We have now fixed the last issues with our shop system. You may have noticed that purchasing was partially not possible – this was caused by changes on the cluster regarding the https used for the shop.

The other main area we are now working on is increasing the performance of the cluster system. Jointly with the hosting company we are going to improve speed. We are not satisfied with the performance, it takes too long to load certain pages. This is annoying and will be fixed with high priority.

Other then that we have resolved the issues present right after we went live with PamFax3 and are seeing that the platform is performing really well with processing fax jobs.  As I wrote in an earlier post, the fax delivery performance was one of the main goals that led to the new architecture of PamFax3 – and it is clear that our team has done their homework correctly!

And as usual with such updates there is a lot of cleanup to do after the actual update has been completed. We are now in the process of doing this so please accept my appologies for any issues that are still there.

The team is working on improving the performance of the servers, there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Another issue we are aware of is that the PamFax Windows application may show only a small window when starting PamFax. The team have identified the cause and are working on getting this fixed asap. As a workaround please login to the PamFax Portal and send your faxes from there.

Thank you everyone for your patience as we finish the cleanup of this new version.

Please note that the currency is only available for China and Malaysian residents.

The promotion started on March 1st. The PamFax ads will be present on their Skype Business pages and also in the partner tab of the PC Home version of the Skype application.

An example of the website ad below.

More information on the PC Home website at http://skypebiz.pchome.com.tw

After the first scan of the PamFax website we were able to add the McAfee logo to the PamFax website.

Today we added the logo to our PamFax website at www.pamfax.biz and on Monday latest the Pamela website at www.pamela.biz will also show the logo (the scans have been completed and nothing major was found – but hey it’s Friday).

The good news is that both our sites showed no major security flaws which could have impacted the users privacy.

As a concequence we will be switching over to an alternative “Pay As You Go” offer which will allow occasional PamFax users to still use PamFax “On Demand” without needing to buy a monthly plan. The minimum initial credit purchase will be €5 (Skype Credit was €0,99). The reason for the €5 amount is the cost associated with processing smaller amounts.

The good news is that PamFax is still the only product which allows you to send faxes by just paying a small pre-load amount.

This update will be done server side and will not require a PamFax update on your computer.

This update includes the following changes:
- Improved performance
- Fixed file upload for multiple files
- Added dashboard page in portal
- Improved website
- Optimized transmission reports
- Added “only send notification if an error occurs” setting to notification options
- Fixed relogin issue after sending a fax from Portal
- Group notification checked by default if more then one recipient
- Startup hint “unsent faxes” shows count of faxes, not recipients
- Improved “set password” dialog on first start
- “sent” time is only shown when fax was sent, not while it’s processed
- Improved Facebook and Salesforce.com plugin. i.e. now also show faxes from inbox

There are many minor changes and bugfixes included in this update “under the hood” which just improve PamFax in many small areas. I.e. it is now easier to find information on the website about the rates, the Salesforce.com and Facebook plugins are much better now and the PamFax application is much faster now.

I want to emphasis one new feature that this update brings: the new dashboard page in the portal. Whenever you open your PamFax Portal now, you will see the new dashboard page:

On the dashboard page, you will get a very nice overview over your settings (like PamFax username, language, currency, date format, personal fax number, …) and your latest faxes (sent and received) and you are also able to change all these settings very easily by direct links into the settings of the application. Many of you have been asking for a one page overview of your account and settings – so here you go.

As this is an update on the server side there is no need for you to re-download the PamFax application. Just start PamFax and you will be using the new features!

What do you think? What needs to be added to the dashboard page? Comments welcome!

But this shut-down also includes the Skype Credit payment, which will be switched off shortly. No third-party software will then be able to accept Skype Credit payments.

So how does this affect Scendix/PamConsult products? The simple answer is: not very much.

Let’s take a look at all our products we have for Skype:

Pamela: Pamela only uses the Skype Public API and not the Skype Extras system. So this will not affect Pamela at all.

PamFax: With our upgrade to Pamfax 2.0 including a complete new architecture back in april this year, we are now completely independent from Skype’s Extras system. Current version of PamFax runs on any Windows or Mac machine even if Skype is not installed at all. What we loose in PamFax will be the possibility to buy PamFax Credits with Skype Credits and the entry in Skype’s “Extras” menu (once it will be removed by Skype; “later”). We are already investigating in other payment methods to use PamFax pay-as-you-go for some time now, as we heard from our users that only Skype Credit payment (which was not available on Mac or Linux at all) is not enough. So this is a very good time to add some more payment flexibility to PamFax.
As the fax-sending process is done by our own datacenters all around the world and not by the Skype network, PamFax will even work if they shut off Skype completely. Sometimes, independence is something very nice

Pamela Call Recorder: The Pamela Call Recorder can be seen as a small version of Pamela. So it will work even after this change in Skype. More then a year ago we built a “stand alone” version of the Pamela Call Recorder which can be downloaded from www.pamcorder.com. This version will work even if the user has a Skype version without the Extras Manager system. Just like PamFax you can just keep using the product.

mcePhone, Skype for Salesforce and others: Do not use the Skype Extras system at all. As the public Skype API will live on, there will be no change in these products.

We are still thinking about why Skype goes into this direction: the latest history has shown that opening up a product as a platform and to allow third-party software to connect and to enhance the core products can turn into a real self-runner making the platform and therefore the core product itself much, much more valuable. Think about what these products would be without any third-party software, plugins, addons or whatever they are called for each product: WinAmp, eBay, Apple iPhone, FireFox and thousands of other software products more that are good because there are good plugins for this product.

Could you imagine using an iPhone without any third party software installed on it? What if there would not be a possibility to buy iPhone apps as easy as it is right now? Would you enter your credit card data into a shop system you never saw before from a company that you have never heard before to buy a fun app for USD 1.99 just to try it out? Apple has shown that a very well done “Extras system” with a safe, easy and WORKING payment possibility can boost sales of the apps and the core product.

If Skype did not believe in their Extras System 1.0, perhaps it was because it had so many problems and was not extended for at least 2 years now. It was developed once and then there was no progress at all. Some major things that made the Skype Extras system a flop in our eyes: a) only on windows, not available on Mac or Linux, b) horrible client-only Skype payments implementation, c) very unflexible (games as developer-examples shows the focus when it was developed…), and loads more.
But why it’s so hard for a multi-billion-dollar company to hire some people with the according knowledge and make it better? Skype Extras System 2.0? Just shutting down the whole thing is just a decision at the round table, but standing up for a product platform and fight to make it better than it was before to make it a success is a hard and long road to go.

We believe that some changes are always a good chance to make something much better than it was before. For us, this means finding more ways to market our software and the opportunity to change the pay-as-you-go payment process in PamFax will be a great step forward in making our products even better.

So: R.I.P. Skype Extras System. Let’s find something better out there!

Matthias is a developer who worked in web development before. He will be part of the web development team and will work on projects from our customers as well as on PamFax, the websites, etc.

Tobias is a new apprentice who will learn software development in the next 3 years in our company. Through his existing knowledge, he will also help developing our products and projects.

So, welcome!