From...

March 12, 1999
Web posted at: 9:26 a.m. EST (1426 GMT)

by Yardena Arar

(IDG) -- Got fax?

I don't, at least not for personal use. And while almost everyone that works in an office has access to a fax machine, there are times when you either don't want to use it or can't -- for example, when you're traveling, or conducting personal business.

Enter eFax, a handy, ad-supported online solution for receiving faxes. Sign up for the free service on eFax's Web site, and in seconds you'll get your own personal fax number. Faxes received at the number are routed to eFax's servers, which convert the faxes to image files and e-mail them to you.

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The image files are stored in a proprietary format that can only be read or printed by the eFax viewer -- but that's a quick 190KB download from the Web site. EFax claims that the compression used in its format makes fax files up to 50 percent smaller than other electronic fax file formats, saving valuable space on your hard disk.

The quid pro quo: The very basic viewer launches with a splash screen that looks like a postcard with four stamp-size ads in the upper-right corner. Annoying? Actually, it's quite cute. You can click the ads if you're online (and interested), or just click in the splash screen to go straight to the fax. You won't see the ads while you're leafing through the pages of a fax.

Because you can't save eFax image files to other formats, there's no way around the splash screen and its ads -- they have to pay for the phone line and servers somehow! But it's a small price to pay. In my tests, the system worked flawlessly for most faxes; one person trying to fax me ran into a busy signal and reported transmission problems, but these were eventually straightened out.

You can share the faxes with anyone who downloads the viewer, which doesn't require signing up for the service. And if you're concerned about privacy, you can turn on a password protection feature for your account so only you can view your eFaxes.

A couple of glitches remain, however. First, all eFax numbers have an area code located in the Midwest, so senders might have to pay long-distance charges. Also, signing up for the eFax service might subject you to junk faxes. But at least eFax does not allow its own advertisers to fax you directly.

Although you can't use eFax to send faxes (fee-based premium versions of the service will likely have this feature), most people can do this using Windows and a fax modem. No doubt, you could also use your PC to receive faxes, but that would require staying offline -- and these days, when I'm on my PC, I'm usually hooked up to my ISP. EFax provides a terrific alternative -- and best of all, the price is right.