FAX Messaging combines the send
and receive capabilities of a stand-alone fax machine or fax modem on
a PC with the many capabilities of Communication Manager Messaging voice messaging.
Topics include:
Capabilities
When you purchase Fax Messaging is automatically available.
Fax Messaging dialing capabilities
include:
- The Messaging TUI interface
for addressing fax destinations, for printing faxes from a mailbox,
or for setting fax related mailbox options.
- Failed fax message delivery
notification.
- A Graphical User Interface
(GUI) interface on Message Manager for addressing to a fax destination.
- A Web User Interface (WUI)
interface on www.messenger for addressing to a fax destination.
With Fax Messaging users can:
- Create and send a fax to Communication Manager Messaging, Message Manager subscriber, or email recipient or
broadcast a fax to multiple recipients in the same manner as a voice
message is sent.
- Receive faxes in their mailboxes.
- Print fax messages from their
mailboxes to a fax machine, a PC with a fax modem, a LAN printer, or
a fax-enabled system such as another Communication Manager Messaging system.
- Administer their mailboxes
to scan incoming messages and automatically print faxes when they are
received.
- Administer their mailboxes
to automatically delete a fax message after it is printed.
Fax as a Secondary Extension
For subscribers who receive a high
volume of faxes, the system administrator can create a phantom extension
on the switch to which fax calls are directed. The second extension is
forwarded to Communication Manager Messaging so that the subscriber has two extensions but only
one mailbox.
The primary extension is administered
for call answer, personal greetings, and other messaging services. The
secondary fax extension provides only a brief greeting that reveals the
subscriber's name and invites the caller to leave a fax. Voice messages
cannot be recorded at this secondary extension, nor can other subscribers
address messages to it.
Guaranteed Fax
The Guaranteed Fax provides coverage
for busy or out-of-service fax machines, such as a stand-alone fax machine
or a fax modem on a PC. If the fax machine is unavailable, Guaranteed
Fax redirects the fax to a different mailbox for temporary storage.
Guaranteed Fax can be administered
as a secondary extension or as an ordinary subscriber:
- Secondary extension
When Guaranteed Fax is
administered as a secondary fax extension, the mailbox is treated as
a printer. Voice messages, file attachments, and email components of
incoming calls are ignored. The fax data is recorded and the fax machine
is tried repeatedly until the fax can be delivered. No other messaging
features are available on a secondary fax extension.
- Ordinary subscriber
When Guaranteed Fax administered
as an ordinary subscriber, the fax machine is treated as an Communication Manager Messaging extension. For example, a fax can be sent directly to the fax
machine's extension as a message to Communication Manager Messaging. On the other
hand, voice messages sent to this mailbox (for example, as attachments
to forwarded fax messages) remain in the mailbox.
Guaranteed Fax must be administered
by a system administrator.
Requirements
Other than a fax machine (or a printer
for subscribers with Message Manager or an integrated email system), no
additional hardware or software is required to use Fax Messaging capabilities.
If subscribers use Fax Messaging
extensively, it is recommended that additional voice ports and hours of
speech storage be purchased. The storage requirements of a fax page depends
on the image content of the page as well as its resolution. A page that
contains graphics requires more space in a subscriber's mailbox than a
page that does not contain graphics.
The following rule is generally useful
when you are doing subscriber planning for Fax Messaging:
- One standard-resolution textual
fax page is equivalent to a voice message of from 20 to 30 seconds.
One fine-resolution fax page is equivalent to a voice message of from
40 to 60 seconds.
To apply this rule to an actual business
setting, consider a company with 100 employees, all administered on the
same Communication Manager Messaging system. If 40 of those employees receive five two-page
standard-resolution faxes per day, the system has to be capable of storing
an additional 130 to 200 hours of speech per day. Also, while some subscribers
delete the fax message after printing (subscribers can administer their
mailboxes to print and delete faxes automatically), others forward the
fax message, complete with voice annotation.
Operation
Fax Messaging enables a subscriber
to control the creation, sending, receiving, and printing of faxes from
the telephone. If a subscriber has Message Manager or uses Internet Messaging
to integrate Communication Manager Messaging with an email application, faxes can also be viewed
on a PC.
Instead of physically checking the
fax machine to see if a fax has come in, subscribers can dial their Communication Manager Messaging mailboxes or click an icon on their PC screens.
Fax Call Delivery
A fax message can be directed to
any of the following locations:
- A stand-alone fax machine
- An individual PC fax modem
- A shared LAN multipoint fax
server
- A fax port on a fax-enabled
messaging system such as a fax-enabled Communication Manager Messaging system at another
location
Networking
With Fax Messaging, networking is
extended to support networking of fax messages. Subscribers can achieve
more efficient communications by combining the fax feature with networking.
For example, a fax broadcast sent by networking is transmitted only once
but can be received by several people. Compare this capability to fax
broadcast—a traditional fax broadcast that requires an outbound telephone
call for each recipient. Communication Manager Messaging networking reduces outbound fax port
usage and transmits messages at a higher speed.
Creating and Sending a Fax
By using the telephone keypad of
a fax machine, subscribers can create and send messages containing just
a fax component, or they can also include a voice component.
Subscribers can use the full mailing
list and addressing capabilities of the messaging feature. By sending
a fax to their Communication Manager Messaging mailboxes, subscribers annotate fax messages with
a voice message and broadcast the combined voice and fax message to a
mailing list.
A fax message can be marked as priority
and/or private, scheduled for later delivery or stored in the subscriber's
Communication Manager Messaging mailbox "file cabinet."
Following fax transmission, the Communication Manager Messaging application ends the session by hanging up.
Receiving a Fax
The Communication Manager Messaging receives an incoming
fax in a manner similar to the way it receives other calls. When a fax
tone is received, the Communication Manager Messaging records the incoming fax, sends it
to the subscriber's mailbox, and notifies the subscriber, through the
message-waiting indicator, that a fax has been received.
Retrieving and Printing a Fax
Subscribers retrieve and print faxes
through their telephones or PCs if their systems are equipped with Message
Manager or the Internet Messaging product integrated with an email application.
From the telephone, subscribers can
print a fax to a default print destination or to another fax machine.
Subscribers can also set the Fax Messaging capability to automatically
print new faxes to a default print destination when faxes are received.
From their PCs, subscribers can
view faxes and print faxes if the options are properly administered for
their email application or from Message Manager.
Planning
Considerations
Fax Messaging uses the same voice
ports and message storage as the Communication Manager Messaging system. Fax Messaging increases
the number of voice ports and the hours of speech that the system needs
to operate effectively.
Contact an account representative
to determine the optimal configuration of software and hardware to meet
your current needs and future plans.
