combination of features and reasonable price make it a winner.