Articles tagged with ‘design’
Vincent wrote an excellent review on the PamFax service. The review was published end of May, right after we upgraded our platform to PamFax3. At the time the review was written we were still sorting out some technical post-migration issues.
Vincent mentions that the PamFax service has variable speed, this is something I’d like to clarify. After the lauch of PamFax3 we indeed had some performance issues, but these were related to the new hardware environment in which PamFax3 operated. As a result we did not see the anticipated performance stability compared to PamFax2.
This issue was quickly resolved and we have since not had any performance issues, fax delivery is fast and reliable.
We are also looking at how we can improve our online communication strategy and extend it beyond the occasional product announcement. Point taken!
We’d like to thank Vincent for his review and, especially as he is a web designer, for the positive feedback on the user interface and usability.
Link to the article: http://www.vincentroman.com/blog/review-of-the-online-service-pamfax
Written by Dick on 13. August 2010 in category PamFax
We’ve made it, PamFax3 is alive and kicking!
This time it was much longer than we had even dreamt of, but this was caused by a few server settings which our hosting partner fixed.
Thanks for hanging in during the upgrade process. I know some of you had a hard time when PamFax was offline.
Let me explain a bit why this update was so important and complex.
It all started last week when our hoster updated our server park to a full load balanced cluster. This was needed to cope with the increase in traffic we have had the past year. PamFax3 is much more efficient when it comes to scaling up so we decided now is a good time to put new hardware in as we need to do the upgrade anyway.
Then after the upgrade there were settings to be checked, etc. This took time. Then on Monday late afternoon (European time), we took PamFax offline. The team started to convert the databases and migrate users data to the new system. This is a huge amount of data so it took time. We unfortunately had to take PamFax offline to do this.
We did the databse conversion with the help of Amazon EC2 cloud servers, we had up to 15 running at a time!
After this we upgraded the core systems. These being the various modules PamFax consists of. PamFax3 is a complete new development and not a mere upgrade as the version number might imply.
Based on our experience and close monitoring of the PamFax2 system, we started designing PamFax3 back in summer last year. We wanted to have a very modular and scalable system which is able to process a lot of data and grow with us. We designed the system from scratch with these and other requirements in mind.
So, after the usual birth pains we’re now up and running. Thank you for hanging in during the upgrade process, I know it was not easy for some of you. I still hope you will forgive us this time as we do not do updates regularly (last one was PamFax2 in April 2009). We designed PamFax3 in such a way that we do not anticipate having to take the system down anymore!
You may now ask, what does PamFax3 offer? Well, first of all blazing fast fax delivery. In addition we redid the PamFax Portal design to be easier to use. There is also a new login/sign up screen. You can now login with your OpenID, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and a bunch of other accounts. In addition many small improvements and features were added. The PamFax BCP was renamed to “My Company” to make the company group faxing capability a bit clearer.
Last but not least, in June/July we will also be adding a new client application of PamFax for Android.
For partners we now have the PamFax API, this allows you to fully embed the PamFax functionality easily and quickly into your application or device. We already have a few project going and plan to announce them soon. If you are interested to join, let us know. The same faxing cost model applies to the API as when using PamFax – however no additional charges are made when using the API.
We are very excited to have PamFax3 and hope you will enjoy our efforts. We’re back now with a very powerful platform and based on it we have many plans and ideas for new stuff. Stay tuned!
Written by Dick on 18. May 2010 in category PamFax
Today we have upgraded our company website www.pamconsult.com to a complete new design:
This new design fits into our CI that we are applying to all our websites. We hope that every user feels “like home” and knows how to use it when he gets to one of our websites when they all look similar and all navigation elements are at the same place.
Do you like it? Leave a comment…
Written by Christoph on 14. November 2009 in category General News,PamConsult
In our efforts to re-brand all our websites in our new corporate design, we have now updated PamNews.com to a new and shiny design. We hope that this makes it easier to find all information you are looking for.
Want to see how the blog looked before the update? Here you are:
Any comments are welcome.
Written by Christoph on 1. October 2009 in category General News
Just want to post a quick update on where we are with the new PamFax 2.0 release. As mentioned earlier this is a major update with the following changes.
- Support (finally) for Macintosh
- Fax-In as part of the new Pro Plan covering 27 countries
- Complete redesigned PamFax application user interface for easier fax submission and managment
- New portal design
- Multi document sending
- Also works without Skype Extras Manager (Skype Credit then not supported)
- Country upgrades to cheaper zones
- Significant page price drop
We are on track for a tentative lauch on April 27.
For existing users it is important to know that we will allow existing PamFax Pro subscribers to upgrade to the new plan which includes a fax-in number from one of the 27 countries. As soon as we release PamFax 2.0 all 1.0 users will be upgraded automatically at next application start. Obviously the new page rates will apply to existing credit balances.
Attached two screenshots of what the new application looks like.
Written by Dick on 14. April 2009 in category General News,PamFax
Since the initial release of Pamela in February 2005 and after the last main release in May 2008, we now released Pamela for Skype version 4.5.
4.5 has some new features and changes which I will describe in this post.
The new version has two new main functions: Call Scheduler and Auto Conference Call Manager
Call Scheduler: This function allows you to schedule Skype calls and Pamela will popup a reminder at the preset time before the call is supposed to happen. The call scheduler has several options like recurring calls (great for those weekly/monthly calls). When a call notification is shown you can easily click on an icon which initiates the call for you.
Conference Call Manager: With this tool you can remotely start conference calls, bookmark conference calls or join calls. The situation of use would be where you are to start a conference call but need to attend other business. In this case you can define that when a particular Skype user calls you that Pamela creates the conference call (and you can record it also). The same works for outbound calls, you call a collegue and Pamela will create the conference call for you. You can also click on a call button and Pamela will automatically create a conference call with all people you have defined in the group.
In addition we have done major redesign of the birthday section which now shows a list of all past, current and future birthdays of your contacts. Those that do not have a date set in the Skype profile do not show obviously. New is also the option to customize the standard birthday chat greeting message before sending it.
We’ve had requests from people who installed Pamela on another computer, to be able to import older recordings. This function has been added to 4.5 and you can now easily import recordings into Pamela.
The video recording component, although not yet there where we want it to be, has been improved. Many had issues with Pamela unable to locate the Skype video, this has been fixed. Stay tuned for more development here.
The sound options in Pamela have been simplified as the configuration in 4.0 was very technical and many could not figure out how that worked.
The audio engine in Pamela has been updated and performs better. We have also achieved considerable performance improvements when starting Pamela.
Furthermore icons have been updated for better clearity. Menus have been resorted so they are more logical. Some settings regarding default setting of various options changed based on user feedback.
If you are a current Pamela user (not Call Recorder!), you can upgrade for free by downloading the latest version. To do that open Pamela and click on the Help menu and then “Check for update”. Download the new 4.5 version and run the installer. There is no need to uninstall Pamela for the upgrade.
We hope you enjoy the features of Pamela.
Written by Dick on 5. March 2009 in category General News,Pamela for Skype
Skype have released the Beta 2 release of their new 4.0 client. We have tested it and found it to be already stable enought for day to day usage. It has less rough edges as Beta 1 and a lot of the Beta 1 feedback has been incorporated in this release. So if you are a bit computer savy you will definitely want to give the Beta 2 a go.
For those upgrading to 4.0 and don’t want to miss the “old style” of how Skype looked you can change to the Compact View mode which essentially makes Skype behave as Skype 3.8. But you will still have the advantages of the conversation list (which is really cool) and the upgraded interface which I find more productive and fun the the old one.
Again, this Beta 2 is a great step forward. It is noticeable that Skype are listening hard to their users and I think the end product will really reshape the way people look at “messenger” applications. Just compare this beta release with the Live Messenger 2009 release – wow, does the Live Messenger look outdated 
.
Download Skype 4.0 from www.skype.com.
Last but not least, we are interested to hear from you if Skype should present itself in the new single window design or as “old style” Skype to users who upgrade. In particular, do you think people who have used Skype before 4.0 will easily migrate to the new single window interface? Looking forward to hearing from you.
[polldaddy poll="965088"]
Written by Dick on 1. October 2008 in category General News
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
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
One of the projects we worked on the last days and weeks is a complete redesign of the forums at problems-solution.com. Now it’s live in the new design with enhanced features and a nice portal page that gives more information to the visitor than just a forums list.
The owner of this forum hired us for this project as he liked our other websites. Here you can see two screenshots of the forums before and after we had our hands on it:
Before:
After:
Just visit problems-solution.com to see the result. Any comments are welcome…
Written by Christoph on 2. October 2007 in category PamConsult
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