Difference between revisions of "Information Systems:SRFax (desktop faxing) Administration"

Revision as of 17:20, 2 May 2018

This is a technical guide. For user guides (e.g. how to send faxes), consult the Fax category.

Overview

uniPHARM uses a hosted fax service, SRFax, to send and receive fax documents such as recall notices to and from our business partners. This replaced Xerox/device-based faxing.

How it works

Users fax PDFs (or other supported documents) from the desktop as they would print something. A fax printer driver (downloadable from SRFax) is (or should be) installed on each computer, and printing from Windows applications should summon a pop-up where you configure cover pages, enter destination numbers etc., and finally, send the fax.

Administration

Account Details

Website (administration/user portal)	https://www.srfax.com
Login credentials	admin@unipharm.com / NewVisionIT2051
Subscription Details	$16.95 per month Health Care Plan 800 pages included $0.03/page overage 6 additional inbound/outbound numbers at $4.95/month each
Company Info	Located in Sydney, BC

SRFax Accounts

If you really want a full understanding of the SRFax setup, make the effort to understand this section. Otherwise, skip it and wing it. The way the accounts are setup is a little complicated but was determined to achieve the best outcome (with regards to user ease-of-use and convenience of administration).

Account Name	Account type (Main/Sub)	Billing account type (Inbound/Outbound)	Purpose	Fax number	Username/login	Mapped aliases	Account number	Notes
Administration Account	Main	Inbound/Outbound	Route through which most outbound faxes are sent	604-276-8478	admin@unipharm.com	norwinu, darrenf, jeremym	92531	Example
Outbound Fax - Company Main	Sub	Outbound only	Outbound faxes	604-276-8478 (routes through Main account)	fax@unipharm.com, or aliased users	Most staff members, with their usernames in AD format (e.g. norwinu)	Example
Outbound Fax - Purchasing Dept.	Sub	Outbound only	Outbound faxes	604-276-8478 (routes through Main account)	purchasing@unipharm.com, or aliased users	elizag, johnt, judyt, rubys, shannonm, simonl	Example	Example
Inbound Fax - Receiving	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound use only; for receiving faxes destined for Receiving department copier (reccopier)	604-276-5283	None	faxreceiving@unipharm.com	example
Inbound Fax - Returns	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound use only; for receiving faxes destined for Returns department copier (rtncopier)	604-276-5283	None	faxreturns@unipharm.com	Example
Inbound Fax - Elaho	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound use only; for receiving faxes destined for 2nd-floor copier (elaho)	604-270-9728	faxelaho@unipharm.com	None	99639
Inbound Fax - Stein	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound use only; for receiving faxes destined for 1st-floor copier (stein)	604-270-8537	faxstein@unipharm.com	None	99647
Angela Chan	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound and outbound; dedicated for use by Angela only	604-270-2884	angelac@unipharm.com	None	99571	Inbound faxes will print to angelacprinter
Ron Gracan	Sub	Inbound/Outbound	Inbound and outbound; dedicated for use by Ron only	604-276-5255	rong@unipharm.com	None	99579	Inbound faxes will print to rongprinter

The primary justification for the level of complexity in the way the users were set up came from the desire to keep the inbound fax "experience" the same as when uniPHARM used traditional Xerox/device-based faxing. Each Xerox had a phone number and thus represented a distinct inbound route. Each Xerox was also a distinct outbound route, yet this was not as important (i.e. origin of the fax was not important; the cover page always indicated the return fax number). Yet another factor was that that faxing is an infrequently used (and outdated) means of communication, so it was not ideal to set users up as full-featured sub-accounts, as that would've incurred unnecessary administrative burden. Lastly, it was sensible to have groups like Purchasing to have group-local address books. Thus to translate all these requirements to hosted/internet faxing, users were set up as shown above.

Key points:

There are 2 concepts of "users" - user accounts and aliases. User accounts are those listed in the table above and, in our design, are mostly symbolic/representational, with the exception of Ron and Angela's (these are true user sub-accounts in the conventional sense). The rest of the staff members are not user accounts, but are aliases, aliased to one of the two symbolic "Outbound" users listed above. I.T. staff are aliased to the admin account.

Regarding user accounts, there is one main account, to which all sub-accounts fall under. This is for administration purposes. User accounts can also be inbound/outbound and outbound-only. Inbound/outbound accounts have a dedicated fax number, while outbound-only accounts use the main account's fax number. If I haven't lost you by now, congratulations. I am truly impressed. Not that this stuff is hard, but rather because of the Rube Goldberg-ness of the entire setup (a fax setup, no less). -norwizzle (talk)

Any time a fax is sent, it is done through a specific user account. Aliased users therefore send as the user they are aliased to. When aliased users log in, they are all logging into the same account (which for most staff members, is Outbound Fax - Company Main).

Any time a fax is sent, it also must go out a certain fax number. For inbound/outbound user accounts, its own fax number is used. For outbound-only users, the main account's fax number is used.

The concept of users only really comes into play during administration. That is, if you follow the table above, you will notice that all staff members (with the exception of Ron and Angela) ultimately send faxes through one number.

The All user accounts (and therefore their aliases) can and inbound faxing curs through pre-defined routes, with phone numbers mapped to email addresses, which in turn are mapped to printers.

Logging into the admin/main account lets you see everything across the sub-accounts, but some settings may require you to "admin-log-in" to the sub-account (similar to Barracuda administration, where you can enter into each user's account from the admin account).

Address book

The main account has the master address books, which all sub-accounts and their aliases can read, but not edit. The main account and its aliases can edit these address books.

Each sub-account can have their local address books as well. This is primarily why some of them were created (e.g. Outbound Fax - Purchasing Dept.)

Basic administration

Automatic Email Manager

Automatic Email Manager is a piece of software that checks emails and auto-processes (print or file) any contained attachments. It is an important part of the fax workflow as it prints inbound fax documents automatically to their designated printers (determined by destination email address, which in turn, is mapped to a specific inbound phone number).

Because inbound faxes are Automatic Email Manager is installed on superserver.

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ===SRFax Accounts===
-If you really want a full understanding of the SRFax setup, make the effort to understand this section. The way the accounts are setup is a little complicated but achieves the best outcome (with regards to user ease-of-use and convenience of administration).
+If you really want a full understanding of the SRFax setup, make the effort to understand this section. Otherwise, skip it and wing it. The way the accounts are setup is a little complicated but was determined to achieve the best outcome (with regards to user ease-of-use and convenience of administration).
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 |}
- The primary justification for the level of complexity in the way the users were set up came from the desire to keep the inbound fax "experience" the same as when uniPHARM used traditional Xerox/device-based faxing. Each Xerox   had a phone number and thus represented a distinct inbound route. Each Xerox was also a distinct outbound route, yet this was not important (i.e. origin of the fax was not important; the cover page always indicated the return fax number). There is also the fact that faxing is an infrequently used (and outdated) means of communication, so it was not ideal to set users up as full-featured sub-accounts, as that would've incurred unnecessary  administration burden. Lastly, it was sensible to have a group like Purchasing to have a group-local address book. Thus to translate all these requirements to hosted/internet faxing, users were set up as shown above.
+ The primary justification for the level of complexity in the way the users were set up came from the desire to keep the inbound fax "experience" the same as when uniPHARM used traditional Xerox/device-based faxing. Each Xerox had a phone number and thus represented a distinct inbound route. Each Xerox was also a distinct outbound route, yet this was not as important (i.e. origin of the fax was not important; the cover page always indicated the return fax number). Yet another factor was that that faxing is an infrequently used (and outdated) means of communication, so it was not ideal to set users up as full-featured sub-accounts, as that would've incurred unnecessary administrative burden. Lastly, it was sensible to have groups like Purchasing to have group-local address books. Thus to translate all these requirements to hosted/internet faxing, users were set up as shown above.
 Key points: