FastFax Tech Tips
Is anything
Happening?
My users are reporting that their faxes are slow. I can never really tell what
FastFax is doing, and if it is busy or not. Is there an easy way to figure out if
anything is happening? Answer!
Automatically let
the customer
know their fax
was received.
We receive our inbound faxes via FastFax. We have a particular customer
that sends a fax, and right away starts calling and asks us "Did you get my
fax?" It interrupts our workflow to drop what we're doing to check our faxes.
In addition, since the customer has us on the line, he takes the opportunity
to start talking about local sports. Is there any way that FastFax can
automatically let the customer know we got the fax? Answer!
Update the email
server name with
new hardware
I have a new email server. Where do I update the email server name within
FastFax? Answer!
Saving our
We need to start saving our outbound purchase orders. It would be ideal if
outbound
the files could be in PDF format. There's been some discussion that
purchase orders in eventually we'll want the files to have a custom file name which includes the
PDF format in
document number and recipient company. These documents will eventually
FastFax
be picked up by our archiving system. Is there any way FastFax can handle
this? Answer!
Auto-Converting
Documents in
FastFax
I have MS Word documents that I want to attach to FastFax ExtractorTemplates jobs, but I don't want to go through the process of converting
them into a .TIF or .PCX image and then entering them into the FastFax
Graphics Table. If I have to do this conversion every time we need to fax it's
going to waste a lot of time. Is there any other way? Answer!
Including
Coversheets in
Emails
We acquired the FastFax Email Gateways module, and love the fact that we
can send and receive faxes through our email client. However, when a
document is emailed, the cover sheet fails to get attached, while the cover
sheet notes appear in the body of the email. This is problematic since there
is information on our cover sheets that our customers have to acknowledge,
initial, and fax back to us. Is there any way to get the cover sheets included
when we transmit via e-mail? Answer!
I want to ensure
that we have the
latest FastFax
version. How do I
find out what
version we
currently have?
I would like to start taking advantage of FastFax's advanced features and
tools that later versions provide, such as the ability to manage faxes from
the desktop using a windows-based application, and the ability to send and
receive faxes directly from an email client. How do I find out what version I
currently have, and how do I go about upgrading? Answer!
Can the
"Description" be
We use FastFax Extractor to automatically fax and e-mail our purchase
orders, invoices and acknowledgements. We think it's terrific since we didn't
modified to select
different - and
more meaningful information?
have to touch our applications to set it up, and non-programmers can
maintain our Extractor templates. The one thing we wish would improve is
the information that shows up under "Description" in Work with Fax
Messages. This description also shows up in the subject line of our customer
emails. It appears to be the UserData on the original spooled file. Can the
"Description" be modified to select different - and more meaningful information? Answer!
How do I use
departments
cover sheet
instead of a
generic one?
We love FastFax's ability to send faxes, that are going to the same phone
number, in batch. This speeds up the transmission time and makes efficient
use of our telephone lines. The batch cover sheet feature is also very
beneficial, since it clarifies who is sending and receiving what during a batch
transmission. (As you know a batch job can have multiple senders and
recipients.) However, when a batch cover sheet is used, we find that we
have to use the same "one-size-fits-all" cover sheet for all of our
departments. How can I create individual batch cover sheets for each
department? Answer!
Use "26.3"
Filenames in
FastFax
Our application generates spooled files with the FastFax API commands
embedded at the top of the first page of each document. We attach price
sheets developed in Excel by embedding a *AP command. The ability to
attach documents developed on PC's is a very useful tool. However& your
"8.3" file name limitation (Ed Note: the maximum length of the attached file
name is 8 characters plus the file extension) creates an extra step for us: we
have to rename all of the files - and be careful in doing so - before saving
them out on the iSeries' IFS. Can you help us out on this? Answer!
Get FastFax
Is there any way for FastFax to send a message to my e-mail inbox to notify
System Messages me when my outbound faxes fail to transmit? Answer!
Delivered To Your
Email Inbox
Increase FastFax
Security &
Continue To Use
Auto-Logon
Our IT department is becoming increasingly strict on rules relating to
security. While we have a rule that no server can auto-logon we have
continued to leave the FastFax processor/file-server as it has always been
set up. That is, due to the operations on the processor/file-server – and it’s
mission-critical role in our business – we want the unit to come back up to
“active” status without someone having to go down to the server room and
logon.
We have used the screen-saver feature to place the processor into a lockedup status, but there still is a small period of time where the auto-logon has
occurred and the desktop appears. Eventually we’re going to be required to
disable the auto-logon feature, but this will be very inconvenient for those of
us in IT. Any suggestions? Answer!
Batch Faxing:
Increase
Efficiency &
Throughput while
Saving Money!
There are times when we generate a lot of fax jobs and our outbound faxes
queue gets pretty backed up. Someone in our office thought they heard that
FastFax can send more than one fax in a single phone call. Is this true? If so
how does it work and where do I turn the feature on? Thanks for your help.
Answer!
Auto-Routing
FastFax
Documents
We use FastFax for receiving inbound faxes and then having them forwarded
automatically to specific users (i.e. FastFax automatically sends the inbound
fax to the user’s e-mail inbox). Within one of our departments, we want a
copy of all of these inbound faxes sent to the department’s manager. The
only way we can think to do this is to have each user forward a copy of the
inbound to the manager. For a variety of reasons this doesn't always get
accomplished, and sometimes it’s a burden on the users. Is there anything in
FastFax that can help us out? Answer!
FastFax API:
Including
Messages with
Fax & Email Jobs
We use the FastFax API to automate the creation of our fax / e-mail jobs (we
have FastFax eDocMail). I want to send a message along with the faxes and
e-mails. How do we do this and how will they appear? Answer!
Auto-Converting
Documents in
FastFax
I have MS Word documents that I want to attach to FastFax ExtractorTemplates jobs, but I don’t want to go through the process of converting
them into a .TIF or .PCX image and then entering them into the FastFax
Graphics Table.
If I have to do this conversion every time we need to fax it's going to waste
a lot of time. Is there any other way? Answer!
Optimize Line
Is there a way to determine if my allocation of lines among the *SEND,
Allocation In Four *RECEIVE and *BOTH groups is optimal? For example, I've dedicated three
Easy Steps
lines for receive, and would like to know if they are frequently going unused
when I could be using them for sending. However, I don't want to have a
system that can't receive any faxes at all because all lines are being used for
outbound. I've looked at the statistics that are now available through the
system status screen, and they don't tell me what I want to know.
[Ed. Note: This customer utilizes a 16-channel, fractional T1 circuit-type PRI.
The T1 is connected from the FastFax processor to a PBX.] Answer!
Taking Scanning
Out of the
Equation with
FastFax /
Enterprise
I know that graphics files to be uploaded into FastFax need to be PCX or TIF,
200 x 200 dpi, and two-color (black and white). The problem for us is that
it's very cumbersome to get the scanning done. Do you have any
suggestions? Answer!
How To Only Send
System Message
To The FastFax
Administrator
I’m the Administrator of our FastFax system and I find it helpful to receive
the system messages that FastFax sends to my message queue. However, in
order to get those messages I also seem to have to receive a lot of
additional messages that I’d rather not get in my queue. I have the "Default
Message Type" set to *ERR. Is there any way to set FastFax to send me only
the system messages? Answer!
Use Partial ANI
Entries for More
Our FastFax system uses a T1-type PRI telephone circuit along with ANI
service to route inbound faxes using the sender's fax telephone number.
Flexible Routing
Rules
Automatically directing faxes from a particular sender fax numbers to
particular FastFax users, printers, email inboxes, and paths works out very
well for us.
However, all incoming faxes from numbers that haven't been previously
entered into FastFax inbound routing table get sent to the general Inbox for
manual routing (or entry into the routing table). We'd like to cut down on
tracking and entering individual sender numbers by automatically routing all
faxes originating from a particular state/province to a particular
person/location. Any way to accomplish this? Answer
Using Auto-Purge
To Clean Out Old
Faxes & Records
I understand that FastFax can automatically clean out old and no longer
wanted faxes/e-mails, but I'm unsure how to set up this clean-up feature.
Where is it, and can you explain how it works? Answer
Save Time When
Changing the
Default Cover
Sheet
We have a lot of FastFax users in our system. I'd like to change the default
cover sheets from time, but I'm reluctant to do so – it takes a considerable
amount of time to go into each User’s FastFax Profile and change the default
cover sheet. Any way to make this simpler, easier, and faster? Answer
Quickly Find Old
I frequently need to locate old faxes on FastFax's "Inbound Fax" screen.
Faxes Using a"
Here's the catch: all I usually have is a printed copy that was produced from
Unique Identifier" FastFax several days ago. How do I pull this off without wasting a lot of
time? Answer
New Processing
Is there a way that FastFax will generate API commands into my spool file
Options in FastFax without doing any programming? Answer
Extractor
Save Time!
Directly Attach
Documents to
Faxes & Emails!
Is there some way that I can directly attach files to an outgoing fax or email
without going through the process of converting everything to TIF or PCX? It
would be a real time-saver if I can. Answer