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
Although Pamela 4.6 has been around for a long time we are still finding things that need to be fixed. Relatively shortly after we released the .57 version we release another update. This update has the following changes:
Bugfix: Irregular display of dialog “No sound data from Skype” although sound was OK
Bugfix: Fixed a potential crash situation at Pamela startup
Bugfix: When starting Pamela without Skype the call list would not be populated with the recorded calls
Change: Changed default voicemail greeting message
Change: Removed Skype API authorization warning window
You can update for free by opening Pamela and clicking on “Help” and “Check for update”.
Our plans moving forward are the release of Pamela 4.7. The main changes here will be the new sound engine which we will be using for Pamela5 as well as some fixes. The next release is not a feature release but we will add a “Recording Info” option which allows you to see all the details of a particular recording.
Written by Dick on 23. March 2010 in category Pamela for Skype
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
