User guide

Chapter 2: Getting Started
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. FaxFinder Admin User Guide 9
FaxFinder Operating Modes
When placed in the optimal environment, the Multi-Tech Systems FaxFinder can provide a host of useful
functions. Inbound routing, that is fax transmissions coming into the FaxFinder unit; can be sent to many
destinations. An incoming fax can be sent directly to a printer to be immediately printed, it can be sent
to an email address for paperless reading, it can be discarded, or it can be deposited to a shared
directory for users to retrieve should they have access rights.
Inbound Routing. Fax clients receive faxes in the form of email attachments. From the remote fax
sender’s perspective, PBX extension phone numbers are functionally identical to ordinary fax phone
lines. Also, inbound faxes can be automatically printed or stored in a shared folder for archiving or
multiple user access.
Outbound Routing. Fax clients on the network can send faxes directly from their PCs using any
application program that can print. The application program must be set so that the FaxFinder itself is its
printing destination. In response to the ‘Print’ command, the FaxFinder turns the ‘print file’ image into a
fax. The FaxFinder transmits the fax to the public phone system (PSTN) or to another PBX extension.
Store and Forward faxing allows for emails to be sent through the FaxFinder as a fax or users can simply
log in to the web interface and send a fax from the unit directly.
When connected directly to a regular POTS line (or to a PBX without ‘convergent’ routing capability), the
FaxFinder functions as an outgoing fax server with incoming fax service going through one or more
attendants. Each of the FaxFinder’s modems has a separate fax number and each modem can have a
separate attendant that receives the fax messages as emails and then has the duty to direct them to
their intended recipients. (Note that one attendant could serve more than one of the FaxFinder’s
modems – some or all of the modems.) For example, an FF830 FaxFinder might be used in a company
with several departments that regularly receive faxes but in differing volumes. Suppose the sales
department and the purchasing department receive many faxes and the shipping and service
departments receive much less fax traffic. In that case, three of the FF830 modems might direct faxes to
a single attendant in the sales department, and an additional three modems might direct faxes to the
purchasing department; one modem might be directed to an attendant for the shipping department and
another to an attendant for the service department. When not connected to a PBX, all incoming faxes go
to a single email recipient, the attendant, who then sends them on, as needed, to the intended
recipient. It is also possible to operate a FaxFinder unit in a mixed mode such that some of its modems
are connected to PBX extensions while other of its modems are connected to POTS lines.