Part III h:Add-on FaxTalker
Note: Faxing is an optional feature and requires an additional software/hardware purchase.
Using Fax features of Your Voicemail Software:
You must have a voice/fax card that allows for faxing ability.
The FaxTalker will utilize:
1) the fax box
2) entries in the \winnt\stplus.ini file
you will need the following information. If it is not present, please add it using any text file editor. Be sure to save the file as a plain ASCII text file.
[Fax]
Fax=vfx40 ;
FaxBoards=1 ;
StartFaxBoard=2 ;this line is only necessary if you are using a fax board with other boards that are NOT sc bus boards and your fax board is not the first board loaded.
FaxResource=off ;on/off - off for 1 to 1 fax line allocation, on for dynamic allocation
for example:
fax board(s) only in your system (no other voice board(s) =off
fax board(s) and other NON sc bus voice boards = off
fax board(s) and other SC BUS voice boards = on
If you are adding any of the above lines, after each entry press the tab key then the semi-colon, enter the description, then press the enter key.
If you have all SC bus boards, faxing in and out is available on any of the lines, to a maximum of the actual fax board(s) lines at any given time. For example, if you have a 16 port sc board and a 4 port fax board, you can fax in or out on any of the 16 lines, up to a maximum of 4 at any given time. If you have a regular 4 port board (not sc bus) and a 4 port fax board you can ONLY fax in and out on the lines that are actually plugged into the fax board.
160sc and 4 port fax - you have 2 possible scenarios:
1) use the 4 port fax board as fax resources only (rendering no voice capabilities). you could then send or receive faxes on any of the 16 phone lines going into the 16 line board, up to a maximum of 4 lines at one time. no phone lines would be going into the fax board.
(faxresource=on)
OR -
2) use all 20 ports as voice lines, and only be able to fax in or out on the 4 lines that are actually plugged into the 4 port fax board.
(faxresource=off)
3) the Outbound Box, if you want to use broadcast fax
4) The Maintain, Fax Info screen
Your voicemail application can be used as either a "fax-back" system or a "same-call fax" system, depending upon how you setup your program. A fax-back system can be operated with a minimum of one fax card, which allows for fax and voice on each of the 4 lines.
If your system is set up as a fax-back system, the caller will access a Fax Box which will prompt the caller to enter their fax machine number and hang up. The system will then call the caller's fax machine and deliver the requested document(s).
If your system is set up as a same call fax system, the caller will be able to call in from a fax machine and request a fax, which will be sent immediately, on the same call. Be sure you only allow this on lines plugged into the voice card that allows fax.
Fax Boxes will accept files saved in the following formats: .txt, and .tif (TIFF/F). Files can get into a Fax Box in one of two ways. They can be created in some other software program, such as a word processor or graphics program and already exist as a file on your hard drive, or you could fax documents directly into a Fax Box.
There are 3 additional ways to get your document into the required Dialogic TIFF/F format:
a dos utility provided by Dialogic (this can be requested from VoiceStamps.com Technical support)
Dialogic also recommends a program called HiJack, which can be accessed - http://www.venus.co.uk/oldsite/hijack.html
a program called Informatik available from http://www.informatik.com/. this is a printer driver which will allow you to send your document to a TIFF/F file.
Hardware Installation:
The fax board needs to be installed at a different interrupt than the analog boards. The sc fax board will be automatically detected by the Dialogic software. Your analog cards must be manually added devices. Please see the section Chapter 2 Installation.
Box Number
If you do not select a box number when creating a new box, the system will generate a number of its own when a new box is created. When you create a new box you can select any number or range of numbers for you new box(es) between 0 and 999,999,999 as long as those numbers are not used by existing boxes on your system. If you try to create a box with the same number as an existing box you will get the error message that states that the box number you have chosen is a duplicate, invalid, or out of range. You may need to review existing box numbers by using the Box Finder Icon (Magnifying Glass) to find all box numbers in use on your system.
Box Name
You may give each Fax Box a name in the Box Name field. Boxes can later be found by information you enter in the Box Name field.
Client
Each box belongs to a Client that you have defined using a Client Box. If you are the system supervisor you will be the only Client, and you are Client O by default. Each Client has a password which allows the Client to remotely access and modify all of the boxes which it controls. If you wish to assign a box to a different Client, double-click on the Client Number field and the Client Finder screen will appear. This window will display a list of the Clients currently defined on your system. Double-click the Client you would like to assign to this box.
How to Send Faxes
In this area you can indicate how you would like to respond to callers who request a fax. There are two options for sending faxes - Call Back and Same Call.
Call Back - The first method of sending a fax is called Call Back. This feature only requires a minimum of one fax card in your system which is connected to a phone line which is dedicated to your fax card. When you select this option, the system will prompt the caller for a fax phone number. The fax(es) listed in the File List section of the Fax Box will be sent to the caller after the call is completed. One advantage to using this option is that the caller does not tie up an inbound line while a fax is being sent. If you are using the Call Back option and several callers request faxes, the faxes will be queued and sent by the fax card in the order they were requested.
Same Call - To use this option you must be sure the caller is calling on lines that are plugged into your fax voice card. When you select this option the system will prompt the caller to press the Start Key on their fax machine to begin receiving a fax.
Overwrite for Inbound
This option allows the caller to replace the first document listed in the File List. If this option is not checked, inbound faxes will be added to the fax box directory. You can manually add them to the File List using the browse button.
Receive Inbound Only
With this option selected the Fax Box will only allow the caller to send, or "upload" a fax. The fax will be stored in the current Fax Box directory as a .tif file. Upon entering the fax box when this is checked, the system will simply emit a fax tone and prepare to receive a fax - no greeting will be played, no password requested, etc., regardless of other settings.
Fax Description
This field is for you to enter a description of the fax that will be sent to the caller.
After Fax Goto
In this field enter the number of the box (or Phantom Key) you would like callers sent to after a fax is requested. You might send callers to the "H" Phantom Key to disconnect the call, or you might send callers to any other destination on your system.
Note: This option only applies to Call Back operations, because if your system is configured for Same Call fax, the caller's fax machine will take control of the phone line and the call will end after a fax is sent.
Fax In Password (optional)
You can set a password that the caller must know to submit a fax. Use this option if you want to password-protect the fax(es) in the Fax Box. Before being able to upload a fax to this Fax Box the caller will have to correctly enter the password.
Fax Out Password (optional)
You may use this option if you would like to limit access to faxes within your system. If this option is checked, the caller will be prompted for the password you set in this field before the fax(es) may be sent. If the caller fails to enter the correct password the requested fax(es) will not be sent.
Name
Click on this button to record a name for this box.
For instructions on how to record, see "Recording Names, Greetings, Messages and Prompts" in Chapter 3.
Greeting
Click on this button to record a greeting for this box. The greeting is the voice announcement that is associated with this Fax Box. The greeting usually delivers information to the caller. For example, a greeting for a Fax Box might say, "Thank you for requesting more information about our company. You will be faxed the information you have requested as soon as your call has been completed."
For instructions on how to record, see "Recording Names, Greetings, Messages and Prompts" in Chapter 3.
Restrictions (submenu)
The Restrictions button brings up the Fax Options window.
Enter in this field the number of times a fax transmission will be attempted if the fax send cannot be completed due to a busy line or no answer.
Number of Minutes Between Calls
Enter in this field the number of minutes the system should wait before attempting to re-send a fax.
Dialing Rule
Select the Dialing Rule you wish to use from the drop-down menu. (See Dialing Rules in Chapter 20, The MAINTAIN Menu.)
Line Group
Select the Line Group you wish to use from the drop-down menu. (See Line Groups in Chapter 20, The MAINTAIN Menu.) Be sure you only select the lines that correspond to your fax board lines.
File List (submenu)
Click on the File List button to bring up the File List window. This is where you will indicate the documents that you would like to be sent from the currently active Fax Box. Along the right-hand side of the window are buttons that allow you to Add, Remove, or View documents in the fax list. Faxed in documents will go to the \stplus\boxes\60 directory (if you are using box 60, for example). You may add documents to the list which are saved in the following formats: .txt or .tif. The first file faxed in will be called 1.tif, the second - 2.tif, etc. You can choose any .txt or .tif file on your computer. A .tif file must be in the Dialogic .tif file format (TIFF/F). Items will be faxed out in the order in which they appear in this list.
Use Header
With this option selected the system will add a descriptive line of text at the top of each fax page which states the name of the document, the sender of the document, today's date, and the page number.
Note: If you would like to use a global cover sheet for all faxes sent from your system, see Fax Info in Chapter 20 for more information.
Header - This is the information that you would like added to the top of the fax(es) sent from the Fax Box. This would typically be a title for the document(s) that have been entered into the File List.
From - The information you enter here is also added to the header line of each fax sent from the Fax Box. This would typically be your company or business name.
Add
The Add button brings up the standard Windows NT (tm) Open dialog box, which will allow you to locate documents to add to the current File List. Remember that only files of the type you specify in the List Files of Type field will be displayed for you to select. The acceptable fax formats are a text file and/or a *.tif file. After you have faxed a document into a fax box, you need to go to the 'add' to browse to locate the .tif file that was created in the fax box subdirectory. If your fax box is 60, the .tif file will be sent to \stplus\boxes\60.
*** Be sure to click on Save before exiting the File List window to confirm the additions you have made to the File List window.
Remove
To remove documents from the File List, click once to highlight the document you wish to remove, then click the Remove button.
Note: Using the Remove button only removes the selected document from the File List, it does not delete the actual document from your hard drive.
View
The View button will allow you view .txt documents in your File List. It is not currently possible to view .tif files using the View button. To view a document, click on the document you wish to view to highlight it, then click on the View button.
Send (submenu)
The Send button allows you to send a test fax to confirm that your fax card is working properly and the correct documents are being sent from the Fax Box. When you are ready to send a test fax, click on the Send button to bring up the Send Fax Info window. There are two fields in this window. In the first field enter the line number of the line you have plugged into your fax card for testing purposes. If you only have one fax card installed in your computer the line field should contain the number 1-4. If you have multiple fax cards they will be numbered sequentially. Enter the number of the line you wish to test. The second field is Phone Number. Enter the phone number of the fax machine that is to receive the test fax.
also see Maintain -Fax Info for global fax settings
The File List
After you have created a Fax Box, go to the Fax Box screen and click on the File List button. Select Add and locate the drive and directory where a document you wish to add to the fax list is located. After clicking on the file it will appear in the Fax Box window. You can now add additional documents to the File List if you wish.
If you have faxed documents directly into a Fax Box you will
find the document(s) listed under \STPLUS\FAXES\BOX# or \SUITE\FAXES\BOX#. These files will be saved in the .tif format and will not be viewable using the View button. You will only be able to view documents in the *.txt format.
To Fax a Document Into a Fax Box
In the Fax Box screen, choose Same Call Fax. To be able to call in and fax into the system you will need to be sure you are calling in on a line that is plugged into the voice card that allows fax. Dial into the system from a fax machine, access the Fax Box, and begin the fax transmission when requested. This will create a *.tif file in the sub-directory as described in the previous paragraph.
You may want to use a dedicated line for sending faxes requested by callers. If this is the case, under Maintain, then switch, click on the line you wish to dedicate to outbound fax calls only. set the rings to answer for zero - that means that line will never answer an incoming call. Be sure to list that line in a Line Group, and enter it for the particular fax box. Most people do not dedicate a line for this, but allow faxing on all possible lines. However, you should realize it can be done.
Send request info to text file only - no fax is sent:
It is possible to have the program gather the information from the caller - their fax phone number, extension, fax box numbers requested, and then send that information to a text file. You would need to add the following line to your [Fax] section of your \winnt\stplus.ini file:
FaxTextOutput=c:\stplus\faxtext ;path to create a text file for each request
The file will be created as timestamp.txt (unique for each request). The contents of the file will be:
date time
from (for the first fax box requested only - info under ''header" under fax files)
fax phone number
extension (or blank)
fax files listed in fax box under fax list - for example (c:\stplus\boxes\60\1.tif)
fax file listed in fax box (c:\stplus\boxes\60\2.tif)
fax file listed in next fax box (c:\stplus\boxes\61\abc.txt)
etc.
Troubleshooting Checklist for Faxing Problems
1) Any prefix digits entered for each individual line in the Line Info command, under the MAINTAIN menu, will be used when attempting to fax. Be sure that all Line Info is correct.
2) Faxes can only be received/sent on the lines that are plugged into the voice card that allows fax. If you are using all SC boards, all lines can be used to fax, up to a maximum of the number of lines on the actual fax board. For example, if you have a 4 port SC board and a 4 port fax board, you can fax in or out on all 8 lines, but only a maximum of 4 at any given time.
3) Dialing Rules are used. Be sure that all Dialing Rules information is correct.
For Dedicated Fax Line(s)
A "dedicated fax line" is one in which the line(s) going in to the fax board go only to the fax board, and are only used for outgoing faxes. If this is your situation, be sure to check the following:
1) Line Groups in the Fax Box and Mail Box should be correct to go to the lines plugged to the fax board.
2) Dialing Rules are used. Be sure that all Dialing Rules information is correct.
For All Faxing Error Situations
1. Check Trace file for error codes. See Chapter 20k: Display Activity and Chapter 24: Logging, Background, Processing.