This page contains information about the inbound Virtual Fax service. Virtual Fax, vFax or E-Fax terms all refer to the this product.
Knowledge Base Product Manual vFax Section (Private)
Product Description
vFax is an optional feature of the Evolved Office that enables end users to receive inbound fax messages via email along with their voicemail messages. There are 2 types of vFax options: personal vFax which is unique to one user and group vFax which is a general fax that usually sends the fax message to a group distribution list for multiple users to receive the fax message.
Features
Fax appears as a .TIF file in the user’s email inbox
Faxes can only be sent to one email address, which may be: a central receptionist, a group distribution list, or an individual
Fax messages will be treated like voicemail messages and may be retrieved via the voicemail portal
Unlimited inbound fax messages. Evolve reserves the right to shutdown a mailbox if it is getting spammed and deemed harmful to the Evolve platform.
Pricing
Business Rules
Group vFax may be associated with a receptionist or be a virtual extension. The virtual extension is included in the pricing above.
Personal vFax must be attached to an Evolved Office Seat (Standard/ Enhanced/ Premium/ UC Seats) or Virtual Extension because it uses the voicemail box for storage, retrieval, and forwarding.
Personal vFax must be associated with an individual Evolved Office user
1 Direct Inward Dial (DID) telephone number is included with both the group vFax and personal vFax. These numbers can be new numbers or ported to Evolve from an existing provider.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can the vFax be sent in a PDF?
No. The vFax can only come in the form of a TIF file.
What applications can view a TIF file?
The standard MS Windows viewer that comes with a Microsoft Windows machine can view a TIF file by default.
What if I don’t want to worry about checking the vFax on the phone. Can I set it up to only be sent to my email?
Yes. Have your administrator change the settings in OSSMosis on the extension so that you only receive voicemail to your email.
Why can’t I get any more voicemail or fax messages? It’s saying that my mailbox is full.
Fax messages and voicemails are stored for each mailbox/ user. If you’re receiving messages both via email and on your handset, you still need to dial into the voicemail platform and delete your messages. Users can save emails and the attachments for archival over a longer period of time.
Example vFax Setup
vFax # 484-588-6586
vFax numbers can be searched for like any other DID. OSSmosis 'Find Phone Number'
This will show the user seat this vFax number is built on and whether it's activated
if the vFax number is assigned to a normal user seat with a phone, the voice management (voicemail) and vFax settings are tied to each other.
Adding a vFax number to an existing user seat will impact how their voicemail's get handled. Determine if the user wants to change how their voice messages get delivered (Voice Portal only, Email Only, or Voice portal and email)
My seat's voice management is set to deliver voice messages to the user's handset AND Additionally, send a copy of the voice messages to this email address (as a .WAV file)
This means when I receive a fax message I get a notification of the fax message in the voice portal, and the actual fax document is sent to my email.
Some user's want all voicemails and fax messages to get e-mailed only.
If a user needs vFax but also wanted to get their voicemails to their handset, but not the fax messages.
The solution is to provision a stand alone Virtual Extension (EOVIRTEXT) so this seat can exist soley for the vFax number to reside, and this seat's voice mail settings can be configured to send all fax messages to email and be complete seperate from this user's 'phone' seat.
I receive an email with .wav attached and the email looks like this:
From: voicemail-do-not-reply@evolveip.net
Subject: Fax Message Attached from 6109648009 - EVOLVE IP
Attachment: 6109648009_20170329_112020.tif
Because my voice management settings are configured to send messages to the handset (voice portal) My Polycom VVX 400 will also show a message indicated by the red blinking light on the corner of my desk phone.
When I call my voice portal I hear "First new message 'Fax" received DATE and TIME and contains # PAGE.
These messages have to be deleted regularly from the voice portal. If this mailbox becomes full then the user can no longer receive any further voice message OR fax messages until the voice portal has had some messages deleted.
If this happens, let the customer know we can alter the user's voice management settings so all messages (voicemail and fax) are deliverer email ONLY OR we can move the vFax number to a new Virtual Extension for the sole purposes of the faxes getting delivered to email and not have to be associated with the user's phone extension.
Common Reported Issues or Symptoms of a Problem
1. Cannot call vFax number
Evolve IP vFax numbers can only be 'called' from offnet devices. A cell phone call or a physical fax machine will work. Users cannot call an Evolve vFax number from an Evolve phone. If they do they will hear "We're sorry your call cannot be completed at this time, please hang up and try your call later.
2. User is not receiving fax messages
Confirm there is a valid email populated in the 'Only send messages to <email> or additionally...send a copy of the message to <email>. Confirm the end user does not have a spam or junk folder or any filtering software. Try changing the email to an alternate (user's gmail or personal) or change the email to your internal email and send a test fax page.
3. Mailbox is full message
This occurs if the vFax is assigned to a user's seat that has an active phone or is receiving inbound calls that roll to voicemail. User has to delete messages from their voice portal.
4. Fax is distorted or missing pages from a multi-page fax
This is most likely an issue with the physical fax machine doing the sending. Our platform simply takes the fax document as it's received and relay's it to the email on file in the .TIFF file format. Our platform does not do any compression or conversion so a fax missing pages or getting distorted (enlarged or cut off) documents, make sure the customer contacts the sender and rules out a faulty originating fax machine from being the source of the problem.