Write down this toll-free number: 877 262-0416. You will want to call and say "Thanks."

I am going to tell you about a powerful tool that is easy to use, well designed and very much in the mold of what computers should be all about. And it is, at least for now, free.

I have an AT&T toll-free number, along with Ameritech voice mail and a separate fax number. This costs me, on average, about $80/month.

I also have, thanks to the clever folks at www.ureach.com, my own personal "800" number (actually 877), with voice mail, e-mail and fax for $0/month.

uReach.com is a new free Internet service, still in its testing stage, that provides access to your messages and information from any Internet connected PC, Palm Pilot, library, cybercafe, airport Internet kiosk - or telephone.

You can access your messages, faxes, appointment calendar, to-do list, address book, documents and pictures from their website. If you're not near a PC, you can retrieve messages, e-mail and much of the other stuff via a toll-free number.

Login to www.ureach.com and go to your inbox. Voice messages, faxes and e-mails are listed in the order received, with the sender's phone number shown, a sort of caller ID. Open a voice message, click "Listen," a little player appears and plays it.

You wanted your own private fax number, but didn't want to bother with another phone line, or leave your PC fax/modem on all the time? uReach does it. Just click the "thumbnail" to display faxes.

You can import your Netscape bookmarks into uReach, making your favorite websites available from any PC. One problem: I could access only individual bookmarks, not those stored in separate bookmark folders.

You always wanted your own website, but not enough to bother creating one? uReach makes one automatically. It's pretty basic, but displays your visiting card, and can be used to share selected files, calendar info and bookmarks with friends or family. Check mine as an example: www.ureach.com/maizell.

There are so many cool features that in three days of testing I've probably missed some, haven't been able to master others, or be sure which problems are real and which derive from my own confusion.

My friends successfully received all the voice messages I dictated by phone and sent to their e-mail addresses. I successfully retrieved my uReach e-mail by phone, the text nicely converted to speech. But we couldn't directly open voice e-mails that I dictated by phone and sent to friends or myself. We had to save them to a file to play them. Bug? User error? Working as designed? I dunno.

The concern I have is how long uReach's business model can maintain itself beyond its launch.

They naturally plan to limit free usage eventually, with a paid plan available beyond that limit. Depending on the parameters, this may work, or may be like spitting in the soup. If it gets pricey, I may as well stick with AT&T/Ameritech. There are competing free services, though none so all-inclusive. Yet.

Let's hope that uReach's management gets that message.

Try uReach. Then call my toll-free number (877 262-0416) and leave your comments. Even better: send a fax, so I can bedazzle the editor into thinking I'm worth more moolah. Complaints will be cyber-shredded.

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