HylaFAX or other Print-to-Fax capabilities of Linux with Windows clients?

[Ted Roche]

One of my clients has a small shop with Windows clients in a peer-to- 
peer arrangement.  I'll be supplying them with a Linux server for  
file and print services via Samba, and eventually other services such  
as database and mail as their company grows. They've expressed an  
interest in simplified faxing. Currently, they print their faxes to a  
laser printer and manually feed them into the office fax machine.  
They'd like to skip the paper phase if possible.

I have worked with other clients who've moved to SMTP-based services  
like eFax or maxEmail for outbound faxing, but this client would  
prefer to keep the faxing itself inhouse. This is a relatively low- 
volume operation, so I can't see the need for a dedicated server or  
internal specialized boards like Brooktrout or Digi just for faxing.

There are too many solutions out there and I wonder who has practical  
experience with this and if there are recommendations on specific  
software to investigate or to avoid.

HylaFAX (http://www.hylafax.org) on the server, with an appropriate  
serial external fax modem (are US Robotics Speedsters still the gold  
standard?), and WinPrint HylaFAX (http:// 
winprinthylafax.sourceforge.net/) on the desktops sounds like a  
killer combination. Anyone got experience (or warnings) with these?


Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com