Today we released a pretty significant update which bumps up the version to 2.0.10.16. The main focus is performance and stability improvement. Below a list of the changes. The server part requires no update on your computer. The PamFax Windows version does require a manual download and install if you are effected by the issues listed here.
Changelog:
PamFax Server Platform 2.0.10
Fixed: Removed flash document uploader for improved reliability
Fixed: Macintosh application could hang when uploading same file again
Fixed: Issues from error logs and automatic reporting. Improved stability
Fixed: Bug when hovering on submenu-items in portal
Fixed: Missing prices/countries on rates page in PamFax Portal
Fixed: Display of incorrect Skype country for some Macintosh users
Fixed: Hopefully fixed bug with pending faxes where payment was done after the fax was submitted
Change: Changed zone calculation for service and mobile numbers
Change: Added notification settings explanation
Change: Unpaid faxes are deleted after 3 days (was 30 before)
Change: Removed some fax-in area codes (provider related, service level could not be guaranteed)
PamFax application 2.0.x.16 (PamFax Windows only)
Fixed: Installer no longer flashes but downloads all files at once
Change: Removed check if Flash is installed
Change: Updated scanner module with better scanner support
Feature: Availability of a full install package which does not download anything (Link: http://www.pamfax.biz/PamFaxFullInstaller.exe)
Vista Sidebar Gadget 2.0.0.11
Feature: Added PamFax inbox so you can see incoming faxes
Feature: Added auto-update function
Fixed: Occasional disconnect with “server error”
Written by Dick on 10. July 2009 in category PamFax
On our search for a good file server and centralized backup solution, I stumbled across Windows Home Server. The description sounds very good and seemed to be the perfect solution for our office: this server system automatically backs up Windows clients over night and has a unique data-storage system, which makes it possible to add and remove different harddrives to the storage, making it larger without the hassle of moving files from one drive to the other. It’s a kind of software raid (stripe).
It also comes with a handy administration console, which can be accessed from every client machine. This console can be extended easily with addins by third party software developers. As some TapiRex customers already asked about a Windows Home Server console addin for TapiRex, it was a good point to get started trying this new Windows Server operating system.
So I tried to find it in the MSDN Subscriber downloads, as we have several subscriptions to MSDN Universal, which theoretically includes all Microsoft operating systems and all other software. As I was unable to find a download there, I googled the web and found out that Microsoft decided not to make Windows Home Server available in MSDN Subscriber downloads. Urgh. So we pay lots of money to not be able to get access to a Windows operating system to develop new addons for it. What a decision…
So I just ordered a Windows Home Server license from eBay, which was delivered quickly and did only cost around 90 Euros.
Installation
When installing the Windows Home Server incl. Power Pack 1 (which is based on Windows 2003 Server) on one of our servers in our server rack, it stumbled upon our 3Ware RAID controller, which is installed with 2 x 160GB harddrives as system drives in a mirrored array to speed up the operating system. I was able to load additional drivers for that controller from an USB stick, but when the system rebooted after the first installation step, it has forgotten about the driver.
Googling for this issue, I had to find out that this is a bug in the Windows Home Server installation . As the text-based setup does not have access to a USB stick to reload the drivers, I had to go out to buy an external 3.5″ USB disk drive, as the setup only accepts additional drivers from the A: drive. Do you remember 3.5″ disks? It was not that easy to find a disk to store the driver to get past this installation step. These disks have gone so rare here in the office . Previous installations of Windows 2003 did not have this problem…
But after that, setup was pretty easy. I was able to install all hardware components and to setup the Drive Extender. After setup, you have to install a small client connector software on every client machine that should backup to that Windows Home Server, which was pretty easy as well.
Delays in accessing shared folders: we experienced some delays in accessing shared folders on the server. Every employee in the office has some drives mapped to shared folders on the file server. This includes a personal folder and some general folders for everyone. While browsing in these subfolders on these drives, there was sometimes a lag of several seconds that makes it impossible to work with it fluently. For example, we store our downloads company-wide in a folder on the file-server. But the “save file” dialog in the webbrowser sometimes hung up for up to 20 seconds before it was able to show the folder and save the file. Once the data transfer starts, it’s fast and reliable.
Bug in drive’s size-calculation: When you map shared folders on the Windows Home Server as local drives, Windows XP and Vista are unable to show the correct drive size. After searching the web and asking some experts in Windows Home Server forums, I found out that this a known bug in Windows Home Server and that you can’t do anything about it:
Popups on all client machines: when you have the client connector software installed, all warnings from the Windows Home Server or one of it’s clients is shown on every client machine. So every user gets popup messages like “Computer X does not have virus protection installed”, “Backup on machine Y was not sucessful”, and many more. I was not able to find a way to customize these popups so that there are not shown to our apprentices for example.
So, after nearly 2 weeks in production, I am currently installing Windows 2008 Datacenter on that server machine, as the problems shown above disturbed our daily workflow that much that it was not worth it. We will install Windows Home Server as a VMWare virtual machine instead to do some software development on it. A PamFax addon is also an idea for it. What do you think?
I will report back how this all worked with Windows 2008. Does anyone have a different suggestion for a solid and fast file server operating system + client backup possibilities?
Written by Christoph on 15. January 2009 in category General News
Be one of the first to test the new mcePhone for Skype Beta 1! This complete overhauled version 3 brings Skype chats and video calls to your TV using Microsoft Media Center (2005 or Vista). We have spent large efforts on improving the user interface and usability of mcePhone. Just download and try out the new version here:
Be aware that there are still edges and problems in this beta version. Just let us know what you think or if you experience any problem. Our contact form is the best way to submit any feedback about mcePhone.
Written by Christoph on 13. November 2008 in category PamConsult
- The PamFax Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget was just published to the Windows Live gallery (see PamFax Gadget details page). Give it a try and experience a complete new feeling and comfort of sending faxes.
- In the next three days, Dick and myself will be in Athens, Greece at the Skype Developer Days 2008. This is a great yearly event and always a great opportunity to meet the Skype staff and a lot of interesting people working with Skype. After Prague, Czech Republic back in 2007 and Tallin, Estland in 2006, we are really looking forward to visit Athens this year for this event.
- TapiRex updated: We finally managed to update TapiRex to version 1.7.2. This update fixes some problems like the error message after wakeup, reverse lookup in Canada, …
Just download and install the newest version from the downloadpage.
We also started an experiment with Open Source: the next version of mceTapiRex has been published as Open Source. We have uploaded the complete source code of the current development version of mceTapiRex V2 to CodePlex: Open mceTapiRexV2 on CodePlex. We hope that many developers join us to develop this very nice TapiRex plugin to the next stage. If this works well, we can start thinking of making other components of the TapiRex system open source…
Written by Christoph on 15. September 2008 in category General News,PamFax
After months of work and testing, we released a major PamFax update yesterday. We worked hard to upgrade the whole system to a new framework “under the hood”. This enables us to add new features better and a lot faster in the future.
But we also added some new features for you:
PamFax Business Control Panel: With the PamFax Business Control Panel (also called “BCP”), you can group multiple PamFax users together and control the credits of these users from one account. This is perfect for companies, where only one user buys all the PamFax Credit and controls how many credit the employees get. You can manually send PamFax Credit to the users of your BCP and also set a minimum amount of PamFax Credit your BCP users need. So now, your employees never run out of PamFax Credit and do not need to hassle with payments on their own; all payments can be done through one administrator Pamfax account.
PamFax Vista Sidebar Gadget: With this gadget, you can see the status of your last faxes, access the PamFax Portal very quick and even start sending a fax more easy:
Send to more recipients at once: you can now send a fax to more then 1000 recipients at once. The “multiple recipients” input box now allows to add more numbers and PamFax processes these recipient numbers much, much faster. Sending ads or invitations to lots of recipients is now a breeze with PamFax!
New installer: We heard your requests about a more flexible installation and improved the PamFax installer: you are now able to select if you want to add desktop icons, install the PamFax printer driver and/or add the Microsoft Office toolbar buttons while installing. The installer is now localized to the major languages as well. So you should feel more comfortable when installing PamFax.
Use Amazon payments worldwide: You can now use your credit card or other payment data stored in your Amazon account to pay for your faxes in PamFax from all over the world. This feature was introduced in PamFax only to US-citizens some time ago and is now available to everyone. Amazon payments is a very nice payment option, as there is no minimal payment amount and as it’s very secure: you do not have to give us any credit card data if you don’t want to. The payment is handled by Amazon, the faxes are processed and sent by PamFax.
We also analyzed hundreds of logs, test reports and requests to improve PamFax in a lot of minor functions. PamFax should be more stable than ever now and work faster then before.
The website was also updated: all screenshots and texts are up-to-date and the rates-page now also shows all the possibilities from the webshop and lets you select your currency. The FAQ system is currently overworked as well: expect a very flexible modern system that allows you to find the answers to your questions very easy. This will be updated on the website shortly.
Just let us know if you have any issues or other feedback.
Happy faxing!
Written by Christoph on 4. September 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
We have just added some very interesting enhancements to PamFax: Integration of PamFax into Facebook and Salesforce.com.
In Facebook, you can now see your fax history with status of your latest faxes and even start a new fax very easy. If you want to see if a fax was delivered, it’s now only one click away:
In Salesforce.com, the integration goes much further: You not only have the fax history embedded in Salesforce, but you also have the ability to start a fax from any Contact, Account, User or Lead! So no more copy&paste to send a fax to one of your contacts, as PamFax starts with name and fax number prefilled and you only have to select what you want to fax and then send the fax.
And another integration is currently in development: A Windows Vista sidebar gadget. With this gadget, you have your latest faxes and fax status right on your desktop so you can check their status very easily. As with the other integraton tools, you can simply access your PamFax Portal or start a new fax with a single click. This will be available shortly.
Enjoy this new faxing comfort and please let us know what you think.
Written by Christoph on 29. 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
We have reached the 35.000 user mark. This means our growth is strong and the user base in growing proportionally. The number of new users per day is increasing too. When we started back in August 2007 we had about 30 new customers per day and now we are coming close to 300!
We see the user base growing as well as the number of processed fax jobs/sent pages.
We are constantly monitoring the system and customer feedback and apply the learnings to new releases. We have done a lot to provide better and clearer feedback to PamFax users regarding error situations and how to resolve them. This results in higher success rates and a better customer experience. To be able to provide easier feedback, we have started a poll section of the forum where you are able to easily provide feedback to some thoughts we have. Help us improve PamFax here.
Another topic for us is integration. We think that PamFax users will want to have access to PamFax from other applications as well. So currently development is working on integrating PamFax in Facebook, Salesforce.com and in the Vista Sidebar. The integration will focus on providing information currently available in the Portal in other platforms. This will enable a PamFax user to have an overview of his fax account from multiple locations. Stay tuned for more information.
Written by Dick on 29. May 2008 in category PamFax
Welcome to PamNews.com
Read about new stuff on Pamela for Skype, Pamela Call Recorder, PamFax, mcePhone, Jaast and our other media center solutions and digital home projects. But we will also share interesting things with you that we bump into. Profit from our more than 6 years of Skype and eBay experience. Enjoy!
@nakagawa09 thank you for the answer. we're working on this. please be patient, we are sorry for any inconvenience you had with this so far! 11 hours ago
@nakagawa09 could you please give detailed information (in english) on that kanji problem you are experiencing so we can check what's wrong? 1 day ago
On our search for a good file server and centralized backup solution, I stumbled across 
. As the text-based setup does not have access to a USB stick to reload the drivers, I had to go out to buy an external 3.5″ USB disk drive, as the setup only accepts additional drivers from the A: drive. Do you remember 3.5″ disks? It was not that easy to find a disk to store the driver to get past this installation step. These disks have gone so rare here in the office 
. Previous installations of Windows 2003 did not have this problem…
In the next three days, Dick and myself will be in Athens, Greece at the Skype Developer Days 2008. This is a great yearly event and always a great opportunity to meet the Skype staff and a lot of interesting people working with Skype. After Prague, Czech Republic back in 2007 and Tallin, Estland in 2006, we are really looking forward to visit Athens this year for this event.
