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Cheyenne's FAXserve wins NetWare fax server software match.
If you can't stand the clutter of a pile of faxes in your in-box every morning, maybe it's time to consider networkbased facsimile services. By putting faxes on your screen and letting you send out faxes from your applications, they save time, trouble and trees.
With a variety of fax servers to choose from, you need to consider several issues. How easily can the software be installed and managed? Is the user interface well suited to your users' competencies? Does the client software support the file types commonly used within your organization? Can you administer the flow of incoming and outgoing faxes easily, and can you set up cost-accounting structures?
We considered all of these issues when testing the only two NetWare Loadable Module (NLM)-based serv ers on the market - Cheyenne Soft ware, Inc.'s FAXserve and Cast elle's FaxPress. Castelle licenses Ahaus, Germany-based Tobit Software's FaxWare, which is identical to FaxPress.
We installed both products on a NetWare 4.1 server and ran their client portions on Windows 3.1 platforms. Both also support DOS and Windows 95 clients (see Figure 1) . FAXserve was the clear winner in this two-product race, sporting an intuitive user interface as well as a solid Windows-based administration program that lets any designated user manage incoming and outgoing faxes easily. It also supported a wide array of file formats for fax attachments.
FaxPress, on the other hand, fell short in several areas. Our biggest obstacle - and greatest source of frustration - turned out to be the software installation and configuration. We discovered the product didn't always support the specific modems and fax boards Castelle said it did. We alternately configured FaxPress with a GammaLink CP board and a Microcom Corp. Deskporte Fast 28.8K bit/sec external modem. Both options were on the list of supported devices, but neither worked properly at all times.
Beyond these technical glitches, FAXserve does not support NetWare Directory Services; you must enable bindery emulation on a 4.1 server. Its file-type support for attachments is limited to ASCII, PCX and BMP. We were also a bit put off by FaxPress's client interface, which makes use of a clumsy command mode that harkens back to older DOS-based interfaces....