facsBridge™ – Troubleshooting and Hints
These are frequently asked questions about the facsBridge™ fax software. If your question is not here then please use our contact form.
Q1. My mail server is an Exchange Server and it is configured for NTLM authentication only. How do I configure T37FSP (for outbound faxes)?
Q2. Why does my Internet Fax Service Provider reject faxes if 'Use dialing rules' is selected in the Send Fax Wizard from the Fax Console?
Q3. Can Anti-virus programs affect T37FSP?
Q4. My Fax gateway requires MH (Group 3) compression, but the fax generated by the Windows FAX Service is of MR compression.
Q5. T37FSP is enabled for the send fax operation, but a fax is pending and is never sent.
Q6. How to achieve Least Cost Routing for outbound faxes with T37FSP? Is it possible to use different Internet Fax Service Providers for different area codes in the context of T37FSP?
Q7. Is there a facsBridge™ for Windows x64 Edition available?
Q8. How do I configure T37FSP for use with the InterFax service provider?
Q9. How to hard-code subject field in the fax-mail, to satisfy my fax gateway special requirements?
Q10. Is it possible to encrypt fax-mail with T37FSP for privacy and security reasons?
Q11. What are the specifics of T37FSP on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008?
Q12. What is facsBridge™ for Office for?
Q13. Why outbound fax is delivered truncated?
Q14. How to achieve real-time effect with Cisco routers? Are multiple T37FSP channels supported?
Q15. Why Fax Service does not start in x64 Windows?
Q1. My mail server is an Exchange Server and it is configured for NTLM authentication only. How do I configure T37FSP (for outbound faxes)?
A1. Check the NTLM Authentication for Exchange check box on the Mail Server (advanced) page of the T37FSP control panel. This will cause the Account Name and Password fields from the control panel applet to be ignored. Next, run Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services, select T37FSPSuppEmail service, select Action - Properties menu, on Log On tab select an account and fill in a password for the account that will be used to send outbound fax-mail via Exchange.
Q2. Why does my Internet Fax Service Provider reject faxes if 'Use dialing rules' is selected in the Send Fax Wizard from the Fax Console?
A2. If Use dialing rules is selected in the Send Fax Wizard, Windows translates fax addresses from canonical into dialable format.
This translation depends on your current location (as specified in the Telephony Control Panel applet). Thus, the dialable address is relative
to your current location. However, Internet Fax Service Provider does not necessarily have the same location as yours, and it most likely expects an absolute
fax address (with country code and area code and without an international prefix, e.g. 0011 to call from Australia, or 011 to call from the US).
It is best not to use dialing rules and specify the absolute fax address (in both Send Fax Wizard and programmatically), unless you intend to use outbound routing rules. Read more about
outbound routing. If you do not have full control
over applications or scripts you are using to submit faxes, and some of the applications or scripts might specify a canonical address (for details,
see Send Fax Sample Script), the
following manual settings in the registry are necessary (be very careful when editing the registry),
1. Set SameAreaRule and LongDistanceRule to be the same as InternationalRule in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Telephony\Country List\your_country_code registry hive. Note, this change will affect all Fax
and TAPI applications on your computer.
2. Add a new string InternationalRulePrefix with the value of the international prefix (that is, InternationalRule from the above step) in
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sandlerco\T37FSP (replacing Sandlerco with Wow6432Node\Sandlerco for x64 Windows) registry key.
T37FSP will strip this prefix from the fax number, leaving the fax number composed from country code, area code and a local number (as your Internet Fax Service Provider requires).
.
Q3. Can Anti-virus programs affect T37FSP?
A3. There is incompatibility between T37FSP and Networks Associates VirusScan. To resolve it, open VirusScan console, navigate to Access Protection Properties, edit Prevent mass mailing worms from sending mail by adding fxssvc.exe to the list of Excluded Processes. Add T37FSPSuppEmail.exe to the list if you are using Exchange Server as an SMTP server.
Q4. My Fax gateway requires MH (Group 3) compression, but the fax generated by the Windows FAX Service is of MR compression.
A4. Windows Fax Service generates class F TIFF files (MMR compression), and T37FSP converts it into MR compression using TIFF Library. The T.37 specifications require profile S TIFF files (subset of TIFF-F, MH compression only), but most commercial T.37 fax machines (Internet-aware fax machines) can handle TIFF-F. T37FSP can be configured to call a 3rd party utility to pre-process a TIFF file before it is sent to the provider. TIFF library is a good example of a utility that could be used to convert between MR into MH (so-called T.4 coding or group 3). To activate a 3rd party utility hook, run registry editor to add the string PreProcessCmd to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sandlerco\T37FSP (replacing Sandlerco with Wow6432Node\Sandlerco for x64 Windows) registry key with an appropriate value. For example, to convert to MH using the TIFF Library, the string value is tiffcp -i -c g3:1d %s %s (two %s signs represent source and target file names that will be substituted by the T37FSP). -i means ignore read errors and is necessary for Vista and above as generated TIFF files do not seem to be fully compliant.
Q5. T37FSP is enabled for the send fax operation, but a fax is pending and is never sent.
A5. This might happen in Windows 2000 and XP if more than one fax device is already present before installing the product. This is a Windows limitation. To learn how to check the number of fax devices currently installed, see How do you start Fax user interface applications in Windows XP and 2000, for more details on the number of supported fax devices click here. To rectify, make sure the Use only T37FSP for sending faxes check box is selected.
Q6. How to achieve Least Cost Routing for outbound faxes with T37FSP? Is it possible to use different Internet Fax Service Providers for different area codes in the context of T37FSP?
A6. Least Cost Routing can be achieved with Windows Fax Service outbound fax routing rules in Windows Server 2003 or 2008 with facsBridge™ Enterprise licence. An outbound routing rule maps particular destination country/area code to a particular fax device (channel). Use of multiple T37FSP channels is supported and outbound gateway for each channel can be configured individually. Outbound fax routing with T37FSP facilitates utilization of different Internet Fax Service Providers or different Cisco fax-enabled routers (located in different geographical zones) for different country codes.
Q7. Is there a facsBridge™ for Windows x64 Edition available?
A7. Yes. facsBridge™ is available for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, 2008 x64 Edition.
Q8. How do I configure T37FSP for use with the InterFAX service provider?
A8. You need to specify fax.tc in the Faxmail Gateway and + in the Prefix for Destination Email Address. If fax.tc is specified as the Faxmail Gateway, /rs or /rf tags will be appended to the email subject field to designate required fax resolution (draft or fine).
Q9. How to hard-code subject field in the fax-mail, to satisfy my fax gateway special requirements?
A9. Run registry editor to add the string Subject in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Sandlerco\T37FSP (replacing Sandlerco with Wow6432Node\Sandlerco for x64 Windows) registry key with the required value.
Q10. Is it possible to encrypt fax-mail with T37FSP for privacy and security reasons?
A10. Yes. If your SMTP server is SSL/TLS compatible, check the SSL connection check box on the Mail Server (advanced) page of the T37FSP control panel. SSL encryption will be used. It is possible to customise T37FSP for a specified Internet Fax gateway with custom email headers, custom encryption / digital signature, please enquire.
Q11. What are the specifics of T37FSP on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008?
A11. Unfortunately, the Vista Home edition is not supported because Windows Fax Service in not included in this edition.
It is necessary to configure the following items in the process of installing the T37FSP and sending the first fax using T37FSP,
a. Navigate to Control Panel, Phone and Modem settings and fill in Location settings.
b. Navigate to Start, Programs, Windows Fax and Scan (it used to be called Fax Console in XP), navigate to Tools, fill in Fax Accounts (Local Modem account on Local Fax is required to use T37FSP, of course there is no need for a physical fax-modem). Close Windows Fax and Scan.
Due to enhanced security in Vista/2008, make sure the Windows Fax Service is not blocked by the Windows firewall.
Finally, to view help (F1) contents from the T37FSP Control Panel applet, download Help Viewer as it is not included in Vista or 2008 by default.
Q12. What is facsBridge™ for Office for?
A12. facsBridge for Office is designed to configure Microsoft Office 2003/2007 to interface with your Internet Fax Service Provider
instantly, taking advantage of the Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) printer.
In Word or Excel, use File -> Send To -> Recipient Using Internet Fax Service menu
option to send your document to a fax gateway using Outlook, providing Outlook and MODI component from Office Tools are installed.
The sent fax will be stored in your Sent folder in Outlook.
The Windows Fax Printer / Fax Service / Fax Console are not involved in this process.
Alternatively, to use T37FSP and Fax Service from Office applications, select File -> Send To -> Recipient Using a Fax Modem menu
option instead (of course there is no need for a fax modem if T37FSP is configured).
Note: the file format generated by MODI driver is not compatible with Cisco fax-enabled routers.
Q13. Why outbound fax is delivered truncated?
A13. This can happen if T37FSP interfaces Cisco off-ramp gateway, and This is Cisco Gateway checkbox is Off. Select the checkbox to rectify the problem.
Q14. How to achieve real-time effect with Cisco routers? Are multiple T37FSP channels supported?
A14. Select This is Cisco Gateway check box in the facsBridge™ Configuration application.
The obvious benefit of real-time configuration is that Fax Service moves outbound fax into the Sent folder of Fax Console when it is delivered to the fax recipient, not when faxmail is delivered to an intermediate SMTP server.
Note, real-time configuration assumes that Windows Fax Service policy controls number of retries and retry interval.
facsBridge™ supports multiple T37FSP channels (virtual devices). In practice, set as many devices as many simultaneous SMTP sessions your Cisco integrated services router is configured for, subject to your operating system limitations.
Q15. Why Fax Service does not start in x64 Windows?
A15. If f2eRouter extension is installed, and f2eRouter.xml file is not valid, Fax Service will not start in x64 Windows. Correct f2eRouter.xml file and make sure it is valid. As a minimum, remove or rename invalid f2eRouter.xml file.
For general FAQ on Fax Service see the Fax Service Provider FAQ page.
