PamFax turns 1!
Last year, on the 8th of August 2007, we released PamFax to the public. The first faxes were sent only a few minutes after we released PamFax.
This has been an exciting year: So many faxes have been sent via PamFax, so many new users joined the PamFax user-group, we have added so many features (like integration in salesforce.com, facebook, …).
We are looking forward to many more successful years with many more happy customers and more successful faxes.
Thanks to all users for using PamFax as their faxing solution and stay tuned for more exciting news around PamFax in the future!
Written by Christoph on 8. August 2008 in category PamFax
We are proud to announce the new version of mcePhone for Skype, which brings Skype to your TV using Microsoft Media Center (2005 or Vista). This next version 2.2 will have integrated Skype Video calls and Skype chat support.
This is a screencam of the complete overhauled version with new UI:
Unfortunately, Skype was unable to add an API to Skype in the past 3 years to give us access to the video of Skype calls directly, although we have asked and pushed hard for so long. As Skype video calls on TV was the most requested feature of mcePhone, we have invested a vast amount of time to make this possible even without any change from Skype’s side. With this new version, you will get fullscreen Skype video of the person you are calling on your TV and even see your video in the lower left corner (see ~1:30 in the video above).
Another very nice new feature is Skype chat integration: While you can still see the current media playing in the lower left corner of your TV (i.e. while the commercials are playing), you can chat with your friends and family. You even get a notification overlayed over your current media (TV, DVD, …) if a chat message comes in. With one click, you are in the chat conversation to answer the incoming chat message (see ~3:30 in the video).
We plan to make a beta of this new version available very soon to you. Be prepared to get a totally new feeling of Skype in your living room
Let us know what you think.
Written by Christoph on 1. August 2008 in category PamConsult
Due to the significant growth in PamFax revenue we are able to lower the standard “Pay As You Go” by 17%. This means the page price has dropped from €0,17 to €0,14 per page. The other zones where lowered accordingly. The new rates make PamFax the most attractive “no strings attached” fax sending platform.
Based on users feedback we have added two new fax plans. Next to “Pay As You Go” we intorduced “PamFax Professional Plan” and pre-paid packs.
The new plan “PamFax Professional Plan” provides a 35% discount on the standard rates for only €2,95 per month. Ideal for companies sending faxes regularly and who want to save significantly. The page price starts at €0,09 for zone1.
Packs are pre-paid and start at €30 up to €1.000. The discount on the standard page price starts with 5% when buying €30 credit and goes up to 40% when buying €1.000 credit. Ideal when you need to send a bulk fax or plan to send many faxes at once or in a short timeframe. Note that, unlike with our competitors, purchased packs do not expire within a month.
The plan and packs can be purchased at the new PamFax shop located at www.pamfax.biz/shop.
With the three fax sending options (Pay As You Go, PamFax Professional Plan and the packs), everyone can save substantially when using PamFax. Start with “Pay As You Go” and then you may consider to purchase the plan or a pack. In any case we want to offer the best and easiest faxing platform and the most attractive rates.
Please send in any feedback regarding above plans and how we can help you be more efficient and productive.
In the light of the above new offers we released a new server and client update. The big change in the new client is the improved startup speed. We had some complaints from users where the startup time of the PamFax application was very long, too long. So we changed that and the new .34 client build will startup a lot faster.
Until Skype release the new version in the extras gallery the update needs to be done manually by downloading and running the setup from www.pamfax.biz. Once Skype have published the new version the update will be automatic when you next start the PamFax application.
We hope you enjoy using our service and as always appreciate your feedback. Stay tuned for more cool stuff soon!
Written by Dick on 20. July 2008 in category PamFax
We just received the eBay Star Developer Award for Innovative Application 2008! I am currently in Chicago at the eBay Developer Conference, where we were given this award for our newest software Jaast for Wii, which brings eBay to your TV using Nintendo’s Wii console.
We already received this award back in 2006 for our software mceAuction. So we feel very proud of getting this award again this year. I don’t know if there was ever any company who received this award twice.
Here are some photos from us getting the award (click to enlarge):
A slide showing that we received the award on stage
Me and Max Mancini (Senior Director of Disruptive Innovation of eBay) on stage after receiving the award
Max Mancini and John Donahoe (CEO of eBay) giving the award to me
Big thanks to eBay for giving this award to us. Let’s see what we can do for next year
Yesterday we released a server update and this time the local PamFax application is updated too. The application is available as download from www.pamfax.biz and will be made automatic for all users as soon as Skype release the new build to the Extras Gallery.
Changelog of 1.0.51.33 (.51=Server, .33=Client)
- Client: Implemented workaround where on some systems PamFax registry settings where missing
- Client: Updated scanner driver
- Client: Scanned documents are now saved as PDF instead of TIFF
- Server: International numbers are corrected if PamFax notices that they are obviously wrong (i.e. a “0″ after +49 for German numbers is removed automatically)
- Server: Show warning if fax is higher priced because it is a slow number, mobile or a service number
- Server: Updated cover templates and added a blank one so you can also just send a written text as fax
- Server: PamFax shows “Recommend to a friend” page automatically
- Client+Server: Improved starting/connecting behaviour
If you want to update the PamFax client because you have regular connection timeouts on first start (Skype bug) or want better scanner support just download PamFax build 33 and run the installer which will update your PamFax to the latest version.
Stay tuned for more cool stuff enhancing your PamFax experience soon. We are super happy with PamFax performance and the feedback we receive from users is exceptionally good. So keep the feedback coming!
Written by Dick on 7. June 2008 in category PamFax
We released a new server update and this time also an update for the local PamFax Extra application (available in Skype under Tools, Do More).
The highlights of the update are:
Redesigned first page in PamFax application for easier start.
Resend fax option added to portal. This is nice as it allows you to resend failed faxes easily.
Added more conversion server power.
If a document can not be converted to PDF due to issues in the document, there is now a gracious refund process.
Fixed a Vista UAC issue when Skype is started by PamFax after installing PamFax.
Besides the above we also did the normal set of minor bug fixing and improvements here and there.
Some screenshots:
Your PamFax application will be auto-updated once Skype have released the new version to the Skype Extras Gallery.
Very soon we will be posting about another cool new function we will be adding. This time it will be about integration of PamFax in Facebook, Salesforce.com and in the Vista SideBar. Stay tuned!
Written by Dick on 3. June 2008 in category PamFax
As in the past two years, i will be speaking at the eBay Developer Conference this year in Chicago June 16-18. This event is mainly for developers and partners around the developer programs of eBay, Skype and PayPal. As the last events in Las Vegas 2006 and Boston 2007 have been very interesting and lot of fun, I am really looking forward to this event.
I will speak in two sessions presenting our new eBay buyer tool for the Nintendo Wii and PamFax. As a special highlight, we are giving a Nintendo Wii to one of the attendees of the Wii-Session. It’s called “The View from the Couch of the Future in Digital Living Room” and will be on June 17th at 11am. Come in and grab the Wii.
If anyone wants to meet there in Chicago, just contact me.
We are coming up to 25.000 PamFax users now and have made some decisions how to further improve the platform. In the past 9 months we have seen some issues we don’t like and which impact performance and/or system flexibility. Users have also been providing excellent and valuable feedback.
We are currently working on the following things which will result in the most significant server update since launch:
A better document conversion system. Right now PamFax can accept the major formats, but we want to improve this even further. The new server system will be able to convert many more formats, offer improved character set support and also significant speed improvements when submitting a fax.
Architecture improvements. We decided to re-design the server farm architecture and we will have independant running clusters in Europe and North America. This will result in better performance when loading PamFax and submitting faxes.
Better local processing system. Work is done to make the process of submitting a fax less dependant of environment variables like availability of supporting servers. This will provide improved availability of the PamFax system.
In addition many more minor improvements will be added to the system with this next server update. So, stay tuned for more cool stuff and we thanks you for the feedback. Keep it coming!
Written by Dick on 22. April 2008 in category PamFax
We are currently finalising the next Pamela version, 4.1.
New will be a Skype call scheduler. Ever since I use Skype for calling I have missed a feature that enables me to manage my calls. I promise to call someone back and need to do this in Outlook or pen and paper. After plastering my screen with notes, we decided it is time to add this to Pamela. It has turned out to be a pretty cool feature with a wealth of flexibility.
The second major feature is a tool that helps you manage Skype conference calls more easier. I’ve always found it annoying not to be able to save a conference call with fixed participant list and start with one click. Also we’ve had requests from people who live in a different timezone from their headoffice and who want to initiate and record conference calls. Pamela 4.1 will offer all of this in a sleek function called Auto Conference Manager.
In addition we decided to change the audio engine for more simpler handling. Also to address some incompatibility issues with Ulead packages. And we have done some work on the video recording part and redone the language editor. You will also notice the new hints in options and other places that help you with what needs to be entered.
Two days ago we reached the 21.000 user mark. This means a stellar growth of the PamFax user base and shows that there is a huge demand for B2B services in Skype. We are currently adding more then a 1.000 new users per week and this number is also growing strongly. We have added Amazon and direct PayPal payments to PamFax which have made the service even more attractive.
In addition the latest PamFax version increases the number of ways you can submit a fax. In the past this was only possible in the client directly and via Microsoft Office. Now you can also print your document to PamFax from any application.
Our next step is to get PamFax officially Skype certified and get it listed as Skype Premium Extra. This means that PamFax will be much more easily accessable from the Skype menu Tools, Do More.
Two things people ask for most are Fax-In capability and Mac version. We are looking at how to offer Fax-In as a subscription and will post an update here as soon as there is some news. A Mac version would be really cool, but the main limitation here is that the Skype Extras Manager subsystem which hosts PamFax is not available on Mac. This is the module that also does the payment with Skype Credit. We are looking at alternative ways.
Please keep the feedback coming and should you have issues please take a look at the forum (which has had a major overhaul): www.pamfax.biz/forum.
Written by Dick on 19. March 2008 in category PamFax
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