Whitepapers2.1

From IpFaxWiki

Contents 1 ipfax Center 2.1 Whitepapers 1.1 Overview 1.1.1 Easy 1.1.2 Convenient 1.1.3 Efficient 1.2 How ipFax Center Works 1.3 The Components of ipFax Center 1.3.1 ipFax Printer 1.3.2 ipFax Notifier 1.3.3 ipFax Server 1.3.4 ipFax Center Manager 1.4 System Requirements 1.4.1 Client Component 1.4.2 Server Component 1.5 Key Features and Benefits 1.5.1 Feature Benefits 1.6 About Silex Cubed Incorporated

[edit] ipfax Center 2.1 Whitepapers

[edit] Overview

In today’s fast-paced global economy, time is money, and companies need to do more to stay competitive. By reducing the time an employee spends doing small tasks such as faxing, they are able to stay ahead of the competition by concentrating on more important daily functions. Leveraging the power of current technology, Silex Cubed ipFax Center works together with Microsoft® Windows® to provide a fast, effective fax protocol that allows employees to fax several documents from any application with the click of a button. Companies that choose Silex Cubed solutions for network faxing can deliver documents faster, thereby improving their competitive advantage by allowing employees to fax more documents with less wait time.

Silex Cubed ipFax Center provides each member of your staff the ability to fax directly from their Microsoft® Windows® PC without having to leave their desk. The software is designed as a complete package ready for your local network. This eliminates the need for extra phone lines or fax machines, which are prone to paper jams and mechanical failure.

[edit] Easy

One button installation for the client software and the server software

allows for a flawless integration into your existing Microsoft® Windows®

domain or network. To fax from your desk, print a document to the Silex

Cubed ipFax Printer, and then provide the recipient's name and fax

number.

[edit] Convenient

You can send and receive faxes without having to get up from your desk.

No more waiting in line to use the fax machine; Silex Cubed ipFax Center

can queue up multiple jobs without a problem. You can view fax usage at

any time by using built- in reports, which also keeps track of all information

for every fax sent.

[edit] Efficient

Your company can begin saving immediately by reducing the amount of

paper, toner, and any other hidden costs of owning a fax machine. No

more costly maintenance bills for paper jams and other problems that can

occur. Best of all, you can get rid of multiple fax lines due to ipFax

Center’s state-of-the-art queuing system.

Using the Silex Cubed ipFax Center, you company can increase employee productivity, and reduce operating costs at the same time. No need to keep extra toner, paper, or parts for a fax machine that is prone to paper jams and other mechanical failures. For more information, visit www.silex3.com

[edit] How ipFax Center Works

Silex Cubed ipFax Center is a client-server based system designed to allow multiple clients faxing capabilities with only one phone line. It allows each client to fax documents from any legacy application to any standard fax machine, or another instance of ipFax Center.

Silex Cubed ipFax Center also allows a company to receive faxes and choose what to do with them. The user can choose to save, print, or delete all faxes that are received by the ipFax Center server. Once the options are set, the server does everything automatically until you change the options using the ipFax Center Manager.
a) Save

The ipFax Center server will save all received faxes as a time-stamped

tagged image file format (TIF) fax image. These fax images are highly

flexible and platform-independent which are supported by almost all

operating systems. No special image applications are needed to view the

fax documents. These fax files can be saved to a folder that is defined

using the ipFax Center Manager. You can also choose to save any of your

faxes in PDF format! Simply right click on the fax, choose save as

PDF and your fax will be converted to a PDF and saved for your use.

b) Print

The ipFax Center server can print any fax received to the system’s default

printer. In order to perform this action, right click on the fax you wish

to print and select 'Open' and the Print from your default viewing application.

c) Delete

The ipFax Center server can delete any received or sent faxes.

In order to perform this action, right click on the fax you wish

to delete and select 'Remove From Server'.

d) Pending Jobs

Faxes can be saved as a pending job that allows you to send and resend the

same fax to an unlimited number of people. You can import your own fax numbers

for convenience and with the click of a button, easily start sending the same

fax to everyone on your fax list.

[edit] The Components of ipFax Center

The Silex Cubed ipFax Center comes with two (2) major components, the client and the server. ipFax Center automates the fax process by executing agents that perform individual tasks, as shown below.

[edit] ipFax Printer

The Silex Cubed ipFax Center includes an ipFax Printer, a powerful Microsoft® Windows® print driver that prepares the document for faxing by converting it to the Silex Universal Document (SUD) format. ipFax Printer then opens a new window that gathers information about the fax such as the recipient’s fax number and name, your name, the subject of the fax, and any comments you would like printed on the cover page. If your document already contains a cover page, the only information needed is the recipient’s fax number. This information is then sent back to the ipFax Server to prepare the fax. If you want to save your fax as a pending document, simply check the box and continue as normal.

Once the user enters the necessary data in the pop-up window, the ipFax Printer then connects to the ipFax Server through your existing Microsoft® Windows® domain or network. Once connected and authenticated, the ipFax Printer sends the server the file that needs to be faxed. This file will also be archived on the ipFax Server for future retrieval. Visit our ipFax Printer page for more info or help.

[edit] ipFax Notifier

The ipFax Notifier is an application that allows all client machines to monitor faxes being sent or received by the ipFax Server. This application resides on the system tray and will notify the user when a new fax arrives. ipFax Printer allows users to enter information that will be printed on the cover page that is automatically created by the ipFax Server. The ipFax Notifier also lets you see all the outgoing, incoming and past faxes that were sent.The user can choose to resend any faxes that were previously sent by the ipFax server.

To create Fax Comments, just right click on the fax in question and then click 'Add/Edit Comments'. A pop up window will then be displayed. Just fill in the text boxes with your summary and comments on the fax and click save. Your summary will appear next to your fax - now you can easily identify which fax is which!

[edit] ipFax Server

The ipFax Server is the core component of the Silex Cubed ipFax Center. The Server accepts connections from the ipFax Printer and receives the file to be faxed. Once the file transfer is complete, the ipFax Server queues the file to be faxed at the server’s earliest availability. Availability of the server’s sending functionality is determined by two (2) things:

1. Whether or not the server is receiving a fax on the line. Although sending takes precedence over receiving, the ipFax Server will NOT disconnect a call that is already in progress.

2. The number of faxes that are queued to be sent. The ipFax Server follows a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) queue order, and will fax each fax in the order it was requested to be sent. As soon as a fax job is sent to the ipFax Server, it is queued. If there are no jobs ahead of it in the queue, and the line is not currently in use, then the fax is sent immediately.

The ipFax Server is also in charge of receiving faxes from fax machines. The ipFax Server monitors the phone line for incoming fax transmission requests. Once a fax transmission request is received, the ipFax Server accepts the connection, waits until the transmission is complete, then disconnects the call. Next, the ipFax Server checks if there are any faxes in the queue to be sent, if so, they are sent. Finally, the ipFax Server starts monitoring the phone line for more fax transmission requests. The ipFax Server component runs as a Microsoft® Windows® background service. This allows the server to be running even if the computer is not logged in. As long as the computer is turned on and a phone line is plugged into the modem, ipFax Server will auto-start and begin monitoring as soon as the operating system loads.

[edit] ipFax Center Manager

The ipFax Center Manager is a secondary application that the server administrator can run to set, or change the ipFax Server’s options, such as the company name, address, phone and fax number for cover sheet information; as well as other information that the server uses to manage its ability to send and receive faxes. The ability to add your company’s logo to the cover pages is as easy as telling the ipFax Manager where to find your company’s logo (Image must be a bitmap (.BMP), and must meet required size restrictions). The ipFax Center Manager has the ability to add and remove allowed clients from the system, allowing or disallowing them from sending any further faxes using

[edit] System Requirements

Silex Cubed ipFax Center consists of two (2) major entities, the client and the server. Each portion of this system has different requirements in order to run efficiently.

[edit] Client Component

Each computer with the ipFax Center client installed must meet the following minimum requirements:
• Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP/2003 Operating System
• Pentium II 233 MHz, or equivalent
• 128 MB of RAM

Silex Cubed recommends the following system configuration:
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Operating System
• Pentium III 500 MHz, or equivalent
• 256 MB of RAM

[edit] Server Component

The computer that is running the ipFax Server must meet the following minimum requirements:
• Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP/2003 Operating System
• Pentium II 233 MHz, or equivalent
• 256 MB of RAM
• Hayes AT Compatible Class-1 Modem

Silex Cubed recommends the following system configuration:
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Operating System
• Pentium III 500 MHz, or equivalent
• 256 MB of RAM
• US Robotics® PCI, 56kbps Fax Modem (External)

The ipFax Center server can support from 1 to 30 users depending on your purchased license.

[edit] Key Features and Benefits

The ipFax Center system provides powerful capabilities for sending and receiving faxes from any Microsoft® Windows® legacy application. The features and benefits of ipFax Center are summarized below.

[edit] Feature Benefits

Feature	Benefit
Fax from a variety of Microsoft® Windows® applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more	Integrates quickly with most applications without the need to modify or reprogram systems
Ability to fax both legal and letter sized documents, with either portrait or landscape orientation.	Eliminates the need to keep legal-sized paper for faxing
Send and receive functionality on the server; transmits only the data stream across the network	Greatly reduces network traffic (because the data stream is as small as one-tenth of the typical document size)
Works seamlessly with an easy-to-use, feature-rich server management tool	Allows system administrators to control what functions the server is performing as well as which clients can fax
Provides extensive document conversion capabilities, allowing users to fax documents, graphics, spreadsheets, and more	Eliminates the need to print documents that need to be faxed
Allows you to save pending faxes and create mass fax lists of up to 100 numbers	If you wish to fax the same document to multiple parties with the click of a button, this feature is invaluable
You can save your faxes in the standard TIF format or in PDF format	Allows you to share you faxes even more easily than before and gives you much needed file flexibility

[edit] About Silex Cubed Incorporated

Silex Cubed is dedicated to building a long-term relationship with their clients through quality products and support, and by providing world leading business software solutions for businesses large and small no matter their budget. For more information about Silex Cubed, visit Silex3.