Problem sending mail merge fax in xp

[Mark Turner]

I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good articles on
slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook, in the mail
merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To: Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but nothing else
happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook. I have
tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289532, and
294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting through to
Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.

 

[Mike]

I got a little bit further in that I get an error message when trying to do
a fax merge using HTML. The error message (which I've searched a number of
places for, and got a few pieces of info on) is "Not all attachments can be
rendered." Yes, I have a graphic (my signature) on the fax - I tried
copying & pasting it (as a bitmap), I tried inserting it (as a GIF), I even
tried converting it to a black & white graphic. No luck. I tried changing
the Word (2003) option under "General" for "Mail as attachment". Short of
removing the signature - which I would not do - nothing would get this to
work. So I did the fax merge as an attachment - which is horrendous, since
I had to wait 5 to 10 seconds between *each* fax to click "Yes". Having
wasted about two hours already, however, I figured it was worth it since at
least this works.

I have two questions. One, what am I missing in faxing with graphics? Two,
why is there a Merge to Fax option if there is - as best I can tell - not
one single program out there that enables it? I tried out Fax4Outlook - that
was a big no go. It seems odd on so many fronts that Word & Outlook don't
know about each other (e.g., the security message first asking for
permission to use Outlook, then asking for permission for EVERY SINGLE fax).
I know this is supposed to be for my "safety," but talk about throwing out
the baby with the bathwater! It's also rather strange that Microsoft Fax
(with Windows 2000 or XP) isn't recognized by Outlook or Word as a fax (at
least not recognized very well). One thing that annoys me about doing fax
merges as an email is the informationless cover sheet (no name, etc - just
the fax number).

I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for doing fax merges. I
don't do it very often, but sure would like some help in getting this to
work the way it is designed.

Mike Lax

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good articles on
slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook, in the mail
merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To: Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but nothing else
happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook. I have
tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289532, and
294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting through to
Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner

 

[Mike]

Just a quick note - I'm running WinXP Pro SP1 and Office 2003 Pro.

Mike

I got a little bit further in that I get an error message when trying to do
a fax merge using HTML. The error message (which I've searched a number of
places for, and got a few pieces of info on) is "Not all attachments can be
rendered." Yes, I have a graphic (my signature) on the fax - I tried
copying & pasting it (as a bitmap), I tried inserting it (as a GIF), I even
tried converting it to a black & white graphic. No luck. I tried changing
the Word (2003) option under "General" for "Mail as attachment". Short of
removing the signature - which I would not do - nothing would get this to
work. So I did the fax merge as an attachment - which is horrendous, since
I had to wait 5 to 10 seconds between *each* fax to click "Yes". Having
wasted about two hours already, however, I figured it was worth it since at
least this works.

I have two questions. One, what am I missing in faxing with graphics? Two,
why is there a Merge to Fax option if there is - as best I can tell - not
one single program out there that enables it? I tried out Fax4Outlook - that
was a big no go. It seems odd on so many fronts that Word & Outlook don't
know about each other (e.g., the security message first asking for
permission to use Outlook, then asking for permission for EVERY SINGLE fax).
I know this is supposed to be for my "safety," but talk about throwing out
the baby with the bathwater! It's also rather strange that Microsoft Fax
(with Windows 2000 or XP) isn't recognized by Outlook or Word as a fax (at
least not recognized very well). One thing that annoys me about doing fax
merges as an email is the informationless cover sheet (no name, etc - just
the fax number).

I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for doing fax merges. I
don't do it very often, but sure would like some help in getting this to
work the way it is designed.

Mike Lax

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good articles on
slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook, in

the
mail

merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To: Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but nothing else
happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook. I have
tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289532, and
294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting through to
Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Welcome to the frustration of fax merges. Fax merges rank as one of the most
neglected "features" Microsoft has ever tried to offer. There are no
solutions for any of the issues you raise. All the menu features for "Merge
to Fax" are invalid and refer to older fax modules that no longer exist. The
workarounds required to get fax merges to work are so obtuse that in essence
the feature does not even exist. You cannot have any graphics in a fax merge
because the Fax Service cannot render them.
Microsoft needs to decide whether to abandon fax merge completely to third
party developers or bring it up to speed. I have no idea whether there is a
light at the end of the tunnel or not. If there is, get out of the way; it
is probably just an oncoming train. Don't worry. It won't be a fast one.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I got a little bit further in that I get an error message when trying to do
a fax merge using HTML. The error message (which I've searched a number of
places for, and got a few pieces of info on) is "Not all attachments can be
rendered." Yes, I have a graphic (my signature) on the fax - I tried
copying & pasting it (as a bitmap), I tried inserting it (as a GIF), I even
tried converting it to a black & white graphic. No luck. I tried changing
the Word (2003) option under "General" for "Mail as attachment". Short of
removing the signature - which I would not do - nothing would get this to
work. So I did the fax merge as an attachment - which is horrendous, since
I had to wait 5 to 10 seconds between *each* fax to click "Yes". Having
wasted about two hours already, however, I figured it was worth it since at
least this works.

I have two questions. One, what am I missing in faxing with graphics? Two,
why is there a Merge to Fax option if there is - as best I can tell - not
one single program out there that enables it? I tried out Fax4Outlook - that
was a big no go. It seems odd on so many fronts that Word & Outlook don't
know about each other (e.g., the security message first asking for
permission to use Outlook, then asking for permission for EVERY SINGLE fax).
I know this is supposed to be for my "safety," but talk about throwing out
the baby with the bathwater! It's also rather strange that Microsoft Fax
(with Windows 2000 or XP) isn't recognized by Outlook or Word as a fax (at
least not recognized very well). One thing that annoys me about doing fax
merges as an email is the informationless cover sheet (no name, etc - just
the fax number).

I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for doing fax merges. I
don't do it very often, but sure would like some help in getting this to
work the way it is designed.

Mike Lax

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good articles on
slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook, in

the
mail

merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To: Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but nothing else
happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook. I have
tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289532, and
294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting through to
Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner

 

[Mike]

*almost faints* - an honest response !

Thanks Russ. I do have one more question - is there some easy way to
*remove* the second (and 3rd, and 4th, and...) security message you get when
you do a fax merge? I wouldn't mind doing the fax as an attachment - it
works after all - if I could get around that message. I'm not going to get
Exchange (I know someone was thinking of that) since I'm not running a
server. I'm not really fond of the 'click yes' apps either, since they
don't really speed things up that much. Is there a COM add in, for example?

FYI - for those interested - send an email to (e-mail address removed) *and* go
to http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp to ask for fax merge
to come back!

Mike

Welcome to the frustration of fax merges. Fax merges rank as one of the most
neglected "features" Microsoft has ever tried to offer. There are no
solutions for any of the issues you raise. All the menu features for "Merge
to Fax" are invalid and refer to older fax modules that no longer exist. The
workarounds required to get fax merges to work are so obtuse that in essence
the feature does not even exist. You cannot have any graphics in a fax merge
because the Fax Service cannot render them.
Microsoft needs to decide whether to abandon fax merge completely to third
party developers or bring it up to speed. I have no idea whether there is a
light at the end of the tunnel or not. If there is, get out of the way; it
is probably just an oncoming train. Don't worry. It won't be a fast one.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I got a little bit further in that I get an error message when trying to do
a fax merge using HTML. The error message (which I've searched a number of
places for, and got a few pieces of info on) is "Not all attachments can be
rendered." Yes, I have a graphic (my signature) on the fax - I tried
copying & pasting it (as a bitmap), I tried inserting it (as a GIF), I even
tried converting it to a black & white graphic. No luck. I tried changing
the Word (2003) option under "General" for "Mail as attachment". Short of
removing the signature - which I would not do - nothing would get this to
work. So I did the fax merge as an attachment - which is horrendous, since
I had to wait 5 to 10 seconds between *each* fax to click "Yes". Having
wasted about two hours already, however, I figured it was worth it since at
least this works.

I have two questions. One, what am I missing in faxing with graphics? Two,
why is there a Merge to Fax option if there is - as best I can tell - not
one single program out there that enables it? I tried out Fax4Outlook - that
was a big no go. It seems odd on so many fronts that Word & Outlook don't
know about each other (e.g., the security message first asking for
permission to use Outlook, then asking for permission for EVERY SINGLE fax).
I know this is supposed to be for my "safety," but talk about throwing out
the baby with the bathwater! It's also rather strange that Microsoft Fax
(with Windows 2000 or XP) isn't recognized by Outlook or Word as a fax (at
least not recognized very well). One thing that annoys me about doing fax
merges as an email is the informationless cover sheet (no name, etc - just
the fax number).

I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for doing fax

merges.

I
don't do it very often, but sure would like some help in getting this to
work the way it is designed.

Mike Lax

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have
read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good articles on
slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook, in the
mail
merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To: Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but nothing else
happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook. I have
tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article

289532,
and

294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting

through
to

Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The only other workarounds are the programmatic ones discussed here:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup.htm#autosec

Good idea posting the suggestion sites. I really have no idea how important
fax merges are to other users. I only know it doesn't work. Microsoft
really does look at the input from those sites. I know they're tired of
hearing it from me. Other feedback will carry far more weight than mine.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

*almost faints* - an honest response !

Thanks Russ. I do have one more question - is there some easy way to
*remove* the second (and 3rd, and 4th, and...) security message you get when
you do a fax merge? I wouldn't mind doing the fax as an attachment - it
works after all - if I could get around that message. I'm not going to get
Exchange (I know someone was thinking of that) since I'm not running a
server. I'm not really fond of the 'click yes' apps either, since they
don't really speed things up that much. Is there a COM add in, for example?

FYI - for those interested - send an email to (e-mail address removed) *and* go
to http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp to ask for fax merge
to come back!

Mike

Welcome to the frustration of fax merges. Fax merges rank as one of the most
neglected "features" Microsoft has ever tried to offer. There are no
solutions for any of the issues you raise. All the menu features for "Merge
to Fax" are invalid and refer to older fax modules that no longer exist. The
workarounds required to get fax merges to work are so obtuse that in essence
the feature does not even exist. You cannot have any graphics in a fax merge
because the Fax Service cannot render them.
Microsoft needs to decide whether to abandon fax merge completely to third
party developers or bring it up to speed. I have no idea whether there

is

a
light at the end of the tunnel or not. If there is, get out of the way; it
is probably just an oncoming train. Don't worry. It won't be a fast one.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I got a little bit further in that I get an error message when trying

to
do

a fax merge using HTML. The error message (which I've searched a

number
of

places for, and got a few pieces of info on) is "Not all attachments

can
be

rendered." Yes, I have a graphic (my signature) on the fax - I tried
copying & pasting it (as a bitmap), I tried inserting it (as a GIF), I even
tried converting it to a black & white graphic. No luck. I tried changing
the Word (2003) option under "General" for "Mail as attachment".

Short

of

removing the signature - which I would not do - nothing would get this to
work. So I did the fax merge as an attachment - which is horrendous, since
I had to wait 5 to 10 seconds between *each* fax to click "Yes". Having
wasted about two hours already, however, I figured it was worth it

since
at

least this works.

I have two questions. One, what am I missing in faxing with graphics? Two,
why is there a Merge to Fax option if there is - as best I can tell - not
one single program out there that enables it? I tried out

Fax4Outlook -
that

was a big no go. It seems odd on so many fronts that Word & Outlook don't
know about each other (e.g., the security message first asking for
permission to use Outlook, then asking for permission for EVERY SINGLE fax).
I know this is supposed to be for my "safety," but talk about throwing out
the baby with the bathwater! It's also rather strange that Microsoft Fax
(with Windows 2000 or XP) isn't recognized by Outlook or Word as a fax (at
least not recognized very well). One thing that annoys me about doing fax
merges as an email is the informationless cover sheet (no name, etc - just
the fax number).

I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for doing fax

merges.

I
don't do it very often, but sure would like some help in getting this to
work the way it is designed.

Mike Lax

Well one thing that comes to mind is that fax merges don't use canonical
format. You must use the format specified in 289532.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I've looked everywhere and it appears that you are the expert. I have
read
all of the newsgroups I can find, as well as some very good

articles
on

slipstick.com, so I believe I am following the instructions correctly.
However, after a mail merge in Word using contacts from Outlook,

in
the

mail
merge wizard, I click electronic mail, change the user field To:
Business
Fax, set it on HTML, and click OK, I get the hourglass, but

nothing
else

happens.

I'm using windows XP, Office XP. I have no trouble sending a fax via
selecting the fax mail transport in a single message in outlook.

I
have

tried several different number combinations to make sure I am in conical
format. I've checked out the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 289532,
and
294695, and your articles on slipstick.com I moved the fax mail
transport
to the top of the accounts list.


Somehow the fax merge is getting stuck in word and not getting through
to
Outlook. No dial tone or anything.


Please let me know if you can think of what I'm missing here, and if
there
is a solution.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mark Turner