Fax Address Book

[Guest]

I recently got a new computer running XP Pro with SP2. I'm trying to get
acquainted with the built-in Windows fax application. How do I add, delete,
and edit entries, and create groups in the fax address book?

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

I recently got a new computer running XP Pro with SP2. I'm trying
to get
acquainted with the built-in Windows fax application. How do I
add, delete,
and edit entries, and create groups in the fax address book?

The fax application has no address book. You have to use Outlook as
your address book with the fax application. Click on the Help menu
item in the Fax Console and search for "address" to see how to use
Outlook with your fax application.

 

[Guest]

I have fax console version 5.1. My version appears to have its own Address
Book. In the first screen of the Fax Wizard, titled "Recipient Information",
there is an Address Book button. When I click this, I am able to create new
recipients in the book and fax to them, but I can't see how to delete an
Address Book entry, or to create a group.

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

I have fax console version 5.1. My version appears to have its own
Address
Book. In the first screen of the Fax Wizard, titled "Recipient
Information",
there is an Address Book button. When I click this, I am able to
create new
recipients in the book and fax to them, but I can't see how to
delete an
Address Book entry, or to create a group.

I guess since I have the Fax Transport under Outlook 2003, there is
different Recipient Information in the Fax Console. I never looked
before I created the Fax Transport account, so I do not know what it
had before. When I go through the Send Fax Wizard, clicking on the
Address Book calls up the Outlook Contacts list. I would suspect
that the Fax Wizard uses the default Windows Address Book which
might be the same one used for Outlook Express. You can type "Wab"
in the Run window or click on Address Book in Accessories on the
Start Menu to load and maintain that one.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Earl!
We're making progress. The key was to locate the Address Book in
Accessories. I didn't realize that it was available there, and I found no
reference to this fact in the Help documentation.
Let me throw another question at you.
I work in a central office, and regularly fax to 11 locations. I entered
all 11 locations in the Address Book, and then I also created a group, "All
Stores", consisting of the 11 locations as members.
I was able to successfully send a test fax to each location, individually.
However, when I tried to fax to "All Stores", this error message was
displayed: "Some recipients were discarded because their addresses cannot be
resolved as fax numbers." In effect, it discarded all 11 members of the
group.
Any thoughts on this one?
By the way, all fax numbers are entered in the canonical form (full standard
form: +1 (nnn) nnn-nnnn). I already overcame that obstacle.

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

Thanks, Earl!
We're making progress. The key was to locate the Address Book in
Accessories. I didn't realize that it was available there, and I
found no
reference to this fact in the Help documentation.
Let me throw another question at you.
I work in a central office, and regularly fax to 11 locations. I
entered
all 11 locations in the Address Book, and then I also created a
group, "All
Stores", consisting of the 11 locations as members.
I was able to successfully send a test fax to each location,
individually.
However, when I tried to fax to "All Stores", this error message
was
displayed: "Some recipients were discarded because their addresses
cannot be
resolved as fax numbers." In effect, it discarded all 11 members
of the
group.
Any thoughts on this one?
By the way, all fax numbers are entered in the canonical form
(full standard
form: +1 (nnn) nnn-nnnn). I already overcame that obstacle.

Outlook Express does not support faxing and that may be preventing
you from sending faxes to multiple recipients. The cheapest
solution would be to buy a Windows XP compatible modem and use just
the bundled fax software. You should be able to find a PCI modem
for under $20.00.

 

[Guest]

I'm using Outlook 2000, but that's not the issue.
I'm faxing documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000 by clicking File,
Print, and then selecting Fax as the printer. This opens the Fax Wizard.

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

I'm using Outlook 2000, but that's not the issue.
I'm faxing documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000 by
clicking File,
Print, and then selecting Fax as the printer. This opens the Fax
Wizard.

Did you do this?

To enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes
Open Outlook 2000.
On the Tools menu, click Services.
On the Services tab, if Fax Mail Transport does not appear in the
list of information services, click Add. Select Fax Mail Transport,
and then click OK.
On the Delivery tab, use the arrows provided to move Fax Mail
Transport to the top of the information services list.
Notes
For the change to take effect, click OK to close Services, click the
File menu, and then click Exit and Log off. When you reopen Outlook
2000, you can send a fax.
Outlook Express is not compliant with a MAPI client interface, and
you cannot send faxes from Outlook Express.

Then you can do this:

To send a fax from Outlook 2000
Start a new e-mail message in Outlook 2000.
In the To box, type the name of a fax contact, or select a fax
contact from your e-mail contact list or address book.
If required, in the Subject box, type a subject.
Type the message, attach a document, if required, and then click
Send.
Notes
To enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes, Fax Mail Transport must be at
the top of the list of Outlook's information services. For
instructions, see Enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes.
Any recipient fax number entered must be in one of these formats:
[fax:recipientname@address]. For example:
"[fax:recipientname@555-1111]".
[fax:recipientname@+country/region_code space (area_code) space
fax_number]. For example:"[fax:recipientname@+1 (818) 5551111]".
[fax:address]. For example: "[fax:555-1111]".
[fax:+country/region_code space (area_code) space fax_number]. For
example "[fax:+1 (818) 5551111]".
Codes and phone numbers differ in length in various regions. Country
or region codes include up to three digits. Local area codes include
up to four digits. If a local area code is preceded by a zero,
delete the zero if dialing the fax number from another country or
region.
If an Outlook 2000 contact has more than one fax number a dialog box
will appear, and you can specify the fax number required.
If you type in a fax number rather than selecting a recipient from
the address book, Outlook 2000 will resolve it as a fax number
providing it is in the correct format. You can also select the
number you have typed and press CTRL-K to resolve the number as a
fax number in Outlook. For more information about fax number
formats, see About sending faxes with e-mail.
To successfully send a fax from Outlook 2000, you should only be
logged on to Outlook 2000 on one computer, and only one instance
should be running. Otherwise, fax results can be unpredictable.
Close all other instances of Outlook 2000 before sending a fax.
Fax will try to send an outgoing fax several times from Outlook
2000, before assigning the outgoing fax an error status.
Faxes that are sent from Outlook 2000 appear in the Outbox of Fax
Console.

 

[Guest]

That's all good information to know. However, as I stated, I am faxing
documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000. I am not using Outlook 2000
to fax.
So my question still remains. Why does the Fax Wizard reject all of the
members of the recipient group that I created, but if I fax to each of the
group members individually, it works fine?
--
Jack

I'm using Outlook 2000, but that's not the issue.
I'm faxing documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000 by
clicking File,
Print, and then selecting Fax as the printer. This opens the Fax
Wizard.

Did you do this?

To enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes
Open Outlook 2000.
On the Tools menu, click Services.
On the Services tab, if Fax Mail Transport does not appear in the
list of information services, click Add. Select Fax Mail Transport,
and then click OK.
On the Delivery tab, use the arrows provided to move Fax Mail
Transport to the top of the information services list.
Notes
For the change to take effect, click OK to close Services, click the
File menu, and then click Exit and Log off. When you reopen Outlook
2000, you can send a fax.
Outlook Express is not compliant with a MAPI client interface, and
you cannot send faxes from Outlook Express.

Then you can do this:

To send a fax from Outlook 2000
Start a new e-mail message in Outlook 2000.
In the To box, type the name of a fax contact, or select a fax
contact from your e-mail contact list or address book.
If required, in the Subject box, type a subject.
Type the message, attach a document, if required, and then click
Send.
Notes
To enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes, Fax Mail Transport must be at
the top of the list of Outlook's information services. For
instructions, see Enable Outlook 2000 to send faxes.
Any recipient fax number entered must be in one of these formats:
[fax:recipientname@address]. For example:
"[fax:recipientname@555-1111]".
[fax:recipientname@+country/region_code space (area_code) space
fax_number]. For example:"[fax:recipientname@+1 (818) 5551111]".
[fax:address]. For example: "[fax:555-1111]".
[fax:+country/region_code space (area_code) space fax_number]. For
example "[fax:+1 (818) 5551111]".
Codes and phone numbers differ in length in various regions. Country
or region codes include up to three digits. Local area codes include
up to four digits. If a local area code is preceded by a zero,
delete the zero if dialing the fax number from another country or
region.
If an Outlook 2000 contact has more than one fax number a dialog box
will appear, and you can specify the fax number required.
If you type in a fax number rather than selecting a recipient from
the address book, Outlook 2000 will resolve it as a fax number
providing it is in the correct format. You can also select the
number you have typed and press CTRL-K to resolve the number as a
fax number in Outlook. For more information about fax number
formats, see About sending faxes with e-mail.
To successfully send a fax from Outlook 2000, you should only be
logged on to Outlook 2000 on one computer, and only one instance
should be running. Otherwise, fax results can be unpredictable.
Close all other instances of Outlook 2000 before sending a fax.
Fax will try to send an outgoing fax several times from Outlook
2000, before assigning the outgoing fax an error status.
Faxes that are sent from Outlook 2000 appear in the Outbox of Fax
Console.

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

That's all good information to know. However, as I stated, I am
faxing
documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000. I am not using
Outlook 2000
to fax.
So my question still remains. Why does the Fax Wizard reject all
of the
members of the recipient group that I created, but if I fax to
each of the
group members individually, it works fine?

As I stated, the Fax Wizard does not manage its own address book.
It depends upon external programs to do so. You would be using
either the Windows Address Book or the Outlook Contacts. You would
have to adopt one of those address books into the program you are
using to create the document you are faxing. Word can use either
the Windows Address Book or Outlook Contacts. You would use Mail
Merge to plug in multiple addressees into a single document. Read
the Microsoft Help files for assistance.

The Fax Wizard is a barebones application. All of the standalone
fax program publishers would raise a big stink if Microsoft
distributed a full featured fax program with its operating system.
Remember the Internet Explorer case.

 

[Guest]

Thanks again for all of the helpful information. I think the key was your
statement, "The Fax Wizard is a barebones application." I'm probably
expecting too much from it. For example, I searched the Fax Console Help
documentation for a method to help block junk faxes. There's no mention of
this at all, that I can find.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Indeed you are.
For clarification: Windows XP Fax uses the WAB by default until/unless
Outlook is installed, at which point it switches to using the Outlook
Address Book Service. Both address book services are capable of supporting
faxing to multiple recipients. Alas, Windows XP Fax is not. It craps out
after 2 or 3 for no apparent reason. Its predecessors could send to multiple
recipients without any trouble. Windows Fax Services appear to be on their
way to extinction.

 

[Ewert B]

Indeed you are.
For clarification: Windows XP Fax uses the WAB by default until/unless
Outlook is installed, at which point it switches to using the Outlook
Address Book Service. Both address book services are capable of supporting
faxing to multiple recipients. Alas, Windows XP Fax is not. It craps out
after 2 or 3 for no apparent reason. Its predecessors could send to multiple
recipients without any trouble. Windows Fax Services appear to be on their
way to extinction.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks again for all of the helpful information. I think the key was your
statement, "The Fax Wizard is a barebones application." I'm probably
expecting too much from it. For example, I searched the Fax Console Help
documentation for a method to help block junk faxes. There's no mention
of
this at all, that I can find.

Well i have a very unique problem and nobody seems to be able to help me. So
if all else fails, request help from the main source, which in this case is
microsoft. I have impotred all my fax clients, with their details into
outlook express's address book as wel as to microsoft outlook, yet when i
print to fax a click on the address book button, it displays nothing. Why
does that happen. Strangely enough, i tried the same thing on a very similar
computer running exactly the same os and software as mine and it works great.
I'm running windows xp home sp3, office 2003 sp2 (i think) and have no other
problems eg. like virus infections or any unknown software.

If possible, please help.
Thank You

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

This is not Microsoft.
You posted no information that would permit us to tell what you've done
wrong. State which fax software you are using.
To do what you want in XP Fax, make sure you have configured the Outlook
Address Book Service correctly (highly unlikely when you import Contacts)
and that Outlook is your default mail client and Contacts Manager.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Indeed you are.
For clarification: Windows XP Fax uses the WAB by default until/unless
Outlook is installed, at which point it switches to using the Outlook
Address Book Service. Both address book services are capable of
supporting
faxing to multiple recipients. Alas, Windows XP Fax is not. It craps out
after 2 or 3 for no apparent reason. Its predecessors could send to
multiple
recipients without any trouble. Windows Fax Services appear to be on
their
way to extinction.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks again for all of the helpful information. I think the key was
your
statement, "The Fax Wizard is a barebones application." I'm probably
expecting too much from it. For example, I searched the Fax Console
Help
documentation for a method to help block junk faxes. There's no
mention
of
this at all, that I can find.
--
Jack


:


That's all good information to know. However, as I stated, I am
faxing
documents directly from Word 2000 or Excel 2000. I am not using
Outlook 2000
to fax.
So my question still remains. Why does the Fax Wizard reject all
of the
members of the recipient group that I created, but if I fax to
each of the
group members individually, it works fine?
--
Jack

As I stated, the Fax Wizard does not manage its own address book.
It depends upon external programs to do so. You would be using
either the Windows Address Book or the Outlook Contacts. You would
have to adopt one of those address books into the program you are
using to create the document you are faxing. Word can use either
the Windows Address Book or Outlook Contacts. You would use Mail
Merge to plug in multiple addressees into a single document. Read
the Microsoft Help files for assistance.

The Fax Wizard is a barebones application. All of the standalone
fax program publishers would raise a big stink if Microsoft
distributed a full featured fax program with its operating system.
Remember the Internet Explorer case.

Well i have a very unique problem and nobody seems to be able to help me.
So
if all else fails, request help from the main source, which in this case
is
microsoft. I have impotred all my fax clients, with their details into
outlook express's address book as wel as to microsoft outlook, yet when i
print to fax a click on the address book button, it displays nothing. Why
does that happen. Strangely enough, i tried the same thing on a very
similar
computer running exactly the same os and software as mine and it works
great.
I'm running windows xp home sp3, office 2003 sp2 (i think) and have no
other
problems eg. like virus infections or any unknown software.

If possible, please help.
Thank You