SBS 2003/8 – Receive Confirmation Of Successful Fax Send In Windows Vista/7

To connect to the fax service on an SBS 2003 or SBS 2008 server with Vista or Windows 7 do the following:

1. From a computer that is running Windows Vista/7, open Windows Fax and Scan.
2. Click New Fax.
3. Click Connect to a fax server on my network.
4. Type the name of the server that is running Windows SBS, for example \\servername. If you do not know the name of the server, click Start, type cmd, and then type:
• set sbsserver [Enter]
• Answer will be: SBSSERVER=My-SBS
5. Type a name for the fax account, such as SBSServer.

To receive a confirmation when sending a fax do the following once an outgoing fax has been initiated:

1. After filling in the above form click on Tools.
2. Click on the Options… menu item.
3. Set the appropriate actions:
1. 
4. A confirmation e-mail will show up when the fax has sent successfully.

The delivery receipt option needs to be set each time a fax has been sent.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SBS - Fax and modems - USB or Serial?

Lately, we have been in a bit of a quandary. Pretty much all server boards no longer have PCI slots to install that 56K fax modem into anymore.

So, we started selling the US Robotics USB based external: 56K* USB Fax Modem:


All in all, we have had pretty good success with these units. There have been some anomalies with them that we haven't been able to pin down 100%. But, we are pretty sure they are the culprit. The anomalies are not critical in that they don't spontaneously reboot the server or interfere with critical server services. They are minor inconveniences.

One thing we like about them, they tolerate having other fax machines, such as MFPs, on the same line that are only used to send faxes from.

In some cases, we have installed the US Robotics USR5686E, USR325686E 56K V.92 External Faxmodem:


These serial based modems have worked well where the phone line quality is not so good. They do however, have an issue with any other fax machine trying to send a fax on the same line. They like to pickup and try and receive. So, they need to be on their own line for receiving faxes. They are that sensitive.

What are your experiences? What modems do you use, and how well are they working out for you? Have you had any issues with USB modems?

Please, let us know and thanks in advance! :D

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS, RWW, Fax is Knocking Out RWW Sessions

I have had a consistent and repeatable issue that has come up lately: if logged in to RWW on a server with the USR 56K USB modem as a fax modem and it receives or sends a fax, it knocks me off the RWW session.

I am not entirely sure of the reason yet. We have a number of these particular modems out there, and this is the first server, a new R2 installation, that is doing it.

I will need to look into it further!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists