E-mail Fax solutions 4

[StefIsScared]

At the moment we are receiving faxes on a conventional fax machine.

I've been asked to look into solutions for sending and receiving faxes from Outlook.

We are currently using the latest version of IP Office with IP400 digital terminals. We have Small Business Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 installed on our server and we're using Outlook 2003 for email.

I've looked in the documentation for all of these, but am still at something of a loss.

Is there some way of setting up fax handling with what we currently have? If not, do we need any more than fax client software (I've seen GFIfaxmaker recommended on this board)? Will we need any additional hardware or a fax service?

 

[intrigrant]

There will be support of a faxserver like GFI faxserver coming in 3.0.
I reccomend you to wait a few moths till May when 3.0 will be released and then recontact your reseller for technical updates.
As it is today 3.0.29 seems to be more stable as 2.1.27 in the field trials and the fax solution is ok.
If you want more information about GFI then visit their website, they integrate nice in Exchange.

 

[reroute]

GFIFaxmaker is good. You will also need a fax board, like Brooktrout 200.

 

[groundedagain]

FAXserve is certified on the IP Office

Jason Wienert
Central City Communications
Brisbane, Australia

 

[Morrack]

It was my understanding that GFI was presently certified with IPO?

 

[intrigrant]

What is certified?
In all presentations from Avaya i have seen there were four FAX Server solutions tested by Avaya, GFI is one of them.
Here some details from the IP Office product description 3.0

Most fax solutions can be used in conjunction with IP Office, however the following products have been tested and
verified to operate in the above scenarios:

• Equisys - Zetafax:
Zetafax for Networks provides versatile network fax software solutions for small businesses, corporate
offices and distributed enterprise businesses. It enables employees to send and receive faxes at their
desktop, without the need to print fax communications, take them to a fax machine and send them
manually. Zetafax can be seamlessly integrated into market leading email systems like Exchange allowing
users to send and receive faxes directly from their Outlook client. In addition Zetafax can be integrated
with other existing applications, such as accounting or CRM systems, for fast, automated faxing from the
desktop or back office. Zetafax for networks is already used by more than 60,000 customers worldwide.
• Further product information available from

http://www.equisys.com

• Captaris - RightFax:
RightFax offers a broad, scalable product line that integrates with email, desktop, CRM, ERP, document
management, imaging, archival, call center, copier/scanner systems, as well as host, legacy and
mainframe applications–virtually all business applications.
• Further product information available from

http://www.captaris.com

• Fenestrae – Faxination
Fenestrae Faxination Server for Microsoft Exchange integrates fax into email technology. Create faxes on
your desktop and deliver them to your chosen fax machine at the click of a mouse.
• Further product information available from

http://www.fenestrae.com

• GFI – GFI FaxMaker
GFI FAXmaker for Exchange/SMTP allows users to send and receive faxes and SMS/text messages directly
from their email client It integrates with Active Directory and therefore does not require the
administration of a separate fax user database. GFI FAXmaker integrates via the SMTP/POP3 protocol with
Lotus Notes and any SMTP/POP3 server. .
• Further product information available from

http://www.gfi.com

 

[Morrack]

By certified I simply meant that avaya has tested it in their interoperability lab and confirmed it to work with IPO.

Peter

 

[intrigrant]

I'm certified!

 

[sizbut]

... surely certifiable.

just like I have many 'endorsements' - on my driving licence.

 

[mimken]

SBS has faxing build in. Need to dedicate a modem for each user and link it to a email user. Use the IP Office to route DIDs to the analog extensions and modems. Cheap solution but limited.

 

[StefIsScared]

Thanks for all the advice, everybody. GFI faxmaker seems to be the best option for our needs. If I've understood correctly, I need to get a Brooktrout card on the machine that's running Exchange, use that to connect one line to the Avaya digital terminal, configure GFI FaxMaker and IP Office appropriately (however that is) and it should all work.

I'll let you know how I get on and perhaps post some kind of walkthrough if I can understand what I'm doing/there would be any interest in such a thing.

 

[mfiocchi]

You can use an Eicon Diva Server card too. I'm using it with an IPOffice 412 (rel 3.0(40)) and GFI FaxServer. It works fine.

 

[Morrack]

I believe the brooktrout board is analog though, not digital. Make sure you have at least one free POTS port.

 

[vaniello]

If you want to avoid having to deploy your own hardware I would highly recommend looking at Easylink's desktop fax services. They have both fax to email and email to fax services. We use them here are they are great.

V/