With emphasis on currently operating and planned systems that assist users in accessing available network services, this report identifies the techniques used in network access devices. By examining these devices, the trend toward improving the interface between the user and the computer is brought more clearly into focus and up to date. One specific solution--A Network Access Machine (NAM)--is described in detail. It is a minicomputer system that acts as a network access point for a user at his terminal, and assists the user through the automatic execution of access procedures. It allows the user to specify (or to have specified) his own network command sequences for execution on a specified network and host. Computer responses are analyzed to assure agreement with those anticipated for specific commands. Conditional parameterized expansions allow the use of the same command on different host computers and different networks. (Author/DAG)