VentaFax 5.7 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - VentaFax

1. VentaFax- virtual printer cannot be installed ?
   Most likely, you did not insert Windows distribution CD on Printer Setup Wizard prompt to provide path to necessary files during VentaFax installation, but clicked Skip button instead. Keep in mind that having Windows operating system installed does not mean you have all files needed for any application copied to your hard disk. Try to reinstall VentaFax with Windows CD to hand.
   
   
2. Can I use VentaFax in a network environment? In other words, can I send out messages via modem installed in a linked computer?
   In its present state the program is designed for single-user environment. It is not suited for transmitting facsimile or voice messages via network modem. We consider creating multi-user network version in future. With this version you would be able to send messages via network modem, yet this is a perspective by now.
   
   
3. Sometimes same page is transmitted several times. Recipients complain about useless paper usage.
   This is not our fault. The point is that some "smart" fax machines request page retransmission if they consider received page quality as insufficient. Moreover, the criteria for judging this quality can be so high that even a page received normally is considered as a bad one. With clicks and rustles and other noises in poor telephone lines page retransmission can go on endlessly. This is why we introduced a parameter that limits the number of satisfied requests for page retransmission. It is the Repeat page transmission no more than, times parameter in the Fax - General tab. If recipient's paper usage is an issue, lower this value. You can even set it to zero, thus prohibiting page retransmission. The best solution we can offer is to advise your partners to buy VentaFax and forget about facsimile paper usage.
   
   
4. "Disconnection error" arises frequently at fax transmission. Recipient says the page was received normally. What's the matter?
   There's nothing to worry about. Perhaps you have a rather poor telephone line and your modem does not "hear" successful transmission signal due to noise. It may be that your recipient's fax is just incapable to send such a signal (which not uncommon with old fax machines). Besides, some fax modems with Fax Class 2 command set selected respond to other party commands inadequately. Namely, they break the connection and thus result in "Disconnection error".
   
   
5. I'm unable to send a fax in an ongoing telephone conversation (by clicking Send without dialing a number button in the Transmission Window).
   The problem is clear if you have US Robotics Sportster modem. As you know, usually a fax machine or a fax modem produces tone signal in a telephone line (a whistle of 2100 Hz several seconds long) before starting fax reception and playing distinctive fax trill. For the majority of modems the presence or absence of such a whistle makes absolutely no difference. However, some modems (including popular USR Sportster models) need to "hear" it to establish normal connection. If a whistle is not "heard", the connection is not established and the transmission becomes impossible. To avoid the problem of fax transmission during ongoing telephone conversation, always start transmission earlier than your recipient (click the Start button before the opposite party does the same). Unfortunately, some seldom-used fax machines (for example, some Panasonic models) do not play initial whistle in telephone line at all. Sending faxes to such devices with USR Sportster and similar modems appears impossible.
   
   
6. I have a voice version of VentaFax and a voice modem. In roughly half as many cases I am unable to send out a fax with dialing the number by the modem, although I can hear recipient's fax answer. What's wrong?
   This problem with USR Sportster modems has the same cause as the previous one. With software signal recognition enabled (the Recognize Telephone Line State - by the program parameter box in the Voice - Recognition of Signals tab is checked) VentaFax analyses signals in telephone line in a voice mode. By "hearing" a 2100 Hz whistle it switches to fax mode. It takes some time. As a result, your modem can simply have no time to "hear" the remote modem or fax machine whistle, and transmission would not start. The majority of modems can switch from voice mode to fax mode at the initial fax trill, but Sportster modems need to "hear" this whistle to switch modes. Switching off voice mode (by checking Disabling voice mode when sending out a fax parameter in the Fax - General tab) solves a problem for the modems involved, but disables software telephone line signals recognition during fax transmission. In other words, your modem would be unable to detect (and to react appropriately) whether the remote handset has been lifted by the fax machine or by a human. Nevertheless, this does not solve the transmission to some Panasonic fax machines problem discussed above.
   
   
7. I have a voice modem but the program doesn't perform voice functions. I am sure my modem supports voice functions!
   Unfortunately, modem voice commands are not standardized and may vary considerably among various modems. When you start VentaFax, the program tries to detect the type of modem installed. Sometimes it comes across an "unknown" modem and considers that it does not support voice functions. In this case the Disable voice functions of the program parameter checkbox and the parameter itself become unavailable. Sometimes the program confuses an unknown type of modem with a known one (for example, when modems differ by firmware or soft/winmodem drivers versions only) and tries to work with such a modem, to no effect. This situation usually results in Er 26 message, "Unforeseen error when receiving data from the modem". Actually, this is acceptable due to a variety of new modems from different manufacturers that come out every year. We are trying to augment our known-modem base to the best of our ability, frequently with the help of our users.