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July 1999


Legacy 2000/3000 Series Internet Fax Systems

Internet Magic, Inc.
10225 Barnes Canyon Rd.,
Ste. A-205
San Diego, CA 92121
Ph: 619-824-0500
Fx: 619-824-0555
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site:
www.internetmagic.com

Price: Dial-up “2000” version - $499; LAN “3000” version - $699

RATINGS (0–5)
Installation: 5
Documentation: 4.5
Features: 3.75
Overall: B+-

If your monthly fax bill costs more than your monthly ISP bill, and if your organization has several legacy fax machines, then your group may be a candidate to save money using CTI, in the form of Internet Magic's Legacy 2000/3000 Series of the Internet Fax System.


The two-and-a-half pound box’s primary job is to automatically convert outbound faxes into e-mail, thus using a data network (like a WAN or the Internet) instead of the PSTN. Users program the unit once with ISP data (2000 version), or with their organization’s network connection data (3000 model). From then on, the unit sits between a fax machine and a telephone line. Whenever someone sends an outbound fax (by “dialing” a telephone number, e-mail address, or speed dial number), the device intercepts the data and sends it as e-mail instead of as an expensive fax call.

INSTALLATION
The Legacy 2000/dial-up version is easier to configure than the Legacy 3000 network version. The first step is cabling the unit, but all that’s involved is attaching an AC adapter, an analog telephone line, and a fax machine. The unit runs a brief POST sequence when it’s switched on. Users can program several different ISP connections, each requiring primary and secondary telephone numbers, primary and secondary DNS numbers, SMTP and POP3 addresses, login names and passwords, POP names and passwords, and e-mail addresses. Users also program the system date, time, time zone, e-mail headers, modem volume, dial method (tone/pulse), and poll interval (for scanning the programmed e-mail address for new mail, downloadable to the fax machine for printing). For more configuration options, see the Features section below.

Programming the Legacy 3000/network version is essentially the same experience, except that e-mail access is achieved via a network wire instead of through the analog telephone wire. Also, configuration involves installing software on a PC, which is used to configure a netmask, a gateway address, and a method of obtaining an IP address (DHCP, RARP, or static) instead of configuring ISP entries. The 3000 unit also includes a ping feature that lets users enter another address on the network for connectivity testing.

DOCUMENTATION
The manuals for both devices are similar. Both are merely paper pages stapled into book form, but the dial-up version is truly the kind of product that can easily be configured by a PC-adept 14-year-old. The more complicated network version might require at least a 16-year-old. Regardless, both manuals have simple English explanations of every feature, and we had a unit configured and working in less than 20 minutes — the process should have been even faster, but we had some difficulty configuring one of our in-house (and little-used) dial-up connections. The only change that we’d like to see is a more specific sample ISP configuration, and perhaps the inclusion of simple user’s documents to distribute within the office.

FEATURES & OPERATIONAL TESTING
Both units have features like e-mail inbox polling, with customizable intervals; customizable number of outbound retries before the fax reverts to the PSTN; four-line LCD with programmable headers; eight function buttons; a context-sensitive help button; and four additional scroll buttons for navigating setup menus. Both units also have a three-volt internal lithium battery and flash RAM — the 2000 unit comes with two MB, the 3000 unit comes with four MB, and both units will have expansion modules to boost the memory to 10 MB. These modules will be available in the third quarter of this year, and they’ll be priced similar to standard SIMM chips. Finally, both units come with a built-in 55-button QWERTY keyboard, with a fold-over cover. Other features include:

  • Built-in 33.6 Kbps modem.
  • Group faxing to 100 destinations.
  • Fax machine can still work as normal without Internet sending enabled.
  • Option to send faxes to e-mail addresses/telephone numbers not programmed into phonebook.
  • Support for T.30, T.4, T.6; 9600 Kbps V.29; 14.4 Kbps V.17; V.42 error-checking.
  • Protocol compliance for TCP/IP, MIME, POP3, SMTP, DNS; and TIFF-F image format.
  • Remote configuration.

Later this year, features for data encryption will be added, as well as a feature to allow PC-based programming for the dialup version. The PC software also allows administrators to create a global phonebook, which can be downloaded in a proprietary e-mail attachment format to each unit.

Using the Legacy 2000 is easy, even for the most technically inexperienced employees. Once administrators program the speed-dial entries in the unit’s phonebook, all users have to do is insert their document into the fax machine as normal, dial the recipient’s Legacy speed-dial number instead of the actual fax number, and the unit does the rest. If users need to send a fax to someone who’s not in the phonebook, they can dial the pound symbol followed by the recipient’s e-mail address (entered using the unit’s keyboard), or they can dial pound followed by an actual fax machine telephone number to circumvent the unit entirely.

Programming things like groups and the phonebook entries is equally simple. Menu items appear in groups of just a few at a time, and users scroll through choices using the device’s four scroll buttons. In certain menus, users are confronted with choices controlled by the function buttons directly beneath the LCD, but this is very simple to operate.

Operating the network interface software is slightly more complex. As shown in Figure 4, the PC interface allows you to organize different Legacy systems that are at different locations, each with their own sets of public and private phonebooks and user groups. This GUI is exceptionally clean and simple to understand, and it follows the ever-ubiquitous Outlook look and feel.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
The biggest change that the Legacy Internet Fax System needs is a new keyboard. The keys used are the rubber kind found in calculators — every key has the side-to-side motion and the soft feel of a pencil eraser. Clearly, it would be impossible to touch-type with this keyboard. We’d prefer to see the half-travel, sub-notebook size keyboards found in palmtop computers. We’d also like to see an IR port for synchronizing the phonebook with the contact manager of a Palm or Windows CE device. Also, we opened our unit and found a tremendous amount of empty space inside — there’s no reason why the unit cannot be flat and book-shaped — which would be a more functional design than the current wedge-like design. Especially for a true SOHO environment, users might need the space to place a telephone, answering machine, etc. on top of the unit. Finally, it would be a good idea for the unit’s memory to use standard chips instead of the proprietary design, and ultimately, the units could be much less expensive and available through retail channels instead of just through VARs.

CONCLUSION
For offices that have large fax needs and leftover fax machines that they can’t justify not using, the Legacy units might be appropriate. We like the network version better than the dial-up version, but they will be equally useful when the dial-up version also has the software interface later this year. No two organizations have the same exact needs, and for a unit that costs a minimum of $500, the return on investment could take a while unless your fax bill is very high. Meanwhile, several companies are either offering or developing similar devices, most of which will have unique feature sets. (More information on some of these devices will be found in this space in upcoming issues.)

For now, the Legacy Internet Fax System certainly has its uses and a niche market, but we feel that it’s too expensive and lacks enough features/documentation to make it worthwhile to mainstream users. However, the system shows a great deal of potential, and many experts feel that CTI appliances are more representative of the future than computers and analog devices. When considering your branch office needs and ways to save money, this fax system should not be overlooked. We look forward to seeing future versions and competitors’ products.







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