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 V.34 Fax Server Appliances

Multi-Tech FaxFinder Fax Server

Models FF130, FF230, FF430, FF830

• Introduction
• FaxFinder Components
• Update Server, Client, or Modem
• Revision History
• Support Options
• Copyrights and Trademarks

Introduction

The FaxFinder^® Fax Server system is a turnkey solution that can send and receive faxes via analog telephone lines (POTS lines, PBX extension, etc). The FaxFinder solution provides convenient and secure distributed faxing capabilities, with a high degree of privacy and reliability for both the sender and recipient.

To distribute received faxes dynamically, connect the ports of  the FaxFinder to PBX ports that are capable of converting Telco provided DID information to DTMF digits. The FaxFinder (after receiving the fax) converts the fax to a PDF or TIFF file, and then uses the DTMF digits to determine where to email the received fax.  Received faxes can also be printed and/or copied to a network share.

The FaxFinder Client software allows you to send any document that can be printed from Windows, as a fax. Faxes can also be sent via our "Send Fax" WEB interface menu, via T.37 Email to Fax, and by API access.

FaxFinder Data Sheet

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FaxFinder Components

The FaxFinder system consists of three upgradeable parts; the FaxFinder Client software, the FaxFinder Server firmware and the MT5634SMI-V92 modem firmware internal to the FaxFinder Server.

1. The FaxFinder Client software runs on a user’s Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2000 workstation (32 bit and 64 bit versions of the client are available). The FaxFinder Terminal Services Client software runs on Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 servers running Terminal Services (32 bit and 64 bit versions are available).
2. The FaxFinder Server firmware, implementing the server functionality of the Fax Finder appliance.
3. The Modem firmware, implementing the fax machine to fax machine communication over the telephone line.

• The FF130 has one MT5634SMI-V92 modem module.
• The FF230 has two MT5634SMI-V92 modem modules.
• The FF430 has four MT5634SMI-V92 modem modules.
• The FF830 has eight MT5634SMI-V92 modem modules.

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Update

• FaxFinder Client Software
• FaxFinder Server Firmware
• Modem Firmware
• Save the FaxFinder Configuration File

 

FaxFinder Client  Update process:

1. Quit the FaxFinder client software.
2. It is best to uninstall the previous version via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
3. Run the ffclient-x_x_x.msi (where x-xx is the latest version) by double clicking on it..
4. Or Run ffclientts-x_x_x.exe for the Terminal Services Version of the FaxFinder Client. 
5. Follow the on screen instructions to complete the update. 

To update the FaxFinder Server firmware: 

Save the Server Configuration File as detailed below.

1. Open the web page to the FaxFinder FFx30 Fax Server. 
2. Select the System Configuration Menu.
3. Select the Firmware menu (left side menu).
4. Browse to the Firmware file for the Upload Firmware edit field.  The file name will be ffupdate_XXXX_n_nn where XXXX is the model (FF130, FF230, etc.) the firmware is for.  n_nn is the version of the firmware.
5. Browse to the MD5 checksum file associated with the firmware file you want to upload.  The file name will be ffupdate_XXXX_n_nn.md5 where XXXX is the model (FF130, FF230, etc.) the firmware is for.  n_nn is the version of the firmware.
6. Click the update button.
7. The process of uploading the firmware will take several (5 to 7) minutes. 
8. When it is done, you may reload the web page, and login to check the firmware version.

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To update the modem firmware, use the Update mechanism from the Web page of the FaxFinder Server.

1. Open the web page to the FaxFinder FFx30 Fax Server. 
2. Select the System Configuration Menu.
3. Select the Firmware menu (left side menu).
4. Select the modem(s) you wish to update using the update check box.
5. Browse to the modem firmware file to use to update the modem(s). The modem module firmware is of the form: DWccnnnn.hex. The cc is for the country code, and nnnn is for the version number. 
6. Select the "update" button to begin the modem update.

To save the Server Configuration File:

1. Web to the FaxFinder Server.
2. Select the Save/Restore tab.
3. You will be prompted for a location to save the configuration file.

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Revision History

Version 2.2.4:

Features Added/Removed/Modified:

      ·  Added Default Cover Page support. Users can choose to include a cover page by default when sending a fax.

      ·  Users can choose a default cover page template to use when sending a fax.

      ·  Added an email logs now link to the Fax Configuration -> Fax Log page.

      ·  Allows for fax logs to be emailed to the Administrator without purging them.

      ·  Added an option to only purge log entries older than a certain number of days.

                Options are 0, 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, 90 days old

                0 days old will delete everything

      ·  Added an option to Fax Configuration -> Inbound Routing -> General called Email Failed Empty Faxes.

      ·  This is defaulted to on to maintain original functionality.

      ·  This stops failed faxes with 0 pages recieved from being emailed to the users.

      ·  Modified the send fax page to load the contact list after the page loads.

      ·  This reduces the overall loading time of the send fax page.

      ·  A message notifying users of this new delay has been added to the page.

Bugs fixed:

• Fixed comment elements appearing to be corrupted when using the web service API for sent faxes
• Fixed the send fax page's attachment screen to now only allow user's to specify pdf, txt, tiff, tif, and ps file types
• Fixed the handling of special characters in contact name, contact organization, user full name, user organization, group name, and group description.
• Removed the mts_template1_1.pdf cover page template from the firmware install.
• Changed the language of A0 and 11 errors to better clarify what is happening.
• Upgraded from Cups 1.3.6 to Cups 1.4.6
• Upgraded from Lighttpd 1.4.19 to Lighttpd 1.4.28
• Upgraded from Ghostscript 8.64 to Ghostscript 8.71
• Fixed the Mode Code Description tool of the Fax Configuration -> Modem Configuration page to handle more than 1 digit.
• Increased the delay time of the reboot page to eliminate page not found errors
• Increased the delay time of the firmware page to eliminate page not found errors

Test/Debug Features Added/Removed/Modified:

• Added a Debug page to System Configuration to allow administrators to download all of the logs and to set the debug level.
•      Allows administrators to download all of the logs.
•      Allows administrators to set the debug level

 

Version 2.1.9

This is a maintenance release of the FFx30 Server Firmware.

New Features and Changes

• Allow normal users to add to the global address book.
• Changed ffdebug to handle all log levels instead of just debug and error.

Bug Fixes

• Time stamps in the fax details in the body of the email of received faxes is in universal time instead of local time.
• Ports get stuck when sending a fax, when error correction is off and the receiving modem sends RTN on the final page.
• Ports get stuck in negotiating state when receiving a fax.
• Turn off debug on receive fax initialization so that version string doesn't get +FDB response in it and so it doesn't get internal server error.
• Fixed problem with internal server error when remote ID contains apostrophe.
• When admin creates a new group for another user it gets added to admin instead of the intended user.
• Multiple attachments pages are interleaved.
• Changes to fix partial faxes not converting to PDFs.
• Changing the hostname without changing the SMTP or T37 settings could result in sending an email to itself.
• Exception trying create the tables in faxlog database.
• Changed it to allow periods in fax numbers.
• Changed how we remove old fax directories. Old way would sometimes result in a locking issue.
• Internal Sever Error adding member to group from users page.
• Changed to create the cover page before opening the socket.
• Extensions starting with a 0 were not being routed correctly.

Version 2.1.0

This is a maintenance release of the FFx30 Server Firmware.

New Features and Changes

• Added outbound fax archive.
• Added option for fax attachment in confirmation and failure emails.
• Added Outbound fax approval.
• Added Global contact lists.
• Added Fax groups, personal and global (distribution lists).
• Faster fax scheduling (document conversion is delayed and done after schedule).
• Fax scheduler only converts one document at a time (reduces load).
• Increased size limits for scheduling faxes: 6MB for FF130/FF230, 11MB forFF430/FF830. Effective file size limits for T.37 and FaxFinder Client 4.5MB for FF130/230, 8.25MB for FF430/830.
• Reduced memory usage during scheduling using web service.
• Fax Scheduler keeps up to 4096 complete faxes unless compact flash is at 80% or higher usage. This allows clients to view more fax status history.
• Supports faxing documents encoded with JBIG2.
• Updated ghostscript from 8.60 to 8.64.
• Added T.37 "Use Email Body as Comments" option to set default INLINE-COMMENTS value.
• Added T.37 "Default Cover Page" option to set cover page name.
• T.37 faxes now get associated with a user if the From addresses matches the user's email address. Cover page fields are also filled with the user's information.
• Can create a contact from the Send Fax page.
• Administrator can now set a description for the unit that is displayed on the Login and Home pages.
• Shares "Connect/Reconnect" link is now "Connect/Disconnect"
• New field on Modem Log page shows all received digits for incoming calls.
• Non-admin users can view inbound/outbound fax logs for faxes sent by their user and inbound faxes that were emailed to their email address.
• Faxes sent to multiple recipients are now grouped on the Fax Status page. This enables easy aborting of faxes to large numbers of recipients.
• Added a date to the configuration backup filename.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug when modem is in debug and busied out, then box is rebooted.
• Fixed fax failures when DNS is set to a valid IP but is not reachable.
• Fixed the timestamps in the fax log csv files. The time displayed was in GMT not local.
• CR/LF's are no longer converted to spaces in the comments section of a cover page.
• Fixed incorrect from/return email address when purging log files at the scheduled interval. If the user selected "Purge Logs Now" link the email address was correct.

Version 2.0.4

This is a maintenance release of the FFx30 Server Firmware.

New Features and Changes

• SMTP config page warns if the smtp server name can't be resolved.
• Added option to add an inbound route when adding a user.
• Added Mail Log page which shows recent mail delivery attempts.
• Added link to Mail Queue page to force resend of queued mail.
• Added outbound option to allow simultaneous faxing to the same number.
• Added modem firmware filename checking to prevent flashing with wrong code.
• Added option to change the email address used for sending mail.
• Separated the "send test email" feature from SMTP settings on the SMTP config page. Also made test message sent message more accurate with link to Mail Log page.
• Added link to Scribus-format cover pages for direct editing.

Bug Fixes

• Modem Log page now displays time that the entry was logged rather than modem off hook time.
• Improved fax sending reliability when sending and receiving numerous large faxes simultaneously.
• Make User CSV import compatible with files edited by Excel.
• Fixed CSV import bug with contact names containing an apostrophe character.
• Fixed importing of contact phone numbers when using "merge" option.
• Fixed resolution for incoming faxes that wrongly specify vertical resolution in english units instead of metric.
• Modems are no longer hard reset between fax calls. Helps with problems arising from the modem being on-hook while it is resetting and a call comes in during reset.
• Fixed problem printing to some Gutenprint printers (Printer status page shows "/usr/local/lib/cups/filter/pstoraster failed").
• Increased field length for modem init string to 79 chars (was 15).
• Increased length of custom time server field.
• Modem config page keeps same modem selected after saving changes.
• Fix for User Defined routing to only accept Max Extension digits when ? is used.
• Renamed "Max DTMF digits" to "Max Extension digits".
• New ajax share browser that allows browsing shares with many directories.
• Fixes issues when adding an inbound destination on a unit that has a large share connected.
• Added version check for cover pages (PDF 1.4 required).
• Force pop-up windows to the front when they change (help, details links, etc).
• Check for matching passwords with javascript so users don't have to reenter information.
• Added javascript email validation for SMTP config page and User email address so users don't have to reenter information.
• Make sure recipient fields get cleared on Send Fax page when user has no contacts, otherwise the recipient is duplicated.

Known Problems

• If the DNS settings are changed, the unit should be rebooted.  Otherwise, some processes don't recognize the change.  This affects time server synchronization and checking for a valid hostname when changing the SMTP server.

Version 2.0

            This is the first release of the FFx30 Server Firmware.

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Support Options

Contacting Multi-Tech Support

In order to better serve our customers, manage support requests and shorten resolution times, we have created the online web portal allowing you to submit questions regarding Multi-Tech products directly to our technical support team. Get answers to your most complex questions, ranging from implementation, troubleshooting, product configuration, firmware upgrades and much more. Support case requests are monitored from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm CT, Monday through Friday (except holidays), and are handled in the order they are received.

Online Web Portal

Create an account and submit a case, or view your existing cases on the Support Portal.

Knowledge Base

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Technical Support

Visit our main Support page for all of our support services: Technical Support
Access our: FTP Site

Your Location: By Email, By Phone

Europe, Middle East, Africa: support@multitech.co.uk +(44) 118 959 7774

U.S., Canada, all others: support@multitech.com (800) 972-2439 or (763) 717-5863

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Copyrights and Trademarks

All documents and software provided herewith are Copyright (c) 2009 Multi-Tech Systems. All rights reserved.  MS, Windows, Windows 95, Windows NT are trade names of Microsoft Corporation.  Other trademarks or trade names used herein are properties of the respective owners.

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