Description:
When you think of fax software, inevitably you think of Symantec's WinFax Pro, a utility that's been around for many moons, but has evolved beyond recognition since its first release. That said, its basic faxing functionality remains unchanged and as solid as ever. Along the way, it has picked up some useful bells and whistles. The new version now can be set up as a fax server on small peer networks. It originally integrated with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook, and the new version extends this integration to Outlook Express and the contact manager, Goldmine. Now, you can "e-mail" a fax to a recipient--this oddish option sends a 60 KB fax-viewer program as an attachment with the fax file. Nice touches abound; you can schedule a fax broadcast to multiple recipients, and set it to spool to two modems. WinFax Pro also can notify you of incoming faxes via a system-tray icon, cell telephone, or pager. If you need to turn an incoming fax into editable text, you can do it with its built-in OCR facility; although this is more of a "lite" version, and not quite as accurate as current standalone OCR packages. There's a new Drag and Drop Depot icon on the desktop for quick dispatching of documents. A new high-quality photo option improves print quality at the cost of extending transmission times. If you're plagued by junk faxes, there's a new spam filter; although first you'll need to get a modem that supports Caller ID, and subscribe to the service with your phone company. When you buy a modem these days, often you'll get a "lite" fax program with it; if you only need to send/receive faxes occasionally, this is probably sufficient. However, if faxing is a key element of your work, you'll want something a bit better; something with a bit more power. WinFax Pro 10.0 more than fits the bill. --Roger Gann
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