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The recommended configuration for an Active Call Center computer that will handle fax calls is to use a separate non-voice data/fax modem for fax calls in conjunction with a TAPI fax application such as Symantec WinFax or Microsoft Fax. Active Call Center will not be able to use the non-voice modem since it is a voice application; this will give the fax software full control over that device. Non-voice data/fax modems are the cheapest modems available: some brands sell for under $30 US.
Active Call Center automatically recognizes inbound fax calls. If the system is set to auto-transfer fax calls, it will attempt to immediately transfer the fax call to the fax line. Otherwise Active Call Center attempts to "hand off" the fax calls to a waiting TAPI compliant fax application. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find an inbound fax application that correctly accepts such a handoff. In the future it is possible that a fax application developer would develop a TAPI compliant fax application that does accept handoffs of incoming fax calls, and presumably such an application could be integrated with Active Call Center. We recommend that users have a separate fax line not connected to their Active Call Center PC to use for incoming faxes.
Users that want the same computer to answer a fax line should use a non-voice data/fax modem to answer the faxes. We have tested Active Call Center with Symantec WinFax in this configuration: as long as WinFax is set to not answer the voice lines, it can perform fax send/receive on a fax modem line while Active Call Center takes voice calls on the other line.
Outbound fax features are useful for creating fax-back servers and other automated document delivery applications. Active Call Center can be used with either Microsoft Fax or Symantec WinFax Pro for outbound faxing. Both applications are discussed in detail below.
WinFax Pro is the only solution for Windows NT/2000/XP customers, since Microsoft Fax only shipped with Windows 95 and 98.
Symantec WinFax Pro
WinFax Pro is a TAPI based fax application. We tested WinFax Pro 10.0 and we found that it doesn't share the hardware devices very well and is best used on a separate fax modem than the voice modems that are used by Active Call Center. A free trial of WinFax Pro may be obtained by visiting Symantec's website at www.symantec.com.
Microsoft Fax
Microsoft Fax is available on the Windows 95 and 98 CDs - refer to the section about installing Microsoft Fax for more information.
There are two techniques for creating and sending outbound faxes with Microsoft Fax:
Outbound Faxes with Microsoft Word
Use VBScript and Microsoft Word's COM interface to initiate outbound faxing from Microsoft Word. A complete fax-back server Call Tree that uses Microsoft Word 97/2000 is available in the examples folder (Fax-Back Server using Word.acc). A wizard is available to simplify deployment of a fax-back server with Microsoft Word 97/2000 and Microsoft Fax. To start the wizard, choose Wizards ... Fax-Back Server from the menu bar.
For convenience, Active Call Center includes a built-in VBScript function that performs fax operations with Microsoft Word. The function is defined as follows:
Function FaxWordDocument(_
ByVal VBSxtraFileName, _
ByVal VBSxtraFaxNum, _
ByVal VBSxtraSubject)
The value returned by the function is either True or False to indicate success or failure, respectively.
Use this functon in any macro by passing the function the file name of the document (including full path specification), the fax number, and the subject of the fax. For example:
' Send a fax to 555-1212
FaxWordDocument("C:\FAX.DOC", _
"5551212",_
"Here's your fax!")
This fax function is used by the fax-back server example Call Tree mentioned earlier. To modify the FaxWordDocument function or to view the source code for the function use Tools ... Modify Built-In VBScript Functions.
Outbound Faxes with Microsoft Outlook
For documents such as spreadsheets and other files not stored in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook 98/2000 can also be used to facilitate outbound faxing. This technique works well with Excel spreadsheets and certain other documents. A complete fax-back server Call Tree that uses Microsoft Outlook 98/2000 is available in the examples folder (Fax-Back Server using Outlook.acc).
When Microsoft Fax is installed, Microsoft Outlook will use Microsoft Fax to send mail to recipients that have addresses formatted as "[fax:<<fax number here>>]". For example, Outlook will send a fax to 555-1212 if the recipient's address is [fax:5551212].
Active Call Center uses Microsoft Outlook's COM interface to build messages addressed to fax recipients. Microsoft Outlook then handles all the delivery and record keeping of the outbound fax.
For convenience, Active Call Center includes a built-in VBScript function that performs fax operations with Microsoft Outlook. The function is defined as follows:
Function FaxWithOutlook(_ ByVal VBSxtraFileName, _
ByVal VBSxtraFaxNum, _
ByVal VBSxtraSubject)
The value returned by the function is either True or False to indicate success or failure, respectively.
Use this functon in any macro by passing the function the file name of the document (including full path specification), the fax number, and the subject of the fax. For example:
' Send a fax to 555-1212
FaxWithOutlook("C:\FAX.XLS", _
"5551212",_
"Here's your fax!")
Microsoft Outlook will attempt to use the appropriate application to open the document and generate the fax: Microsoft Excel would be used in the example above to render the FAX.XLS spreadsheet as a fax.
The FaxWithOutlook function is used by the "Fax-Back Server using Outlook" example Call Tree mentioned earlier. To modify the FaxWithOutlook function or to view the source code for the function use Tools ... Modify Built-In VBScript Functions.