On the GoFAX. (communications software) (Evaluation)
by Eddie Huffman

It sounds strange: faxing documents using neither a fax machine nor a fax/modem board, just a modem. But if you've got the necessary hardware, On the GoFAX makes faxing documents a snap anywhere you can connect your modem to a phone line, whether it's your office or a hotel room.

Though designed for use on the road from a loptop or notebook computer, the program could even serve as a send-only substitute for a fax machine or fax/modem board from your desktop PC. The cost of faxing those pages, though, would add up to the cost of a send-and-receive board in a hurry. At current rates, it costs $3 to fax one page and $2 for each page thereafter. Local fax stations probably run a bit cheaper. Still, On the GoFAX might come in very handy at odd hours or in unfamiliar places, and your call to the service bureau that does the actual faxing is toll-free.

After a setup procedure in which you assign a credit card number (a pass-word safeguards against fax-change theft), On the GoFAX presents a menu. Changing the standard information that goes out on each of your fax pages won't pose major difficulties, and creating fax documents with the rudimentary text editor doesn't demand much finesse.

This virtual facsimile machine can also transmit text files in ASCII from your own word processing program, graphics file, and multiple versions of the same file to different recipients. My only real complaint is with the annoying screen blips and silly sound effects that company incorrect keystrokes and the conclusions of various GoFAX procedures.

Whether On the GoFAX looks like a bargain largely depends on how desperately you need to fax something at any given moment. For everyday use, the service seems prohibitively expensive, but the software itself does not. As an insurance policy for those times when you may need late-night or on-the-road faxes, On the GoFAX goes where you need it.