Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

pamfax posts

Filed under: VoIP

Pamela call recorder, PamFax for Skype to continue

PamFax
A few days ago we discovered that Skype was shutting down its Extras program which lets users download and install add-ons for the internet telephony software directly from the Skype client. But it turns out that doesn't mean plugins for Skype will all disappear at the stroke of midnight.

Pamela makes two popular add-ons for Skype, the Pamela application for recording Skype audio and video calls and PamFax, an application that lets users send faxes over Skype. Both of these applications use the Skype API and will continue to work even after Skype Extras are shut down. But you won't be able to purchase PamFax credits with Skype credits anymore, so the company is planning to come up with a new payment method.

The company does have a stripped down version of Pamela called Pamela Call Recorder which is distributed through the Skype Extras program. It's not clear what the future of this product will be.

It is good to know that by killing off the Extras program, Skype isn't sticking a fork in all of the applications that have sprung up around the platform.

In related news, TechCrunch reports that a Skype official is denying that the company is giving up on third party developers, but rather that future versions of the VoIP software will have a new and improved system for integrating third party tools.

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, VoIP

PamFax Skype add-on adds support for Mac, incoming faxes

PamFax
PamFax is a plugin for Skype from the same people who make Pamela, an application that lets you record Skype conversations. As you may have guessed from the name, PamFax lets you send documents to fax machines using Skype.

The company recently released PamFax 2.0, which adds a ton of exciting new features including support for Macs, the ability to receive faxes from 27 countries in addition to sending outgoing faxes, and lower prices. PamFax 2.0 can also be run independently of Skype.

The first fax is free, but you'll need to purchase credit in order to send and receive fax messages after that.

[via SkypeJournal]

Filed under: Internet, VoIP

PamFax launches Skype fax add-on

PamFax
PamFax, the Skype add-on we told you about a few months ago that lets you use Skype to send documents to fax machines has come out of beta. While in beta, the service was unavailable to US customers, but now that it has officially launched PamFax makes it easy to choose a Word or PDF document from your desktop and send it to any fax line in the world.

The application has a few other nifty new features, including the ability to work with Windows-compatible scanners. That means you can essentially turn your scanner into a fax machine by scanning an item directly to PamFax and then sending it off. There's also a PamFax print driver that lets you treat PamFax as a virtual printer. In other words, you can hit the print button in Word, Excel, Firefox, or any other application on your PC and sen the printout to any fax machine.

It costs about $.24 per page to send a fax, and you have to pay about $1.42 to sign up for the service the first time you send a fax. So if you happen to have a real fax machine lying around, it's probably going to be cheaper just to hook it up to your phone line. But for anyone who needs to send an occasional fax doesn't have a fax machine or a land line available, PamFax is a convenient, easy to use solution.

[via Skype Journal]

Filed under: Utilities, VoIP, Beta

Send a Fax over Skype with PamFax

PamFax
For most day to day purposes, you can pretty much replace your telephone line with a PC-based VoIP solution like Skype. You can make computer to computer calls for free. And for an annual fee or a relatively low rate per minute, you can make calls to telephone lines from your PC.

But up until now you had to hang on to your telephone line if you needed to send and receive faxes. Well, sort of. You could always use a service like K7.net to receive faxes and another web service like faxZERO to send them. But that's a bit of a clunky solution.

Now PamConsult, the company behind the Pamela call recording plugin for Skype is beta testing PamFax a new plugin that lets you send faxes using Skype. It looks like you'll still need a separate solution for receiving incoming faxes.

PamFax integrates with Skype, letting you send documents to fax numbers. You can also use a plugin for Word and Excel 2003/2007 to send faxes directly from those programs. You'll receive status notifications through Skype Chat.

PamFax isn't free. You'll need Skype credit to send documents. Rates vary from € 0.17 to € 1.59 per document. But when you install the beta, you'll receive € 0.17 to send your first test fax. Sharp-eyed Download Squad readers will note that the prices are all in Euros. We'd convert the rates to US dollars for you, but there's no point just yet. During the first part of the beta, PamFax is not available to customers in the US and Canada. You can download the file, but it won't install.

[via Skype Journal]

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio