Desktop Fax Application

[raymond]

Exetel is developing a desktop fax program for sending fax documents from your computer without a modem. Currently, it is under beta testing phase.

The program requires you to have an Exetel Email2Fax account. The program can be found: http://www.exetel.com.au/files/eXeFAX.zip

The login name is the email address of your Exetel email2fax account .
The password is your Exetel email2fax account password.
To signup an Exetel Email2Fax account, please go to: https://www.exetel.com.au/members/fax_email2fax.php

Your feedback is welcome.

[Dazzled]

A Windows binary is not the best approach.

[smsdeveloper]

hey Dazzled,

thanx for the quick response...

yes true, a windows binary version is not the best way and we will be publishing a jar file for all operating systems soon...

please if possible run the windows version until then, and provide us your feedbacks so it can be improved....
thanx
cheers

[JamesR]

The application works excellently and without failure. Sent and received a two page document in just under eight minutes.

[Gidget]

A few comments ...

1) After clicking on any one of the 3 drop-down menus, clicking anywhere else on the open application doesn't close the menu as is normal practice - the only way to close the menu is to click again on the open menu title.

2) The ability to add a simple cover page by writing it in a pop-up box (or similar) directly from the application would be a bonus if possible.

3) The Help file (definitely) as well as the application itself (preferable) should remind users that the area code must be included - it has been a while since I sent a fax by email so had forgotten this important point with the result that my first fax resulted in a failed attempt - although the need to include the area code is explained in the User Facilities Fax FAQ not everyone will think to look there - telling the user in the failure email is helpful but by then it's too late

4) One trial fax I sent failed because the destination fax did not respond in 3 attempts - I expect it was busy. There is no way to re-send a failed fax either to the original number or to another number (or to re-send a successful fax) - I had to start from scratch for my second attempt (which was successful). This would be a pain if a user had prepared a complicated fax with several attachments so a re-try/re-send option is very important.

I sent 3 test faxes tonight - one was a Word document, one was a PDF and the third was a JPG - I'll post tomorrow and let you know how they went

Gidget

[smsdeveloper]

hi,

thanx for the suggestions Gidget

clicking anywhere else on the open application doesn't close the menu as is normal practice - the only way to close the menu is to click again on the open menu title

well, this is strange...in the Pcs we tested this wasnt the case...we will look into it anyway and check it out

The ability to add a simple cover page by writing it in a pop-up box (or similar) directly from the application would be a bonus if possible

hmmm..can u please explain this suggestion a bit more..

The area code.. definitely this should be included in the user guide...ive changed it already and will attach in the next version we release...

e-send a failed fax either to the original number or to another number

yes Gidget, this seems to be a major drawback of the application.. we will work on this and hopefully we can create an option where the user could save the fax details to resend again.. would be a very useful feature for the users....

thanx a lot for the suggestions...we ll try to put them into implementation in our next release...
and jamesR thanx a lot for your feedback...

cheers

[Gidget]

clicking anywhere else on the open application doesn't close the menu as is normal practice - the only way to close the menu is to click again on the open menu title

well, this is strange...in the Pcs we tested this wasnt the case...we will look into it anyway and check it out

I just tried it again and it's behaving itself this time. I did re-open the program first as I'd previously closed it. It might have been the gremlins before or maybe I just somehow managed to put it in some funny mode

The ability to add a simple cover page by writing it in a pop-up box (or similar) directly from the application would be a bonus if possible

hmmm..can u please explain this suggestion a bit more..

If a user had a standard fax cover sheet they would probably include that in their Word document or PDF file etc. I was mainly thinking of a user who just wanted to be able to put on a "quick and dirty" cover sheet which would say who the fax had come from (this information could be saved in an option setting of the program) and have room for a message, like "Here's that document you asked for" etc - nothing elaborate, and in the default font with no graphics or signatures etc. To accomplish this, I was thinking of a pop-up box to enter the text in, accessed through a button on the program.

The area code.. definitely this should be included in the user guide...ive changed it already and will attach in the next version we release...

re-send a failed fax either to the original number or to another number

yes Gidget, this seems to be a major drawback of the application.. we will work on this and hopefully we can create an option where the user could save the fax details to resend again.. would be a very useful feature for the users....

It would be especially useful for faxes which fail because the receiving fax was busy at the time.

Cheers

Gidget

[Lawrie]

As per the instructions during the install, you must have Java 1.6 or later.
My installation seemed to work but no program, until I updated my Java!!!!
http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

[Lawrie]

2) The ability to add a simple cover page by writing it in a pop-up box (or similar) directly from the application would be a bonus if possible.

I think the answer is you add your cover sheet as one of the files you are faxing (probably the first one!)
The eXeFAX App allows for more than one file to be attached to the Fax.

[Gidget]

2) The ability to add a simple cover page by writing it in a pop-up box (or similar) directly from the application would be a bonus if possible.

I think the answer is you add your cover sheet as one of the files you are faxing (probably the first one!)
The eXeFAX App allows for more than one file to be attached to the Fax.

Yes, I know that is one solution, but it can be annoying having to create a separate document as a cover sheet, then browse to it and attach it etc when all you might want to do is direct a fax to a particular person, for example - this only requires what I described later as a "quick and dirty" cover sheet

Gidget

[smsdeveloper]

hi,

yes Lawrie, there is a compatibility issue with the JRE as its always better to have JRE 1.6 installed when running the app...
in the case of any trouble with the app the first thing to check should be the JRE currently installed on your PC...

thanx a lot for all of your suggestions(esp the ones abt the cover sheet and the resending functionality)...we have started working on it and hopefully we could implement them ASAP..

any new suggestions are welcome...
cheers

[sable]

Much simpler than trying to remember format and password in an email.

Agree with Gidget re cover page.

My suggestion is to allow the attachments to be pasted in to the application as well as navigating to their location.

[smsdeveloper]

We are continuing development of the Desktop fax application...
currently we have made a few changes
-saving of fax data so it can be for re-sending faxes...and also for any faxes that are to be sent regularly...
-few other changes in implementation

The inclusion of a cover page has a small problem but we will try to rectify that and include it as soon as possible to the application...

Here are the links for the two versions
-One for Windows Platform
http://www.exetel.com.au/files/eXeFAX_for_windows.zip
-One for other operating systems ( a jar file)
http://www.exetel.com.au/files/eXeFAX_for_other_os.zip

your feedback and suggestions are welcome...

[Lawrie]

Can we please have an 'about eXeFax' section in the program that lists what version of the program it is (or a version number displayed on the GUI)
I have just tried to update to the newer version but cant quickly prove that it has updated.

[vk3xem]

Nice Application, will it be exteneded to enable Fax to Email Service as well?