Message centers - six message center software packages are reviewed - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, Nov, 1997 by Charles H. Gajeway

Just as we were beginning to enjoy the program, though, we hit a series of serious snags. The driver we used to "print" a fax refused to work with Microsoft Word, and we had to download a revised version of HotFax from Smith Micro's Web site. Surprisingly, neither the problem nor the solution is mentioned until you are deep into the documentation. Given the popularity of Microsoft Office, this fix should have been in big red letters on page one.

The new driver let us print from Word, but we soon ran across other problems that we weren't able to remedy. We couldn't attach documents to a HotFax cover page, an important capability. Worse, the program frequently quit in the middle of outbound faxes and would freeze completely if it tried to resend a fax while we were using another feature.

In sum, HotFax fell short of perfection. The program relies on Microsoft Exchange instead of offering its own e-mail features, and integration suffers as a result. You can't use attachments to create one large fax from a series of smaller ones, a capability we'd be lost without. Worse, HotFax exhibits stability problems that we think are inappropriate in software that is supposed to run unattended. If easy-to-use voice mail is what you need most, you could consider HotFax, but we think you could do better.

MacComCenter Plus 2.

MAC beta

We had almost given up trying to find a message center program for the Mac. Hayes has discontinued SmartCom Message Center for Macintosh, and the other contender was too buggy and temperamental to recommend. But literally at the 11th hour, we discovered that Smith Micro has started to ship their beta test version of MacComCenter Plus 2.0 (MCC ).

Where HotFax got off to a flying start then fizzled out, MCC kept right on sailing. The program's interface was easy to use, especially the flowchart-style dialog used to set up and control mailbox structure. The menu indicates a pretty standard range of features that did not, unfortunately, include e-mail. Our somewhat abbreviated test sequence didn't reveal any glaring problems with voice or fax features, and if the program emerges from beta testing stable and bug-free, it will be a valuable addition to your library.

SmartCom B Message Center

BEST BUY

WIN *** 1/2

SmartCom stands out in our review as best overall performer for voice and fax, even though it lacks e-mail capabilities. Rather than having one area where the program outshines any of the others, it gives acceptable functionality in all of our tests. To our way of thinking, this kind of balance is exactly what you want from a multifunction communications program.

Installing and using SmartCom is unremarkable. It just sort of happens in a comfortable progression, with no sense of drama or sudden revelation of having completed something. But after a while you look up at the clock and realize that you're done, and you still have most of the day left to actually go out and earn a living.

We didn't find any holes in SmartCom's lineup of features: Multiple voice mailboxes (up to 1,000!), paging and call forwarding, fax-on-demand, fax broadcasting, a graphics editor for cover pages and electronic fax markup, good voice quality and a choice of recording sources, and a full log of system activities were all at our beck and call. And even though our test system didn't require it, the program supplies a scripting language that enables you to customize its operation to fit your needs precisely.