Zetafax Modern Authentication Update

This article describes the Zetafax Modern Authentication Update, for systems using the Zetafax email gateway with Exchange Online.

What is Modern Authentication?

Exchange Online currently supports two main types of authentication: Basic Authentication and Modern Authentication.  Basic Authentication is an older mechanism which uses a username and password to sign-in.  Modern Authentication is a more secure option and includes extra security such Multi-Factor Authentication, where the user has to approve sign-in requests using a phone app or enter an additional code to sign-in.

Many organizations currently use a mix of these security methods – for example using Modern Authentication for general user access, and Basic Authentication for shared access accounts and applications.

How is Exchange Online changing?

In September 2021 Microsoft announced that they would be turning off Basic Authentication in Exchange Online beginning in October 2022.  They also announced that they would switch off support for Basic Authentication for some customers on temporary basis for periods of 12-48 hours starting from the second quarter of 2022.

This change will not affect users who use Modern Authentication to sign-in to Exchange Online.  However applications like Zetafax which rely on Basic Authentication to access Exchange Online will stop working unless they are updated.

How does this affect Zetafax customers?

The Zetafax email gateway enables users to send a fax by sending an email to a specific address, and delivers received faxes to the recipient by email.  For systems which use Exchange Online the current version of Zetafax connects using Basic Authentication.

Once Basic Authentication is disabled in Exchange Online these features will stop working.  Emails for sending by fax will be queued in Exchange Online but the Zetafax Server will not be able to retrieve and send them.  Incoming faxes will still be received by the Zetafax Server and stored in the received fax archive, but will not be delivered to the recipient’s mailbox.

What should Zetafax customers do to avoid issues?

The Zetafax Modern Authentication Update adds support for Modern Authentication with Exchange Online to the Zetafax email gateway.  The change of authentication method is invisible to users, and there is no need to train users or change user documentation after installing the update. 

If you are using the Zetafax email gateway with Exchange Online we recommend that you install this update immediately.  That will ensure that your system continues to work correctly once Microsoft switches off Basic Authentication later this year, and also avoid disruption with any temporary switch off before then.

How do I get the update?

Equisys Software Assurance contracts ensure that you keep up to date with all of the latest updates and releases of our Zetafax product.  You can read more about the benefits here.

If you have a Software Assurance contract then you can download the update free of charge from the Zetafax software updates page.

If you do not have a current Software Assurance contract, please contact the Equisys sales team or your software provider to discuss how to rejoin.