HYBRID Fax (for ST14.2)

HYBRID services are for Premises ST14.2 customers who perform user management in Director.

HYBRID Fax (for ST14.2 GA8 build 19.43.7902.0 and greater) is an email-to-fax service that is used as a cloud-based fax solution for the MiCloud phone system. With this fax service, users receive incoming faxes in their email inbox and send outbound faxes as emails with attachments. This fax service provides convenience and eliminates the cost and maintenance associated with a dedicated fax machine.

NOTE: Some of the user interfaces where HYBRID services are registered, activated, and managed have not yet been fully updated and may omit "HYBRID" .

Table of Contents

Features
Requirements
Use
FAQ
Activate Service
Manage Settings

Features

• Send and receive faxes anywhere that you access your email
• Incoming faxes are received in your email inbox
• Outbound faxes are sent as emails with attachments:
  • Text typed in the subject and body of an email is sent as the fax cover page (unless the cover page option is not selected)
  • Each attached or embedded file is sent as a subsequent fax page
• Faxes can be saved or deleted just like the rest of you emails
• Delivery confirmation can be sent via email
• Enables reducing or eliminating the use of paper for faxing

Requirements

• ST14.2 GA8 build 19.43.7902.0 and greater
• MiCloud Fax number
• Email client: POP3, IMAP
• Each user must have a DID phone number and a valid, unique email address
• Scanner or physical fax machine to send documents that are not a supported document type.

Use

Sending a Fax
Cover Page
Attaching Documents
Using Your Email Address Book for Faxing
Fax Retry Schedules
Supported Document Types
Supported Languages

Sending a Fax

1. Compose an email message addressed to faxnumber@shoretelfax.com.
2. Format the fax number as follows:
   • country code + area/city code + number (see the table below)
   • enter digits only (do NOT use dashes)
   • the country code for the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean is "1"
3. The subject of the email is displayed as the Subject on the cover page.
4. The text in the body of the email is displayed as Comments on the cover page.
5. Attach the file(s) you want to fax.
6. Click Send.

Cover Page

The following sections explain what happens when the cover page option is selected or not selected. Note that the cover page option is labeled as "Cover" in Edit User Settings, "Include Cover" in Add Users, and "Include a cover page with your fax" in Edit Account Settings.

Cover Page Option is Selected

When the cover page option is selected for a user, a system generated cover page is included as the first page of each fax. A fax cover page consists of the date, the user's email address, the number of pages in the fax, and the following sections, which are populated from the content in the email that is used to send the fax:

• From - Populated with the user's name
• To - Populated with the fax recipient's "To" email address, which is faxnumber@shoretelfax.com
• Subject - Populated with the text typed in the "Subject" line of the email
• Comments - Populated with the text typed in the body of the email

If you type a lot of text in the email, the Comments will continue on a second cover page. Any documents that you attach, such as a Word doc, Excel file, or JPEG image, will follow the cover page with each document starting on a new page. If you do not include any text in your email, the cover page is still included, but the Comments area is not populated.

Cover Page Option is Not Selected

If the cover page option is not selected, a system generated cover page is not included with each fax. Not using the system generated cover page enables you to include a custom cover page attachment. However, to ensure that your custom cover page appears as the first page of the fax, you can include only one attachment per fax. The MiCloud Fax system uses the first page of the attachment as the fax cover page. The following provides a more detailed explanation:

• NOTE: When a fax contains multiple attachments, the order in which files are attached to the email is random. The system may use the first page of an attachment that is not intended to be the first attachment or contain the cover page. For example, if you attach three PDF files to an email, files A, B, and C, and you intend for the first page of file A to be the cover page, the system may attach file B first and use the first page of that file as the cover page. If you need to use a custom cover page and must include multiple attachments, send a separate fax for each attachment.

Attaching Documents

You can attach documents and other files to the email you are faxing, as many as you want, just as you do when attaching documents to regular emails. However, the following are a few things you should know to maximize the effectiveness of faxing attachments:

• Do not send password-protected documents. The MiCloud Fax network cannot convert a password-protected document into a fax because the network does not have access to the password that is required to "print" the documents to a fax-compatible format.
• Each attached file is displayed on its own page.
• The order in which attached files are displayed is random.
• Each image, whether embedded in the body or signature area of an email, is treated the same as a file attachment.
• It is recommended that you print documents to a PDF and attach the PDF to the fax email. Printing to a PDF ensures that graphics are embedded and eliminates issues with fonts. If you are not able to print files to a PDF before attaching them to the fax email, use the following tips:
  • Make sure any graphics or other files that are referenced in your document are embedded in the document and not just linked to another source such as your hard drive or a web site. Linked objects are omitted from faxed documents.
  • Avoid using unusual fonts. If you use a font that the email system does not contain and the font is not embedded inside your document, the system can only substitute another font.

To see a list of the types of files you can attach, see the Supported Document Types section of this article below.

Using Your Email Address Book for Faxing

HYBRID Fax enables you to use any existing email address book to store frequently used fax numbers, as explained below:

1. Create an address book entry. Give it a distinctive name that tells you the message is going out as a fax, like "Janet's Fax". That way, if "Janet" already has a traditional email address stored in your address book, the name "Janet's Fax" will let you decide easily between sending to her fax number and to her email - or to both.
2. Type the person's fax number followed by "@shoretelfax.com" as the email address (e.g. 17321234567@shoretelfax.com). When you want to fax to this person, just compose an email to their "fax" email address. For example, send your email to "Janet's Fax" to reach her fax machine.

NOTE: When sending a fax to the U.S., Canada, or Caribbean, the fax number must start with a "1" plus the recipient's area code and local number. When sending a fax to all other international destinations, the fax number must start with the recipient's country code and the city/area code and local number.

Tip: You can send someone a fax to both their fax number and email address at the same time by adding both addresses in the "To:" area of your fax email.

Fax Retry Schedules

The HYBRID Fax service will make several attempts to deliver your fax to overcome common delivery obstacles like busy signals, fax machines that ring but do not answer, etc. This is done automatically by the MiCloud Fax network at no extra cost to you. On the standard fax retry schedule, the MiCloud Fax network attempts delivery for approximately 15 minutes before ceasing attempts and emailing a non-delivery notice describing the problem that the network encountered.

Supported Document Types

NOTE: If you need to use HYBRID Fax to send a file that is not a supported document type, it is recommended that you save (or print) the file to PDF format, and then fax the PDF.

Supported Languages

The current version of the HYBRID Fax service supports email text and documents in English, plus the following languages:

Arabic
Baltic
Central European
Chinese--Simplified
Chinese--Traditional
Cyrillic
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Portuguese
Turkish
Unicode
Vietnamese
Western European

FAQ

Q: When sending or receiving faxes, why does an email signature image appear on its own page?
A: All images, whether embedded in the body or signature area of an email, are treated the same as a file attachment, which is displayed on its own page when faxing. To prevent a signature image from generating its own page, remove any images that display with your signature before sending a fax.

Q: Can I use my current fax machine?
A: Yes, you will need to use a fax machine if you do not have use of a scanner. The HYBRID Fax service eliminates the need for a fax machine when you have access to a scanner to scan and fax hard copies of documents.

Q: What type of support is available for my fax solution?
A: Full-service support is provided for the HYBRID Fax service, but support is not provided for a stand-alone POTS line or fax machine.

Q: Can I keep my existing fax number?
A: No, not at this time.

Q: Is there a limit to how many attachments I can include in a fax email?
A: Yes, the combined total size of the fax email including all attachments, images, and any other embedded files cannot exceed 20 MB.

Q: What if the document I want to fax is not saved on my computer or is not a supported document type?
A: If the document is not saved on your computer, use a printed copy of the document and a scanner to save it on your computer as a supported document type. If the document is on your computer, but is not a supported document, if possible, open and save the document as a supported document type, or print the document, scan it, and then save it as a supported document.

Q: When I send a word document as an attachment, why does the recipient only receive the cover page?
A: Check with your IT department to see if your email server is applying non-standard email headers. Email headers describe the content type, but if these headers are non-standard, the Fax servers will not be able to process the headers correctly. In the following examples, the green highlighted content-type in the Correct example will process correctly, while the yellow-highlighted content-type in the Incorrect example will not process correctly.

Correct

Content-type:application/msword;name="TEST FAX.docx"
Content-transfer-encoding: base64
Content-disposition: attachment; filename="TEST FAX.docx"

Incorrect

Content-type:application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document;name="TEST FAX.docx"
Content-transfer-encoding: base64
Content-disposition: attachment; filename="TEST FAX.docx"

Activate Service

1. Log in to Account Portal with email address (username) and user password.
2. Navigate to Phone System > Add-on Features.
3. In the Add-on Features screen that appears, click Activate next to HYBRID Fax.
4. In the Settings dialog box that opens, review and modify settings as needed You can remove the check mark from any of the options that you do not want applied to every new user added to the account.
   • For a list of settings, see the Edit Account Settings section of this article.
5. Click OK to save the settings.
6. Click OK again when asked to confirm the purchase of the license.

Manage Settings

Your organization's HYBRID Fax service is built with default settings that are applied to every new user. HYBRID Authorized Contacts (for ST14.2) (Decision Makers and Phone Managers) can manage settings for Fax by using the instructions in the following Edit Account Settings, Add Users, Edit User Settings, and Remove Users sections.

NOTE: When viewing the Fax screen that appears after clicking the Manage button on the Add-on Features screen, the tabular format enables you to customize your view of data on the screen. You can drag columns to different locations, change column width, and right-click within the column headings area to make selections to show or hide any of the columns of data that are displayed on the screen. Additionally, tabular formatted screens provide a new "Multiple values search" field. For instructions, see the Multiple Values Search article.

Edit Account Settings

NOTE: Changing account-wide settings only affects users added in the future, not existing users.

1. Log in to Account Portal with email address (username) and user password.
2. Navigate to Phone System > Add-on Features.
3. In the Add-on Features screen that appears, click Settings next to HYBRID Fax.
4. In the Hybrid Fax Settings dialog box that opens, the following check box options are available. You can remove the check mark from any of the options that you do not want applied to every new user who is added to the account. (Note that existing users will retain their current settings.)

• Include a cover page with your fax - Select this option to add a cover page to every fax that is sent
  • NOTE: See the Cover Page section of this article for details about the content that is included in the system generated cover page. Not selecting the "Include cover page with your fax" check box allows a user to include a custom cover page instead of the default cover page. However, the order of attachments in the fax email is not always the order in which the attachments are printed by the fax machine. This is important to note in cases where a user attaches a separate file that is intended as a cover page, but is not always printed first when a fax is delivered.
• Get a confirmation when a fax is sent - Select this option to enable users to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is sent
• Get a confirmation when a fax is received - Select this option to enable users to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is received
• Notify of changes - Select the "Send email notification" option to enable users to receive a notification email whenever changes are made to their settings.

5. Click OK to save the changes.

Add Users

1. Log in to Account Portal with email address (username) and user password.
2. Navigate to Phone System > Add-on Features.
3. In the Add-on Features screen that appears, click Manage next to HYBRID Fax.
4. In the Fax screen, click Add, which opens the Add Fax User wizard displaying the Select User panel.
5. In the Select User panel, use the Name and Email search fields to find and select the desired user.
6. Click Next, which displays the Settings panel.
7. Select the check box next to each of the desired options shown below:
   • Include Cover - Select this check box to create a cover page for all faxes that are sent (using the subject and body of the fax email)
   • Confirm Sent - Select this check box to enable the user to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is sent
   • Confirm Receipt - Select this check box to enable the user to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is received
8. Click Next, which displays the Select Numbers panel.
9. Select the check boxes next to each of the desired fax numbers that the selected user needs to use for this email-to-fax service. Both unassigned and assigned numbers can be selected (the same fax number can be assigned to multiple users if desired). Each fax number assigned to a user provides up to 500 fax pages (combined sent and received) per month.
10. Click Next, which displays the Summary panel.
11. Click the terms and conditions link, review the terms and conditions, return to the Add Fax Users screen, and select the I have read the terms and conditions check box.
12. Click Finish, then click OK when a pop-up message appears confirming activation of the user profile(s).

Edit User Settings

1. Log in to Account Portal with email address (username) and user password.
2. Navigate to Phone System > Add-on Features.
3. In the Add-on Features screen that appears, click Manage next to HYBRID Fax.
4. In the Fax screen that opens, which displays a list of active users, to find the desired user, you can filter your view of data displayed on the screen by doing the following:
   • Users - To find a specific user, type search criteria in the Name, Email, and Fax Number columns, filter by selecting the check box for Cover, Confirm Sent, and Confirm Receipt, and sort users by clicking any of the column headings.
     • NOTE: If you do not see the Name, Email, or Fax Number columns displayed on the screen, right-click within the column headings area and select the check boxes next to the unselected column(s).
   • Locations - To view users from a particular location, select the desired address from the "All locations" drop-down menu (located above the toolbar).
5. When you find the desired user, you can select from the following:
   • Disable options - See the Remove Users section below for instructions explaining how to use the Disable Fax Number and Disable User options.
   • Edit current fax options: Click within any of the Cover, Confirm Sent, or Confirm Receipt columns to display a check box, then click the check box to change the current setting. Note the following for these options (which are applicable to all fax numbers assigned to the selected user):
     • Cover - Select this check box to include a cover page to every fax that is sent.
       • Note: See the Cover Page section of this article for details about the content that is included in the system generated cover page. Not selecting the "Include cover page with your fax" check box allows a user to include a custom cover page instead of the default cover page. However, the order of attachments in the fax email is not always the order in which the attachments are printed by the fax machine. This is important to note in cases where a user attaches a separate file that is intended as a cover page, but is not always printed first when a fax is delivered.
     • Confirm Sent - Select this check box to enable the user to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is sent
     • Confirm Receipt - Select this check box to enable the user to receive a confirmation email for every fax that is received.
   • Add numbers / Edit email address / Select fax options - Right-click anywhere in the row of the desired user and select the Edit Fax User Settings option to do the following in the Edit Fax User Settings dialog that opens:
     • Add additional fax number(s) - Select the desired number(s) from the Available Fax Numbers panel.
       • NOTE: Both unassigned and assigned numbers can be selected (the same fax number can be assigned to multiple users if desired). Each fax number assigned to a user provides up to 500 fax pages (combined sent and received) per month.
     • Edit the email address used to send and receive faxes - Use the Fax Email Address field to update the existing email address.
     • Select the desired fax options (applicable to all fax numbers assigned to the selected user) - In the Settings panel, select the check boxes next to the desired options, which include Include Cover, Confirm Sent, and Confirm Receipt. See Edit current fax options above for details about each option.

Remove Users

1. Log in to Account Portal with email address (username) and user password.
2. Navigate to Phone System > Add-on Features.
3. On the Add-on Features screen that appears, click Manage next to HYBRID Fax.
4. On the Fax screen, which displays a list of active users, search for the desired user.
   • You can also sort users by clicking any of the column headings.
5. When you find the desired user, right-click anywhere in the row of the user and choose one of the following options:
   • Disable User - Select the Disable User option to remove the user from this service and close the service for the user's associated fax number(s).
   • Disable Fax Number - Select the Disable Fax Number option to close the service for only the selected fax number.
6. Click OK to confirm the deletion.
   NOTE: When multiple users are assigned to the same fax number, if the fax number is disabled for one user, the service remains active for the other users.

Related Topics

HYBRID Provisioning Process (for ST14.2)
HYBRID Scribe (for ST14.2)
HYBRID Services Troubleshooting (for ST14.2)
HYBRID Authorized Contacts (for ST14.2)
HYBRID Enablement Guide (for ST14.2)
HYBRID Version 1.0 Release Notes
MiCloud and Sky Support