Tired of dashing out of your hotel room late at night in your bunny slippers to pick up the latest "confidential" fax--which has now been perused by the front desk staff? The folks at eFax.com know just how you feel. The Menlo Park, Calif., company has come up with a free service that makes it a lot more convenient and secure to receive faxes while on the road.

Here's how it works: Once you sign up at www.efax.com, you'll receive an e-mail, with your personal eFax number, password, and Microviewer software, an application that allows you to view the eFax. (Those on Macintosh or UNIX systems will need a TIFF viewer; eFax provides instructions on how to download that program.) Give your eFax number to your boss, coworkers, family members, anyone who might want to send you a fax in the midst of your meeting. They send you an eFax the same way they would a traditional fax, only they use the special eFax number.

The fax is then routed through the eFax Service Center, compressed, protected with your personal password, and forwarded to your e-mail address. So, when you finally land in your hotel room at midnight, you can relax and review the latest missive on your laptop--for your eyes only.