Virtual Fax
From VoIP.ms Wiki
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You can also port in a number you currently own with another provider. This process can be started from the Customer Portal at DID Numbers >> DID Portability >> Porting Fax Numbers | You can also port in a number you currently own with another provider. This process can be started from the Customer Portal at DID Numbers >> DID Portability >> Porting Fax Numbers | ||
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== Send a Fax == | == Send a Fax == | ||
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will '''not''' be available in the customer portal when '''sending''' a fax over T.38. | will '''not''' be available in the customer portal when '''sending''' a fax over T.38. | ||
'''Inbound faxing''' over T.38 will still have this information available. | '''Inbound faxing''' over T.38 will still have this information available. | ||
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| + | '''For a list of ATA devices that support T.38 Faxing, please consult [[ATA_Devices | here]].''' | ||
The following are the requirements in order to be able to send and receive faxes via T.38 directly from your own fax phone setup. | The following are the requirements in order to be able to send and receive faxes via T.38 directly from your own fax phone setup. | ||
Latest revision as of 14:29, 20 March 2024
| Article en Français | Artículo en Español |
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| Français |
The Virtual Fax feature is used to send and receive Faxes (facsimile) with the VoIP.ms service using a DID number specifically dedicated to Fax. You may obtain such a number from your Customer Portal in the Fax Numbers section under the Order DID(s) of the DID Numbers menu. Regular voice DID numbers are not compatible with the Virtual Fax feature.
Blog Article
Fax over IP (FoIP) using T.38 Protocol
Tutorial Video
Important information about the Virtual Fax Service
- The Virtual Fax Service is only available for U.S. and Canadian DID Numbers specifically acquired from the Fax Numbers Order DID section
- It is also possible to port your VoIP.ms Voice DID Numbers and Numbers from other providers into our Virtual Fax service. For numbers from other providers, you can find this option under the DID Portability section of the Customer Portal. For VoIP.ms numbers, you can request an internal port by sending an email to our LNP department at [email protected]. The porting fee is $15 per number for both options.
- The Service can currently only be used to send Faxes to Canadian and U.S. numbers. We also cannot guarantee that international will be properly received.
- Virtual Fax DID Numbers cannot receive regular voice calls nor SMS, but only faxes.
Costs and Rates
Setup Fee: $0.00 (Currently Free)
Monthly Fee: $1.99
Per Minute Fee: $0.0290 (2.9 Cents)
Billing Increment : 6 seconds
If you want to calculate how much this service could cost per page faxed, converted into per minute charges, you'll realize that this depends a lot on the destination fax speed and the content faxed (how much content is on the page compared to the blank space). Unfortunately, there are no definite ways to calculate precisely these costs . If you are sending just text, a page can take from 30s to 1 min. If you are faxing multiple pages documents, this will go faster because you don't have to handshake or negotiate with the far side's fax machine for each page. This can result in 1.5 cents to 3 cents on a 1-2 page fax. Since we also increase the charge to every 6 seconds, you are saving even more money since we do not charge you a full min for partial minute usages. You can usually get around 1-2 pages faxed per minute at 2.9 cents and $2 a month which is much less than most other Electronic Fax services currently available from other providers.
Current Limitations
- Each DID Number can only send 100 messages per day. This limit can be raised upon request and verification.
- The files sent per message cannot exceed 25 MB
- The file cannot contain more than 200 pages
- Only one document per fax message can be sent
Virtual Fax DID Number
Virtual Fax works specifically with Fax Numbers only acquired from the VoIP.ms Customer Portal or numbers ported in as Fax enabled. There are local US and Canadian numbers available for order. You can order a Fax DID Number from your portal >> DID Numbers >> Order DID >> Fax Numbers. You can select the desired region and a random number from the chosen area code will be assigned to you.
You can also port in a number you currently own with another provider. This process can be started from the Customer Portal at DID Numbers >> DID Portability >> Porting Fax Numbers
Send a Fax
To start using the service you will need to head to your Customer Portal >> DID Numbers >> Virtual Fax. From the Home Page you can select ‘Send Fax’. There you will see:
- Fax Number or Contact Name: This is where you will put the destination number. You can start typing a name or a number from your Phone book and it will become available.
- From Name: Here you will put the name to send in the Fax header.
- From Number: Select the Fax DID number from which you will send your Fax.
- File: Choose a file to send as a Fax. The file must be in pdf, txt, jpg, gif, png or tiff
-IMPORTANT: The maximum file size is 25 MB
- Station ID: This will be the station ID you set for the header of the Fax message. It could be a specified post if your location has several stations, such as Reception, Main Office, Accounting PC, etc.
- Send Email: If selected, an email will be sent to the specified address to confirm the Fax has been sent successfully or to advise of a failed attempt.
My Faxes
In this section of the Virtual Fax menu you will be able to view your Inbound and Outbound Faxes. You may select a date range and choose the folder you would like to view. Click 'Get My Faxes' to view your selection. You can view the Status of each Fax and select from several actions. You can select to View the Fax directly, download the Fax, email the Fax to an address of your choice or alter the location of the Fax by moving it to another folder.
Only the Status gets updated automatically. You will have to refresh the page to get the costs after a fax has been completed.
You also have the possibility to select multiple entries and delete them in one click by selecting them on the left row and then pressing *Delete Selected Records*
My Folders
In the 'My Folders' section, you can create folders by typing in the folder name of your choice under 'New Folder' and clicking 'Create'. You will have an overview of your folders, see the dates they were created, the number of Faxes in each folder and be able to edit the folder or delete it. Any Faxes contained in a created folder will revert back to either the INBOX or SENT folder if the created folder is deleted.
My Fax Numbers
In the 'My Fax Numbers' section, you will see your Fax DID numbers and description, the options that have been enabled for each number, the email address if one has been configured along with the URL if configured in the URL Callback section. You can edit the number from the 'Actions' section or choose to delete it. When editing you will have the option to set an email address to receive a notification when a new Fax is received (you can also select to have the PDF file attached in the email) and set a URL Callback (you can also enable URL Callback Retry).
Email Address: If selected, a notification will be sent to the inputted email address that a new fax has been received. You can enter several email address to receive a notification by separating them with a comma ( , ).
Attach PDF File: If selected, a PDF file with the contents of the fax message will be attached to the email.
URL Callback: If selected, fax messages received by your number will sent a POST request to the URL callback provided.
Callback Retry: When selected, we will be expecting an OK output from your URL callback page as an indicator that you have received the fax message correctly. If we do not receive the OK letters from your callback page, we will keep sending you the same fax message every 30 minutes for up to 7 days.
Fax to SIP: If selected, fax messages received by your number will be sent to your device (fax machine or PBX) registered on one of our fax servers. For more information, please verify this part of the article: T38 faxing
Email to Fax
This feature allows you to send a Fax message using your email account.
How to send a Fax message using your email account:
- Use the email account you provided when enabling the email to Fax service.
- Send the email to [email protected]
- In the subject field type the destination Fax number (example: 5148000000).
- Attach the document you wish to send to the email message. VoIP.ms supports the following formats: pdf, txt, jpg, gif, png, tif.
- Send the email.
Important:
- Only the file attached will be faxed, the body of the email won't be transmitted
- If you have a signature at your email, avoid using pictures (logos, photos or images) on it, as it will be set as another attachment at your email and that could cause issues at the outbound fax your email will generate.
Security Code and From Number:
If Security Code is enabled, you need to add a dot (.) and the security code after the destination Fax number (example: 5148000000.Az09).
If you have more than one Fax number, you could change the "from number" by adding a dot (.) and the "from number" you'd like to use after the destination Fax number and the security code (example: 5148000000.Az09.2268280000).
If you have not enabled the security code and want to change the from number, you can add a dot (.) and the From Number after the destination Fax number (example: 5148000000.2268280000).
Forward Inbound faxes to mail
To have your inbound faxes forwarded to a given email address, on your customer portal, refer to: DID Numbers --> Manage DID's. When here, select and edit the given Virtual Fax number and on the first screen you'll be presented with, enable the tick boxes: "Email address" and "Attach PDF file", as well as filling in the email address field with the desired address for the faxes to be attached to.
T.38 Faxing (BETA)
Due to the nature of the technology, the number of pages, as well as a copy of the fax document, will not be available in the customer portal when sending a fax over T.38. Inbound faxing over T.38 will still have this information available.
For a list of ATA devices that support T.38 Faxing, please consult here.
The following are the requirements in order to be able to send and receive faxes via T.38 directly from your own fax phone setup.
- A VirtualFAX DID number
- An analog telephone adapter (ATA) with T.38 support.
- A Fax machine connected to an ATA
- The ATA must be configured with a SIP account and registered to one of the fax dedicated servers: fax1.voip.ms, fax2.voip.ms
- The caller ID number of the SIP account must be configured to match any of the Fax DIDs available in your account. This will be the number used as the sender.
- A T.38 enabled fax machine or a T.38 enabled SIP trunk are also supported. These will not require an ATA.
To receive fax messages, edit your Fax DID number, and choose the SIP account where all the incoming faxes will be forwarded.
Additional notes:
- T.38 is only supported over SIP. IAX2 is not supported.
- TCP, UDP, TLS/SRTP are fully supported.
- T.38 Faxing is not limited to 100 outbound faxes per day nor 25mb file size limit.
- Because the system merely does a pass-through when sending a fax via T.38, is not possible to know if the fax was successful or not.
- The Fax message will be charged by the duration of the entire call, from the moment it was answered until it was hung up.
Fax using the Reseller Interface
The feature is available for your client through the Reseller interface. You must enable this feature in your package in order to give them the ability to leverage this.
Go under the navigation bar on [Reseller] then click on [Manage Rates & Packages]
Click on the Edit button to edit your package, or click on [Create a new package] to create a new one.
Go under the [Reseller System Configuration] Tab, and on the section "Type of configuration" select: [Package Configuration],
Then scroll down and find the feature "Manage Faxes", and enable it. (If you would like to allow If you wish to give the possibility to your client to buy new Fax DID via the Reseller interface, enable "Order Faxes".
Order Faxes
1) To Order a new Fax Number for your client, or to help your client adding one. Go under the [Virtual Faxes] menu, then [Order Faxes].
The new Fax DID ordered, will be available in the "Manage Fax Numbers" section.
Manage Fax Numbers
To manage your inbound Fax DID, and send the FAX to Email (PDF). Notifications when recieved. Go under [Virtual Faxes] then [Manage Fax Numbers].
Where your DID, click on the [Edit DID] button.
Send Fax
To send a Fax using the reseller interface. Go under the [Virtual Faxes] at the left navigation bar, then [Send Fax].
Enter the destination number select a Fax number
Click [Send Fax]
My Faxes
To manage the Incoming/Outgoing Faxes in order to View a fax, delete a fax, send a fax to an email, transfer a fax to a folder... Go under the [Virtual Faxes] at the left navigation bar, then [My Faxes].
Email to Fax
To use the feature Email To Fax. Go under the [Services] at the left navigation bar, then on [Virtual Faxes], then [Email to Fax].
Click on the "Add Email to Fax" tab. Check the Enable box. Enter the email address. Select the fax number that should be associated with this email.
Click [Save Email to Fax]
To send a fax via email through the reseller's "email to fax" option, the instructions and parameters are basically the same than regular email to fax with the exception of the destination email address, which for this case is [email protected] .
