Windows 2000 Fax

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Windows 2000 Fax

Once again we have Russ Valentine, your guide to WinFax SE, to thank for working through the oddities of a new fax program. This time, it's the fax component included in Windows 2000. Given the newness of the product, though, these notes should be considered as preliminary. Use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary.

Windows 2000 Fax installs by default when you attach a fax modem to your system. It installs as a standalone fax program that utilizes a default system account and the Windows Address Book (WAB) from Outlook Express as the repository for fax numbers. (Because of the default WAB integration, you will sometimes see it referred to as Outlook Express Fax.)

Unlike Microsoft Fax, which works only as a MAPI service with Outlook, Exchange client or Windows Messaging, Windows 2000 Fax does not utilize the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI). Thus, the default installation has no integration with Outlook 2000 or 98 running in Corporate/Workgroup mode or with Outlook 97.

Outlook (CW) Setup

For Windows 2000 Fax to gain access to the MAPI client profile, you must install Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode and configure the Windows 2000 Fax service to run under an Administrator account rather than the default system account. This requires several steps:

Log on with local computer administrative privileges.
Configure the Windows 2000 Fax service to receive faxes: Open the Fax Services Management Console (Start | Programs | Accessories | Communications | Fax | Fax Service Management). Select Devices, right-click the modem in the right pane, select Properties | Enable Receive.
Add the Fax service to the Outlook profile you will be using, using either Control Panel | Mail or, within Outlook, Tools | Services.
Make sure that Outlook 2000 is the default e-mail client. You can do this in Internet Explorer by choosing Tools | Internet Options and switching to the Programs tab.
In Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, then Services. Double-click Fax Service to display its Properties. On the Log On tab, choose This account. Change the account from LocalSystem to your account. Type and confirm a valid password for the account, and then click OK.
Stop and restart the Fax Service for the settings to take effect.
In Control Panel, open Fax. On the Advanced Options tab, click Fax Service Management Console. Click Devices, and then double-click the modem entry in the right panel. On the Received Faxes tab, check Send to Local e-mail inbox , and then click the profile name associated with Outlook 2000. If the profile does not appear, then you've not done one of the previous steps correctly.

Also see:

How to Configure Outlook 2000 or a MAPI E-mail Client to Receive Outlook Express Fax Messages

To set your default cover page:

In Outlook, choose Tools | Services | Fax Mail Transport | Properties.

Fax Printer Setup

You'll find some additional options for the Fax printer driver:

Choose Start | Settings | Printers, and select the Fax printer.
Choose File | Printing Preferences.
On the Fax Options tab, you can set the default send time, image quality, billing code and the e-mail address used to deliver fax confirmations.

Usage

To send a fax from Microsoft Outlook in Corporate/Workgroup mode:

Create a new e-mail message, and select an entry from the Address Book that has a fax address. Note that the fax number for the Contact must be in canonical Outlook format (+xx (yyy) zzz-zzzz). Numbers in one-off format will not be dialed. For a one-time fax, just type the number using the format [FAX:number].
Compose your message as usual.
Attach any documents that you want to be included in the fax. These must be in file formats that can be rendered into faxes. (You can test this by dragging the document to the Fax printer driver.)
If you want to add a cover page, choose Tools | Fax Attributes. (This command is not available if you are using WordMail as your e-mail editor.)
Click Send when you are done. The Fax service will then dial the number and send the fax. You should get a confirmation message in your Inbox.

To send a fax to an Outlook contact from other Office 2000 applications using Outlook in CW mode:

Choose File | Send to | Mail Recipient -- not Mail Recipient (As Attachment).
Click To select a fax recipient from the Contacts folder. You can also add e-mail recipient to the same message; they will receive the document as an HTML format mail message. Fax numbers can be in standard Outlook, canonical, or one-off format.

To send a fax from any application using Outlook in CW or IMO mode:

Choose File | Print, and select the Fax printer.
Walk through the steps of the Fax Wizard. Note that you cannot select names from the Outlook Address Book, only from the WAB from Outlook Express.

To send a fax using the Fax Wizard directly:

Choose Start | Programs | Accessories | Communications | Fax | Send Cover Page Fax.
Follow the steps in the Fax Wizard.

To view the fax queue:

To edit cover pages:

Open the \Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Faxes\Common Coverpages folder.
Double-click any cover page to open it in the Fax Cover Page Editor, which is exactly like the editor in Microsoft Fax.

To create a new cover page:

Make a copy of an existing cover page, open and edit it as above

- or -

Open any existing cover page, then choose File | New from the Fax Cover Page Editor's menu.

Also see:

How to Manage Fax Documents Using Windows 2000

Notes

No matter what version of Outlook you have, incoming faxes are stored as .tif image files in the \Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Faxes folder. You can also access this folder by choosing Start | Programs | Accessories | Communications | Fax | My Faxes.

If you have set up Outlook 98/2000 in IMO mode to share the Contacts folder with the Outlook Express WAB, your contacts should be available to Windows 2000 Fax.

Merges to Fax from Microsoft Word behave differently than they do with Microsoft Fax. Windows 2000 Fax is not recognized by the Merge Wizard, so there is no option to merge to Electronic Fax. Instead, the user must select Merge to Electronic Mail. Also, with fax merges the phone number can ONLY be in one-off format. Both canonical and standard Outlook format will trigger the Check Names dialog box and will fail to resolve the fax number. In Outlook 2002, you need to choose HTML as the format for the merge messages.

If you plan to run Outlook in CW mode and send a lot of faxes by printing to the Fax printer driver, you may want to periodically import your contacts to the Outlook Express WAB so their fax numbers will be available to the Windows 2000 Fax Wizard.

In CW mode, the fax number in Contacts can be in the canonical format that includes country code, area/city code and the local number or it can omit the country code.

There appears to be no way to send a cover page with a note on it. Any note goes on a separate page. The cover page carries the subject, sender and recipient information.

Limitations

If you print to the Fax printer, you can select only from contacts in the Windows Address Book (WAB), not the Outlook Address Book. See OL2002 Contacts Are Not Available in the Send Fax Wizard for Windows 2000 Fax.

Windows 2000 Fax does not operate as a fax server for group use.