HOWTO: Route inbound faxes to a folder

ZTN1568

ID: ZTN1568

This Zetafax technical note applies to:

• Zetafax v2007 and later
• Zetafax v2006 (upon request with hotfix)

Summary

This is a feature pack update for Zetafax 2007 and later, which adds support for the “route to folder” feature.  This feature extends the Zetafax API to store faxes received by designated users as files in a specified folder, for processing by a separate application as part of an automated system.  Faxes can be stored in a range of file formats, with information about the sender included in the name of the created file.

The folder location can be specified independently for each user.  Used with the inward routing rules in Zetafax, this enables faxes to be stored in different folders depending on the dialled fax number (using DID routing), the fax line on which they were received (using line routing in the device settings), or the sender (using Sender ID routing).

The feature can be used in an existing system, with faxes to other network users unaffected.

More information

Prerequisites

• Zetafax 2006 server already installed, including Zetafax API add-on licence
• Email gateway already configured, if required on the system.

Enabling the email gateway resets the “mail forwarding address” settings which enable this feature.  The settings will need to be reconfigured if the email gateway is enabled at a later time

• One or more Zetafax user accounts configured, to be used for routing to folder.
• Zetafax configured so that received faxes are routed to the designated users as required (eg fax device settings to route all incoming faxes on a given line, or DID rules to route faxes sent to a specific number).

Installation and configuration

1. Create the drop folder where received faxes are to be stored.  This can either be on the local drive (eg “C:\ZFAXDROP”), or on a network file server (specified using UNC – eg “\\MyServer\Files\Zfaxdrop”).  This location is referred to as dropfolder in the instructions below.
2. (Please disregard this step if you are using Zetafax 2007 or later)
   If you are using Zetafax 2006 and you are getting this functionality from a special feature patch, then please do the following:
   Stop the Zetafax Server if running, then copy QM.EXE from this update to folder zfax\SERVER (where zfax is the location where the Zetafax server files are installed – typically “C:\Program  Files\Zetafax Server”).
3. Exit the Zetafax Configuration Program if running, then use ­ Notepad to edit the system settings file zfax\SYSTEM\z-db\SETUP.INI.  Specify the file format required by adding the following line to the [QUEUEMAN] section in the file (or modify existing line if present):

   For PDF:

   DropFolderFormat: PDF

   For TIFF (Group 4 fax compression):

   DropFolderFormat: TIFF-G4-FAX

   For TIFF (Group 3 fax compression, native format used in Zetafax):

   DropFolderFormat: TIFF-G3-FAX

4. Use Notepad to edit the user settings file zfax\SYSTEM\Z-db\USERLIST.INI.  Locate the [USER] section for the designated user.  Now add the following lines to the section (or modify the existing lines if present):

   MailInbox: YES

   MailName: file:dropfolder

   where dropfolder is the full path of the folder where the received fax files are to be created

   In systems where the dropfolder is on a separate computer, the path should be entered as a UNC (eg as “file: \\MyServer\Files\Zfaxdrop”) rather than using a mapped drive letter.

   Viewing or editing the settings for this user with the Zetafax Configuration program may change the order of these settings in the file.  This does not affect system behaviour.

   Note that you should not use the Zetafax Configuration program while you are editing the settings file, to avoid changes being overwritten.

     The completed section should look similar to the following example:

   [USER]

   Name: ORDERS

   Fullname: Route to folder user

   Username: ORDERS

   Netware: ORDERS

   LanManager: ORDERS

   MailInbox: YES

   MailName: file:C:\ZFAXDROP

   Admin: YES

5. The installation is now complete.  Now start the Zetafax Server, and check the startup messages to ensure that there are no errors reported.

Testing the installation

We recommend the following steps to check that the update has been installed correctly:

1.      Start the Zetafax Server (running as an application, not as a service).  Check that the version number reported by the QUEUEMAN program as it starts is 11.0.520 or later.

If not, check that you have copied the updated QM.EXE to the correct location, as detailed above.

2.      Check there are no errors reported by QUEUEMAN about the new configuration settings on startup.

If there are errors, correct the settings indicated and  check that the changes to the SETUP.INI file detailed above have been made correctly.

3.      Send a fax to the designated user.  Check the messages displayed in the Zetafax Server monitor program – the server will display an error if it is unable to copy the file to the folder, or if the system does not have the API add-on licence installed.

If an error is displayed, check that the path name specified is correct, and that the current user account has permissions to create files in that folder.  The path should include a drive letter (for a folder on the same computer as the Zetafax server) or an full UNC path in form “\\servername\sharename\path” (for folders on other computers).

4.      Now check the drop folder using Windows Explorer.  Check that the file extension and format are correct.

If not, check the DropFolderFormat line has been added to SETUP.INI correctly, as detailed above.

5.      Check that the file name includes the sender’s CSID – this is the identifier of the sending fax, typically set to the sender’s fax number and also displayed on the header line of the fax.

If the ‘from’ field in the file name is empty, check that the CLI of the sending fax machine is not blank, or comprises characters which are not permitted in file names (eg “?” or “< ”)

The “SenderIDOrder” setting in SETUP.INI specifies whether the CLI (phone number of the caller) or CSID is used for inward routing, and also for this feature. The default setting is to use the CSID.

6.      Finally, if you require the Zetafax Server to run as a service (ie running in the background on the computer, without requiring a user to be logged on), then start it as a service now and send a fax to the designated user.  Check that the file is created in the drop folder as before.

If not, check that the network account which the Zetafax Service is configured to use has sufficient permissions to write to the folder. 

This applies particularly when the drop folder is on a network drive – by default the service is configured to use the “LocalSystem” account which is not usually able to access network folders.  In this case you should either change the Zetafax Service account, or move the drop folder to the local computer.

Advanced Configuration Options

Using CLI (sender’s phone number)

The “SenderIDOrder” setting in SETUP.INI specifies whether the CLI (phone number of the caller) and/or CSID is used for inward routing, and the priority if both are present.

This setting is also used to determine whether the CLI or CSID is stored in the “from” field in the file name.  The default setting is to use the CSID.  However, on systems which receive CLI information for received faxes (eg systems using an ISDN or T1 fax line), the CLI information can be stored instead by adding the following line to the [QUEUEMAN] section of SETUP.INI:

SenderIDOrder: CLI

Note that this will also affect how “Sender ID” routing rules behave, so should be used with care on a system which already has such rules configurerd

Specifying the file format used

You can select the file format used for the created files by adding the following line to the [QUEUEMAN] section of SETUP.INI, as described above:

DropFolderFormat: format

where format is one of the following:

TIFF-UNCOMPRESSED

WPG

WMF

TIFF-HUFFMAN

TIFF-G3-FAX

TIFF-LZW

TIFF-G4-FAX

DCX

EPS

PICT

PDF

TIFF-PACK

TIFF-2D  

Overriding the drop file extension

You can specify the file extension used for the created files by adding the following line to the [QUEUEMAN] section of SETUP.INI:

DropFolderFileExt: ext

where ext is the 3 letter file extension required.  If this line is omitted, the file extension will be the default for the format chosen.

Further information

Further information about installing and using this feature can be obtained through your local Zetafax support representative.

Last updated: 13/03/08 (PF/PJ/TA)