I sure hope you're right John.

But the only necessity for a fax to work is the telephone number. A web service or correctly interpreted XML has to have not only the 'address' but also the content (in term of 'field' names) matching.

cheers

>Hello Jim,
>
>I see XML as the modern equivalent of the fax; you can have any brand of fax you like, as long as it follows the handshake/comms specification. So you can't be captured by a vendor unless you allow the vendor to tie something proprietary into your faxing system.
>
>I think xml will also mirror the evolution of the fax; when faxes first appeared, customers had to pay $15 to get a fax bureau to send a fax across the country, but eventually faxing became a commodity and fax bureaus either developed new services or closed.
>
>Regards
>
>JR