E
e6bwhiz
I encountered a problem and solution that may be of some
help to people. I read lots of posts, and several help
links. I talked to Microsoft tier 1 support for almost
two hours. Tier 2 support called the next day and we
eventually found a solution. I have Windows XP Home with
SP2.
I wanted Fax to recognize when I was dialing a local
number or long distance number. When it was a long
distance number I wanted it to automatically use my
calling card, without me manually entering all the commas
and pin number every time.
Let me tell you how to do this. Under Control Panel,
Phone & Modem Options you get a window with three tabs.
The first is Dialing Rules. Click "New" to create a new
location that you are dialing from. You may go back and
highlight it and click edit later for changes.
Under the General tab I named my location, selected my
country/region and entered my local area code. I didn't
need to use any rules under the General tab. At the
bottom choose tone or pulse.
Click the Area Code Rules tab. I clicked "New" and
created a new rule. My location does not require me to
use the area code without the "1" to dial locally. I
entered my local area code. I don't wish to limit any
prefixes (some prefixes dial like a local number, but get
charged more by the phone company). At the bottom I left
both boxes un-checked. You would obviously set this up
appropriately for your area, since area codes and prefixes
may act differently in yours. Click OK to save and go
back to the Edit Location window.
Click Calling Card tab. Several calling cards are already
listed for you to use. I use a Sam's Club card and had to
create my own. Click "New" to create a new card with your
own rules. Name your card. Now this is where MS support
came it. We determined that I must keep the "Account
number" field blank. He couldn't explain it, but for
Windows to used my rules correctly I had to put my calling
card number in the "Personal Identification Number (PIN)"
field only. Now I don't want my card used for
international or local calls, so I just utilized the "Long
Distance" tab. Click it. Enter the access number at the
top (the 800 number for the card). I entered all ten
numbers together (no spaces, dashes or parenthesis).
Enter your calling card dialing steps. Use the six
buttons at the bottom to enter steps. You may specify a
lengh of time to wait under the "Wait for Prompt..."
button. My steps look like this:
Dial the access number.
Wait for 6 seconds.
Dial the PIN number.
Wait for a voice message to end.
Dial the area code and number.
Wait for 6 seconds.
Click OK to save. You are now back at the Edit location
window. With your new calling card checked (dot within
circle) you should see your calling card PIN under the PIN
field and the Account number field should be blank.
The reason I called support is because Fax never even
tried to used my calling card rules. It would dial a
local number correctly, but for long distance it would
dial the "1", area code number of the destination fax. It
never dialed the calling card 800 number. I had tried
using the International rules tab instead of Long
Distance. I tried using number is "canonical" form, where
I could enter the number all in one field, but that didn't
work. I even entered my pin number in both the "Account
Number" field and the "PIN" field, while only selecting
the PIN under the dialing rules (so it should completely
ignore the account number). It didn't make sense to me
nor MS Support, but this only works correctly if
the "Account number" field is left blank.
Anyway, now I can enter a local number and it will not
dial the area code. I can enter a long distance number
and it will use the calling card.
One more thing. I use the Send Fax Wizard. It
automatically comes up when I send a fax. I make
sure "Use dialing rules" is checked and my location I
created is selected. From this wizard you can click
the "Dialing rules..." button to edit the profile I just
walked you through. No need to go back through Control
Panel.
Hope this helps. If you know anything about my "Account
number" issue, please let me know.
help to people. I read lots of posts, and several help
links. I talked to Microsoft tier 1 support for almost
two hours. Tier 2 support called the next day and we
eventually found a solution. I have Windows XP Home with
SP2.
I wanted Fax to recognize when I was dialing a local
number or long distance number. When it was a long
distance number I wanted it to automatically use my
calling card, without me manually entering all the commas
and pin number every time.
Let me tell you how to do this. Under Control Panel,
Phone & Modem Options you get a window with three tabs.
The first is Dialing Rules. Click "New" to create a new
location that you are dialing from. You may go back and
highlight it and click edit later for changes.
Under the General tab I named my location, selected my
country/region and entered my local area code. I didn't
need to use any rules under the General tab. At the
bottom choose tone or pulse.
Click the Area Code Rules tab. I clicked "New" and
created a new rule. My location does not require me to
use the area code without the "1" to dial locally. I
entered my local area code. I don't wish to limit any
prefixes (some prefixes dial like a local number, but get
charged more by the phone company). At the bottom I left
both boxes un-checked. You would obviously set this up
appropriately for your area, since area codes and prefixes
may act differently in yours. Click OK to save and go
back to the Edit Location window.
Click Calling Card tab. Several calling cards are already
listed for you to use. I use a Sam's Club card and had to
create my own. Click "New" to create a new card with your
own rules. Name your card. Now this is where MS support
came it. We determined that I must keep the "Account
number" field blank. He couldn't explain it, but for
Windows to used my rules correctly I had to put my calling
card number in the "Personal Identification Number (PIN)"
field only. Now I don't want my card used for
international or local calls, so I just utilized the "Long
Distance" tab. Click it. Enter the access number at the
top (the 800 number for the card). I entered all ten
numbers together (no spaces, dashes or parenthesis).
Enter your calling card dialing steps. Use the six
buttons at the bottom to enter steps. You may specify a
lengh of time to wait under the "Wait for Prompt..."
button. My steps look like this:
Dial the access number.
Wait for 6 seconds.
Dial the PIN number.
Wait for a voice message to end.
Dial the area code and number.
Wait for 6 seconds.
Click OK to save. You are now back at the Edit location
window. With your new calling card checked (dot within
circle) you should see your calling card PIN under the PIN
field and the Account number field should be blank.
The reason I called support is because Fax never even
tried to used my calling card rules. It would dial a
local number correctly, but for long distance it would
dial the "1", area code number of the destination fax. It
never dialed the calling card 800 number. I had tried
using the International rules tab instead of Long
Distance. I tried using number is "canonical" form, where
I could enter the number all in one field, but that didn't
work. I even entered my pin number in both the "Account
Number" field and the "PIN" field, while only selecting
the PIN under the dialing rules (so it should completely
ignore the account number). It didn't make sense to me
nor MS Support, but this only works correctly if
the "Account number" field is left blank.
Anyway, now I can enter a local number and it will not
dial the area code. I can enter a long distance number
and it will use the calling card.
One more thing. I use the Send Fax Wizard. It
automatically comes up when I send a fax. I make
sure "Use dialing rules" is checked and my location I
created is selected. From this wizard you can click
the "Dialing rules..." button to edit the profile I just
walked you through. No need to go back through Control
Panel.
Hope this helps. If you know anything about my "Account
number" issue, please let me know.