> I am running OpenVMS 7.3-2 [...]

   As usual, showing actual commands with their actual output can be
more helpful than vague descriptions or interpretations.  For example:

      TCPIP SHOW VERSION
      SSH "-V"

> [...] intermittent problems when transferring ASCII files from a
> remote server to my VMS server.

   Not a very detailed description of anything.  How "intermittent"? 
Dependent on time-of-day/phase-of-moon or on the data?  What is this
"remote server"?

> [...] Sometimes the file is not readable by our application.

   Not a very detailed description of anything.  Do you get any actual
error messages?

   Is "our application" the only thing which can't read a problem file,
or does a text editor also have trouble?  What are the attributes of a
problem file?

      DIRE /FULL problem_file

> This appears to be a result of the files coming over in binary mode,
> [...]

   And you determined this how, exactly?  My psychic powers are too weak
to reveal much to me about your files at this distance.

> Is there a workaround for this, or is there some way to convert the
> file after the fact?  has this been fixed in later releases of VMS?

   Answering these questions would be easier if we knew what the problem
was.  Perhaps transferring a Zip archive containing the problem file(s)
would help, but that probably shouldn't be necessary.


> [...] I don't see an option for switching to ASCII mode [...]

   SSH and friends were "designed" by UNIX-oriented people who saw
little reason to distinguish one byte stream from another.