http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/issues/1507/pcmg0033.htm (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)

PC Magazine -- April 9, 1996

ZOC Automates Communications The Way Only OS/2 Can

Edward Mendelson

BMT Micro EmTec's $95 communications package for OS/2, ZOC, gives advanced users unique customizability and automation combined with impressive efficiency and speed.

ZOC's interface resembles a GUI version of fast, keyboard-oriented, character-based packages such as the original ProComm and HyperAccess. The program's customizable toolbar and a button bar can be configured to call any number, download a file, or run a REXX program. ZOC is so densely integrated with OS/2 that it can communicate through a Named Pipe as well as through a modem, direct connection, or ISDN line.

Unique automation features include a "snippet" window that monitors incoming data for filenames, Internet addresses, or CompuServe IDs. As you type, ZOC can expand abbreviations into longer strings, and it can automatically respond to incoming prompts with preset strings, even when you're not running a script.

The phone book lets you cycle through a series of selected numbers, with different retry options for each, until all the numbers have been reached. Options for fine-tuning the program include a menu in which you tell the program what to do when you disconnect from a remote site and a feature that disables your fax program's auto-receive feature when you're using ZOC.

You control ZOC from its top-line menus, keyboard macros, or native scripting language, or from OS/2's native programming language REXX. The scripting language is adequate for simple tasks and is used for the log-on scripts that ZOC records automatically when you dial a new BBS or online service. By using REXX for more advanced automation, ZOC takes advantage of a batch language that is already familiar to advanced OS/2 users and is easier to learn than the C-style languages used by recent Windows-based communications programs.

Built-in transfer protocols include Zmodem, and external modules support CompuServe B+ and Kermit. An ingenious option lets you use external DOS-based transfer modules. The only terminal emulations available are ANSI, TTY, and VT102, but each is highly customizable. A built-in viewer displays .GIF and .JPG files during downloads. Chat mode is elegantly supported, and host mode is supported through a REXX program.

ZOC's interface isn't as automated as its communications features. If you want to rearrange the button bar, for example, you'll have to cut and paste the button names and commands by hand.

Beginners will be better off with a more graphical interface, but experienced OS/2 users won't find any communications package more powerful than ZOC.

ZOC. List price: $95. Requires: 4MB RAM, 2MB hard disk space, OS/2 2.0 or later. BMT Micro EmTec, Wilmington, NC; 800-414-4268, 910-791-7052; fax, 910-350-2937.