HOWTO: Using Cardiff TELEform and Zetafax with a fax modem

ZTN1069

ID: ZTN1069

This Zetafax technical note applies to:

• Zetafax 5.50i+ or later

Summary

Zetafax systems that are used with Cardiff TELEform should normally be configured with Brooktrout or Gammafax intelligent fax boards.  This technical note gives details of a configuration change required to use Zetafax with TELEform, when the Zetafax server is installed with a fax modem

More information

Received faxes occasionally contain transmission errors.  Brooktrout and Dialogic intelligent fax boards will correct these errors, ensuring that the received image is error free.  However fax modems will pass these errors through to Zetafax, and although rare the default behaviour of the Zetafax server is to save the image file including any transmission errors.

If a fax with errors is passed to TELEform it can cause difficulties for the processing engine.  Symptoms include treating the fax as blank or the TELEform processing engine failing (crashing).  It is therefore important that any errors are removed before the fax is passed to TELEform.

Zetafax systems that are used with Cardiff TELEform should normally be configured with Brooktrout or Gammafax intelligent fax boards.  This is the only supported configuration, as these boards are best suited to the high volume of faxes typically used in forms processing applications than fax modems.

However, although not recommended, it is possible to use a Zetafax system with a fax modem - for example when evaluating the system.   In this case you must configure the Zetafax server to check each received fax for errors and remove them.

This is done by opening the file zfax\SYSTEM\Z-DB\SETUP.INI, where 'zfax' is the name of the directory where the Zetafax server files are installed (using an editor such as Notepad) then locating the section for the first fax modem - typically " [FCLASS-1]" .  Add the following line to the end of that section:

CleanFaxes: YES

Repeat for any other fax modems (" [FCLASS-2]" section, etc).

Save the file, and then restart the Zetafax server.  If the lines have been added correctly each FCLASS device will log the following message as it starts:

Bad lines removed from received faxes

This option may also be used with any other applications that require an error-free received image.

References

For additional information on TELEform, please see the following Zetafax technical note:

ZTN1054-HOWTO Configuring Zetafax with Cardiff TELEform.

Last updated: 12 June 2000 (GC/GW)