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Clive Long
25th-April-2005, 08:49 PM
A question for you Web heads.

A friend wants to receive in-bound fax as email and also get a mobile alert when the email arrives. Sending fax from email is secondary need.

Now, I know one can receive fax as email using JFax or Puma (and others). I know subscription services allow email to fax.

Also I know that some email services allow one to send SMS alerts when emails are received that match certain criteria - e.g. senders domain = "something"

However, I feel this solution that receipt of the email to trigger an SMS is clunky and prone to failure of one of the elements in the chain. Are such SMS alert services actually quite reliable and "speedy"? Anyone use them regularly?

Is there a "slicker" more "direct" solution" to deliver to the mobile the alert that email has arrived?

I am thinking WAPMail (much discredited) but I can't think how the service would be "presented" to the user. That is, would an inbound email "automatically" trigger an alert on the phone which when clicked would open the inbound email? Would one have to use particular email provider or could the mobile directly access her existing ISP and email account and still get the mobile alert?

An extra feature of using WAPMail is my friend could easily acknowledge receipt of the fax by sending a simple reponse email from the phone.

Any "better" solution?

What's the international (European) coverage for such services i.e. will the solution probably only get necessary coverage in an urban area?

Ta

Clive

Dreadful Scathe
25th-April-2005, 09:31 PM
thats actually quite easy - in two steps

www.yac.com offer a fax to email service

many mobile phone packages offer 'push' emails i.e. you are informed when you get one

combine the 2 and bobs your auntie

Im, perhaps suprisingly, not particularly fussed about mobile phones so have never seen the need for that sort of thing :)




*edit - having read over your post again thats maybe not that useful but im doing other things just now too....ill leave it for others to better answer

David Bailey
26th-April-2005, 08:06 AM
Are such SMS alert services actually quite reliable and "speedy"?
The reliability and speed of any SMS message is dependent on the network. It could be delivered instantly, could be an hour, could be more - you're pretty much at the mercy of the operator there. So the alert services themselves may be fine, but there could still be a delay - depends on how time-critical the message is really. Not as reliable as email, I'd say.

Bangers & Mash
26th-April-2005, 12:14 PM
thats actually quite easy - in two steps

www.yac.com offer a fax to email service

many mobile phone packages offer 'push' emails i.e. you are informed when you get one

combine the 2 and bobs your auntie



I use yac all the time - I have several phone and fax numbers depending on who I am talking to - i.e. work, pleasure, etc.

I also use their email to fax service and it works a treat.

Highly recommended.