Chapter 4
Fax Features

MacComCenter Plus offers a variety of powerful fax features. This chapter describes how to configure and use these features.

Naming Conventions

When available, MacComCenter Plus uses Caller ID information to name received faxes and voice messages. When Caller ID information is not available, MacComCenter Plus will display "No Name Provided" and show the date and time that the file was received in the MessageCenter Inbox of the selected Mailbox.

MacComCenter Plus also uses Caller ID to route incoming faxes to the appropriate mailbox. The Caller ID is matched against all phonebook entries. If a match is found and the phonebook entry is linked to a Mailbox, then the incoming fax is put into that mailbox's Inbox. If no Caller ID match is found, the fax is put into the Default Mailbox.

Sending Faxes

MacComCenter Plus provides two methods to easily send faxes across town or around the world. The easiest way to send a fax with is with the Drag 'n Fax Icon. When MacComCenter Plus was installed, you may have noticed a new icon on your desktop. The Drag 'n Fax icon allows you to send a fax by dropping the file you wish to fax on top of the icon. Another convenient way to send a fax is directly from the application that created the file. The benefits of sending out faxes in this manner are many. You do not need to interrupt your work to send the fax; all fonts, graphics, and formatting are automatically incorporated, and you do not need to manually convert the document before sending. Complete instructions for using both of these fax transmission methods are provided in Chapter 3.

Manual fax transmission

If you have a phone connected to your modem line, you can use MacComCenter Plus to instruct your modem to manually send a fax after you dial the remote fax device. To manually send faxes:

  1. Start MessageCenter.
  2. Select Manually Send Fax from the Mailbox menu. MessageCenter will display the Manual Fax Send dialog box and prompt you to dial the number from your telephone.

     

  1. Dial the remote fax device with the telephone connected to the phone line through your modem.
  2. When you hear the fax tones, press the Send Now button in the Manual Fax Send dialog box to send the fax, or press the Cancel button to stop the operation. You may then hang up the telephone handset.

Fax Reception

MacComCenter Plus offers the ability to receive faxes manually or automatically. In most cases you will want to receive automatically, as this allows faxes to be received in the background without additional commands or input. However in some cases it may be necessary to receive a fax manually, such as when using some fax-on-demand services.

Automatic Reception

The Telephony Control application provides visual feedback to the user about the progress and status of the Fax and Voice software. To allow automatic reception, ensure that Fax Send/Receive or Voice/Fax is selected under the Mode option on the Telephony Control application.

The Telephony Control application can be used at any time to control the reception abilities of MacComCenter Plus. To access the Telephony Control application, select Telephony Control from the Apple menu.

[Telephony Control]

Further information on Telephony Control is contained in Chapter 5.

Manual Reception

If you have a phone connected to your modem line, you can use the Telephony Control application to instruct your modem to manually receive faxes. Note that this is a hardware dependent feature that not all modems support. A manual reception is useful on occasions when you are already speaking to someone on the telephone, and they want to send you a fax by pressing the send button on their fax machine.

To begin a manual reception:

  1. Open Telephony Control from the Apple menu.
  2. Ensure the selected Answer Mode is set to either Voice and Fax or Fax Send/Receive.
  3. Instruct the remote side to begin sending.
  4. When you hear the fax CNG tone from the remote fax machine, press the Answer Now button on the Telephony Control application. Your modem will begin sending fax response tones to negotiate a connection with the remote device.
  5. Hang up the telephone handset.

The Telephony Control display will keep you informed of the status of the reception.

Viewing Faxes

MacComCenter Plus has a Viewer which allows you to open and view faxes and text files from within MessageCenter. To view fax files, double-click on the fax message in the Inbox or select Open from theFile menu and select the desired fax file. After a fax has been opened, a check-mark will appear next to it to indicate that it has been viewed.

Note: You can mark a viewed fax as unread by using the Mark As Unread command from the Mailbox menu.

The viewer's toolbar provides quick access to the most frequently used commands. Options for changing the method of viewing the fax, zoom features, as well as the ability to rapidly move among the available pages are offered on the toolbar.

The Status Line at the bottom of the viewer displays the current page, the total number of pages, the type of view and the zoom factor percentage of the fax currently being displayed.

When you are finished viewing a fax, select Close from the File menu, which will close the viewer.

[Test page]

Positioning a Fax in the Viewer

[Toolbar]

MacComCenter Plus offers three different methods of displaying a fax in the FaxViewer window. Each of these options is selected by clicking on the appropriate button on the toolbar. The Normal option (left button) displays the fax at its actual size. This is the default view type. Fit Vertical (middle button) will make the current page fit in the window vertically. Fit Horizontal (right button) will make the current page fit in the window horizontally. Note that the last two options can dramatically affect the view of the fax.

Magnifying a Fax

MacComCenter Plus offers a wide range of magnification levels for viewing your faxes.

[Magnify]

The various levels can be accessed from the zoom percentage popup menu at the bottom of the viewer. To select the zoom percentage, click and hold the mouse button on the zoom percentage popup menu and select the desired zoom percentage.

Note: Zooming options are only available in Normal positioning fax mode.

Changing Pages

[Changing Pages]

MacComCenter Plus allows you to quickly move among the pages of a multi-page fax so you can efficiently find the information you need. Different pages can be accessed with the Page buttons on the toolbar. The Next Page and Previous Page buttons (middle left and middle right buttons) will move you from one page to the next. The First Page button (left button) will bring you to the first page of the fax. The Last Page button (right button) will bring you to the last page of the fax.

Rotating Faxes

[Toolbar]

MacComCenter Plus allows you to rotate the fax image to account for faxes that may have been received upside down or sideways. The different rotation levels can be accessed with the rotation buttons on the toolbar. The Rotate 90 button (middle left button) will rotate the image 90 degrees clockwise from the original position. The Rotate 180 button (middle right button) will flip the image upside down from it's original position. The Rotate 270 button (right button) will rotate the image 270 degrees from the original position.

Fax View Quality

[Toolbar]

MacComCenter Plus allows you to smooth out the text and graphics of your faxes for easier viewing. This is commonly known as anti-aliasing. You can set the default fax quality from the Fax preferences panel.

Note: On some slower systems, the high quality setting can take several seconds to display.

Exporting Faxes

The Viewer allows you to export fax files into one of the following graphic formats:

To export a file from fax format to one of the other formats, select Export from the File menu. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the desired format, provide a file name for the resulting graphic and then click on the Save button. The document will be converted and saved to your hard drive. Faxes are exported using the resolution in which they were received. If you wish to print an exported fax image, you will need a shareware or commercial drawing or painting program that is capable of working with images of 200 dpi resolution or higher.

Drag and Drop Support for Faxes

MacComCenter Plus allows you to easily export fax files by dragging the desire fax file(s) to the desired location on the Finder. The fax file will be copied to the desired location on the Finder as a stand alone fax file. If the fax contains multiple pages, all pages will be converted.

Note: The fax will be converted to a TIFF file if the option key is held down during this process.

Note: Fax files dragged to the Finder will lose any schedule information that they may have contained.

A fax file can in turn be dragged back into a mailbox from the Finder by the same drag and drop method.

Printing Faxes

Faxes can be printed with any Macintosh compatible printer. MacComCenter Plus supports all standard Macintosh printer drivers.

To print a fax file highlight the fax you wish to print in the MessageCenter Inbox. Ensure that your standard printer (and not MacComCenter™ Fax) is selected in the Chooser under the Apple menu. Depending upon the printer you are using, the Page Setup option under the File menu may be used to set print quality, image scale, paper size and paper orientation. When the setup is complete, select Print to begin printing the fax.

Forwarding and Rescheduling Faxes

MacComCenter Plus provides convenient methods for forwarding and rescheduling fax files.

To forward or reschedule a fax:

  1. Open the mailbox that contains the file you want to manipulate.
  2. Highlight the desired file.

To forward the selected file, choose Forward Fax in the Mailbox menu.

To reschedule the selected file, choose Reschedule Fax in the Mailbox menu, or click on the Info button.

  1. Either step displays a dialog box similar to the one displayed below:

  1. Select the desired recipient(s) from the Phonebook display at the bottom of the dialog, and drag them into the Destination Addresses section.
  2. Select the date and time you wish MacComCenter Plus to send the fax using the Date & Time fields, or click on Now to send the fax immediately.
  3. Click on OK to send the fax.

Automatic Fax Forwarding

MacComCenter Plus can automatically forward faxes received in a specific mailbox after a specified amount of time has passed. To setup fax forwarding:

  1. Double-click on the Mailbox you wish to configure.
  2. Select the Fax Forwarding tab.
  3. Use the Fax Forward popup menu to select the length of time a message must reside in the mailbox before it is forwarded.
  4. In the Number field enter the fax telephone number to which the faxes will be forwarded.

Fax Grouping

MacComCenter Plus can group multiple faxes for transmission in a single call.

To create a fax group:

  1. Select Create Fax Group… from the Mailbox menu. The fax group dialog box appears.
  2. Enter a name for the group in the Fax Group Name field.
  3. To add faxes to the group, drag and drop the desired faxes over to the fax group dialog box.
    1. Alternatively, if one or more faxes are selected, selecting Convert To Fax Group… from the Mailbox menu will automatically add those faxes to a new group.
  4. If you wish to remove a fax from the group, highlight the the in the group window and click the Remove button.
  5. To schedule the transmission of the fax group, click on the Schedule button.
  6. To change the order in which the faxes in the group are sent click and drag the faxes to their desired position, or select a fax and use the arrow buttons under the list to change their order.
  7. When you have finished adding faxes to the group click the Save button.

To edit previously created fax groups, double-click on the fax group you wish to edit. This will access the fax group dialog box.

Any of the faxes within the group can still be viewed by double-clicking on the fax item.

Note: Faxes are normally moved into a fax group so the original mailbox entry is deleted. To copy a fax into a group, hold the Option key down before dragging the fax into the group.

Note: A fax group is limited to 5 entries per group.

Note: Faxes in a group must be imaged at the same resolution - Standard or Fine/GrayScale.

Note: Quick Faxes cannot be added to a group.

Fax On Demand

Fax On Demand is a mechanism for allowing callers to retrieve fax documents from your Macintosh. This feature can be used to create an automated information service for Marketing, Customer Support, Sales, etc. There are basically two types of Fax On Demand services - 'same call' or 'two call'. 'Same call' means that the requested faxes are sent to the caller while the caller is online. This has the added benefit that the caller pays for the fax transmission if the call is long distance. The 'two call' Fax On Demand service sends the faxes back to a phone number which the caller has supplied (and you pay for the call).

The MacComCenter Fax On Demand feature is implemented as a 'same call' service. MacComCenter does not support the 'two call' Fax On Demand option.

Fax On Demand documents are identified by a numeric ID which is what the caller uses (via TouchTones) to request specific fax documents. These documents are saved as imaged fax files. Document ID's are arbitrary numbers which you assign to identify each document. In MacComCenter, the saved fax files MUST be named using the following syntax: DocumentID.fax. For example: If you have a Fax On Demand document with an ID of 231, then it's file name must be 231.fax.

When MacComCenter was installed, the installer created a Fax-On-Demand Files folder in the MacComCenter v3 folder.

There are 5 demo files in the Fax-On-Demand Files folder:

  1. Fax On Demand ReadMe ! - This text
  2. Document Index - An Index of the available Fax On Demand documents (see step 6)
  3. 0.fax - The Fax On Demand file for the Index
  4. 12.fax - A demo Fax On Demand file (see Step 5)
  5. 213.fax - Another demo Fax On Demand file

Configuring MacComCenter's Fax On Demand

Important: Review all of the instructions carefully before proceeding.

  1. Fax On Demand fax documents are stored in a special folder used by MacComCenter. You can use the Fax-On-Demand Files folder we have supplied in the MacComCenter v3 folder or you can create a new folder on any permanently mounted disk drive. We recommend that you put the new folder into the MacComCenter v3 folder, but this is not a requirement.
  2. Run the Voice Script Editor application (Chapter 7). In the File menu, select the Open Script... menu item. From the File Open dialog, open one of the 'Fax On Demand' scripts. There are two Fax On Demand scripts distributed with MacComCenter: The Fax On Demand Script extends the 'Answering Machine' script to include Fax On Demand support. The MBox Fax On Demand Script extends the 'Multiple Mailboxes' script to include Fax On Demand support.
  3. In the Scripts menu, select the Make Default Script menu item.
  4. Double-Click on the 'Fax On Demand' icon to open the Fax On Demand Configuration dialog. Verify that the folder selected for the Fax On Demand files is correct. If it is not, then click on the Set button and select the folder you created in Step #1. Click OK. Then Quit the Voice Script Editor, saving your changes.
  5. Create the Fax files to be used for the Fax On Demand processing. These fax files must be stored in the folder selected in Step #4. To create a Fax On Demand document, view the document as usual and select Print... or Fax... from the File menu to bring up the Fax Print dialog. You may have to select the MacComCenter Fax printer driver from the Chooser. Assign a unique numeric ID to this document. ID's can be any number from 0 to 9999. Select the fax resolution from the Quality popup menu. Important: all Fax On Demand documents MUST be created with the same Quality setting. Hold the Option key down. The Save button with change to Save As.... Click on the Save As... button and save the fax in the folder selected in Step #4 as xxxx.fax where xxxx is the assigned document ID.
  6. You may want to create a Fax On Demand file which is the list of available documents. You can then tell the caller to retrieve this list so that they will know what the ID is for a particular document. See the Document Index sample file and the 0.fax file (the fax image of the Document Index file) for an example of a Fax On Demand index.

Cover Page Editor

The Cover Page Editor provides the tools to create dazzling faxes. This feature can be accessed by double-clicking on the CoverPage Editor icon inside the MacComCenter Plus folder, by selecting the Edit Cover Page... command from the Edit menu from within the MessageCenter application, or by using the Control Strip Module. [Drag'n Fax]

[Cover Page Designer]

After you access the Cover Page Editor:

  1. Use the tools and commands to described in the following sections.
  2. When you finish designing, choose Save in the File menu.
  3. To exit the Cover Page Editor, select Quit from the File menu.

The example below shows several cover page features. The following sections describe these features.

[Page Editor]

Drawing objects

To draw objects on your cover page:

  1. Choose one of the drawing tools.
  2. Move the pointer to the location where you want to start drawing.
  3. Hold down the mouse button and drag the pointer to draw the object. When the object reaches the desired size, release the left mouse button.

Inserting text

To insert text on a cover page:

  1. Click on the Insert Text tool.
  2. Move the pointer to the location where you want to start inserting text and click the mouse button. A text box will appear.
  3. Use the options under the Font, Size and Style menus to select the fonts and styles you wish to use for your text.
  4. Begin typing in the text. The text will automatically wrap when it hits the right end of the text box.

Inserting graphics

MacComCenter Plus lets you jazz up your cover pages by inserting graphics created in other applications.

  1. Click on the Insert Graphic tool.
  2. Move the pointer to the location where you want to insert the graphic. Hold down the mouse button and drag the cursor to size the graphic box. When the graphic box is the desired size, release the mouse button. An open file dialog box will appear.
  3. Locate the graphic file you want to insert, then click on Open to insert the graphic.
  4. Click on OK to place the graphic on the cover page.

Note: You can select the Use PICT's Size option under the Options menu to resize the picture to its default size.

Inserting variables

Variables allow MacComCenter Plus to automatically insert cover page information such as the name of the fax recipient and/or sender, fax number, company name, or a short note to the recipient.

To insert a variable in your cover page:

  1. Click on the Insert Variable tool.
  2. Move the pointer to the location where you want to insert the variable. Hold down the mouse button and drag the cursor to size the variable box. When the variable box is the desired size, release the mouse button. A box with a popup menu will appear.
  3. Select the variable you wish to insert from the popup menu. For example, select Recipient Full Name to automatically insert the full name of the recipient on the cover page.

Editing cover page components

Handles surround a cover page component after you place it on the cover page. After you draw a rounded edge rectangle, for example, handles surround it, as shown in the following example.

[Cover page info]

Handles indicate that a component is selected and may be edited. If your cover page has more than one component, handles appear around the last one placed on the cover page. To edit a component other than the one currently selected:

  1. Click on the [Variables] tool.
  2. Click on the component you want to edit.

After a component is selected, you can:

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