Internet Fax Dialer

The Internet Fax Dialer (IFD) from Bangalore-based Sparr Electronics hooks up

to your existing fax machine, and lets you send, receive, and forward faxes over

the Internet, either to other fax machines or an e-mail address. The device

looks like a modem and sits between your telephone and fax machine. Any fax you

send can be routed to go through the IFD, which will connect to the Internet and

send it across.

The IFD sends faxes to e-mail addresses in the form of TIF attachments. Being

e-mail, it can be sent over the Internet to anyone across the world at a lower

cost. Since you’re using your fax machine and not a computer, you have to

punch in the ASCII values of the e-mail ID on your machine. An ASCII code

listing comes with the IFD to help you with this. The IFD also has an address

book that can store up to 100 e-mail IDs and fax numbers. It assigns digits from

0 to 99 to each entry, which you can use for speed dialing, or for sending one

fax to multiple addresses. You can print out these addresses and other settings

from the fax machine.

If you’re sending a fax to another fax machine, you need to have an account

with a local Fax Service Provider (FSP) in your area, for instance Satyam. The

FSP will route your fax to the destination fax machine through the Internet. The

cost per fax is about Rs10 for India and Rs 25-30 internationally. You could

open an account with an FSP through Sparr at a registration fee of about Rs

1,000.

You can also send faxes from one IFD to another without going through an FSP.

The IFD can be configured either through the fax machine or a computer. It comes

with a cable to connect to a computer. The IFD comes in two versions, one with a

built-in 33.6 kbps modem costing Rs 12,500 and another without one priced at Rs

8,000. The latter is a good choice if you already have a Class 2 Fax modem.

Source: Sparr Electronics, Bangalore, Tel: 80-3310836 Fax: 3348346 E-mail: ifdsales@sparrl.com

Website: www.sparrl.com.

Vini Goel in Bangalore