Secure Site Documentation

Fax Number Examples and Format – International, Long-Distance and Local

The Internet fax service from InterFAX lets you send a fax from email programs without having to install a fax modem or any fax server. Whether you are one person sending faxes from your SOHO or an organization with thousands of employees, our internet fax service saves you time and money. You can send faxes for as little as $0.07/€0.07/£0.04 per page, without any setup fees or monthly fees.

InterFAX is designed to be as similar to dialing your fax machine as possible. The principle is to specify a fax number as if you were dialing it from your standard phone. However, you may add access codes (long-distance, international), as well as country codes and area codes. In case no explicit access codes or prefixes are specified, InterFAX will automatically add them according to your user settings.

For reading convenience, a fax number may contain any characters, such as hyphens, parentheses etc. Any non-digit character is ignored, with the exception of a plus sign, which is used as a generic International Access Code.

Fax numbers that contain brackets needs to be written as quoted string, see examples below.

The safest fax number format

If you are not sure what your user settings are, simply use the following standard international access notation:

+(country code)(area code)(fax number)
for example: +1-212-9876543
or +44-208-1234567

Other international fax number examples

Example 1:

User is configured to dial from New York, NY, USA.

Faxing from US to UK:
Option 1: +44 161 999 8888
Option 2: “011 44 (161) 999 8888”
Note that a US-based user (as defined in account defaults) can dial the US-specific international access code 011.

User wishes to send a fax to another area within the United States:
Option 1: 1-408-999 8888
Option 2: “+1 (408) 999 8888”

User wishes to send a fax to another phone number IN New York:
Option 1: 222 8888
Option 2: 1-212-222 8888
Option 3: “+1 (212) 222 8888”

Example 2:

User is configured to dial from London, UK.

User wishes to send a fax to another country (USA, with country code ‘1’):
Option 1: +1 212 999 8888
Option 2: “001 (212) 999 8888”
Note that a UK-based user (as defined in account defaults) can dial the UK-specific international access code 00.

User wishes to send a fax to another area within the UK:
Option 1: 0161 999 8888
Option 2: “+44 (161) 999 8888”

User wishes to send a fax to another phone number IN London:
Option 1: 2222 8888
Option 2: 01-2222 8888
Option 3: +44 1-2222 8888

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InterFAX Features and Benefits

• Send and receive faxes without fax machine, paper or toner
• No need to leave your computer on at all times in anticipation of a fax
• Archive faxes digitally
• Fax from anywhere

Supported File Types

The following table lists file types supported as attachments by the InterFAX service. See also System Limitations for unsupported file behaviors.

Note: Attempting to send a file with an extension which is not its native extension, as defined below, will result in a rendering error.

Document Extension	File Type	MIME type
DOC, DOCX	Created by Microsoft Word 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 & 365; Google Docs; Zoho Docs.	application/msword, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
DOT	Created by Microsoft Word 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 & 365.	application/msword
XML	Currently supported XML types: Microsoft Word 2003 XML	application/xml
PDF	Adobe Acrobat (Version 9)	application/pdf
TIF	Group 3 TIFF, may be in standard or fine resolution ****	image/tif
TXT	ASCII Plain Text	text/plain
XLS, XLSX	Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 & 365; Google Docs; Zoho Docs Note: Only active worksheets will be faxed	application/vnd.ms-excel
HTM/HTML***	HTML files Note that HTML is opened and converted to faxes using Internet Explorer v6 (as of June 2013:) v10.	text/html
MHT***	MHT web archive files; HTML with embedded images Note that HTML is opened and converted to faxes using Internet Explorer v6 (as of June 2013:) v10.	message/rfc822
URL	Windows URL files Notes: 1.) The contents of the linked page will be faxed; 2.) HTML is opened and converted to faxes using Internet Explorer v6 (as of June 2013:) v10..	application/internet-shortcut
PPT, PPTX	Microsoft PowerPoint 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 & 365; Google Docs; Zoho Docs	application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
GIF	Non-animated GIF files *	image/gif
PNG	PNG files	image/png
JPG/JPEG	JPEG files *	image/jpg
PS	PostScript	application/postscript
EPS	Encapsulated PostScript	application/eps
RTF	Rich Text Format	application/rtf
BMP	Windows Bitmap *	image/bmp
PCX	PC Paintbrush Bitmap **	application/pcx
SNP	Microsoft Access Snapshot (Version 10 on Windows 2000)	application/snapshot
ZIP	Any of the above file types may be compressed as a zip file. Multiple files within a single zip file are allowed.	application/zip

** For best results use only monochrome (1-bit color, not grayscale) with the following image sizes

*** HTML documents are rendered using MS Internet Explorer, with page margins set to 10.16mm (left, right, top, and bottom)

****Image Sizes

	Standard Resolution		Fine Resolution
	Width	Height	Width	Height
A4	1,728	1,169	1,728	2,338
Letter	1,728	1,100	1,728	2,200
Legal	1,728	1,400	1,728	2,800
B4	2,048	1,357	2,048	2,714

InterFAX Status Codes

Color code legend

Color & Meaning	Comment
In process	The fax is in the process of being prepared, sent, or resent. This is a temporary status; it may change. Query again later to determine whether the fax has completed.
Success	The fax has been sent successfully. This is a permanent status; it will not change .
Failure	The fax has failed, even after multiple attempts (if applicable). This is a permanent status; it will not change. You may wish to resend the fax.

Status Codes

Value	Description	Comments
-11	Pre-processing	The system has received your message and is preparing a fax. This is a temporary status. Query again later to get a final status.
-1	Pre-processing	The system has received your message and is preparing a fax. This is a temporary status. Query again later to get a final status.
-2	Ready	The fax has been prepared and is awaiting its turn in the outbound queue. This is a temporary status. Query again later to get a final status.
-3	Sending (or pending retry)	The fax is in the process of being sent or awaiting its next attempt. This is a temporary status. Query again later to get a final status.
-22	Out of credit, awaiting topup	The fax is being held until credit becomes available in the account. To release the fax, login to your InterFAX account, click Purchase -> Prepaid Cards, select your required prepaid package, and proceed to checkout. Temporary status. The status may change on two conditions: a.) additional credits are bought within the account, or b.) 24 hours have passed without additional credits being bought, in which case the status will change to 205000. This is a temporary status and may subsequently change if credits have been bought.
Any other negative number	Fax is being handled	The system has received your message and is preparing a fax. This is a temporary status. Query again later to get a final status.
0	OK (Fax successfully sent)	Your fax has been sent successfully. Note that this confirmation is provided by the receiving fax machine, indicating it confirms that it has received all pages successfully.
1	Internal error	Call disconnected after several minutes without getting a page break or confirmation from the sender/receiver.
256	Internal error	If you come across this error, please contact support for clarification.
263	Busy	The receiving line is in use.
403	Fax manually canceled.
3072	Telephony error	See *
3080	Telephony error	See *
3211	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3220	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3223	An unexpected disconnect command was sent
3224	The remote fax machine failed to respond
3225	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3230	A disconnect message was received while attempting to negotiate transmission
3231	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3233	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3264	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3267	Fax machine incompatibility	See **
3268	Transmission error (after page break)
3269	Fax machine incompatibility**
3300	Telephony error	See *
3510	Telephony error	See *
3830	Telephony error	See *
3912	Phone number not operational	No answer tone detected. The program is unable to classify incoming signals (i.e., there was no busy condition, no ring, no audio energy was detected.
3931	Busy	The receiving line is in use.
3932	Phone number not operational	Fast busy. The receiving line might be out of order or disconnected.
3933	Busy	Unassigned number or telephony error.
3935	No answer (might be out of paper)
3936	Human voice answer
3937	Ring busy	A ringing condition was detected followed by a busy signal.
3938	Phone number not operational
6001	Phone number not operational	Unassigned Number?
6002	No route available	May occur in developer accounts and free evaluation accounts when faxing to expensive locations. Contact support for assistance.
6003	Telephony error	See *
6004	Telephony error	See *
6016	Telephony error	See *
6017	Busy	The receiving line is in use.
6018	No answer (Might be out of paper)
6019	Telephony error	See *
6021	Call rejected
6022	Number changed
6027	Phone number not operational	Invalid number format?
6028	Phone number not operational	Unassigned number
6029	Call rejected
6031	Telephony error	See *
6034	Telephony error	See *
6038	Telephony error	See *
6041	Telephony error	See *
6042	Telephony error	See *
6043	Telephony error	See *
6044	Telephony error	See *
6047	Telephony error	See *
6050	Telephony error	See *
6054	Telephony error	See *
6057	Telephony error	See *
6058	Telephony error	See *
6063	Telephony error	See *
6065	Telephony error	See *
6069	Telephony error	See *
6079	Telephony error	See *
6088	Incompatible destination
6095	Incompatible destination
6097	Incompatible destination
6099	Incompatible destination
6100	Incompatible destination
6102	Telephony error	See *
6111	Telephony error	See *
6127	Telephony error	See *
7004	Telephony error	See *
7012	Telephony error	See *
7013	Telephony error	See *
7200	Unspecified fax failure
8010	The remote fax machine hung up before receiving fax
8021	No answer	Might be out of paper
8025	Busy	The receiving line is in use.
204000	Rendering error	The system could not turn your documents into a fax. Make sure your documents contain no macros, that they are not password-protected, and that they are in our list of supported file types.
204001	Rendering error	The system could not turn your documents into a fax. Make sure your documents contain no macros, that they are not password-protected, and that they are in our list of supported file types.
205000	Quota exceeded (Prepaid card depleted)	You need to purchase more faxing credits to send additional faxes. Login to your InterFAX account, click Purchase -> Prepaid Cards, select your required prepaid package, and proceed to checkout.
205001	Internal System error (FindRoute)	Something unexpected has happened. Please contact support.
206001	Internal System Error (LocalSender)	Something unexpected has happened. Please contact support.

* “Telephony Error” can have a variety of meanings and sources, which are mostly related to the setup of a call. A failure on “telephony error” does not necessarily mean that your fax will never be successfully transmitted. InterFAX records your initial error message and will attempt to route your fax through different servers on different phone lines, which may make subsequent attempts successful.

** “Fax Machine Incompatibility” means that the communication between InterFAX and the recipient did not succeed even though the call was answered by a fax machine. It is possible that some pages or partial pages did go through successfully. Please check for the ‘Pages’ indicator in the confirmation message that was sent to you.

Workaround for importing InterFAX security certificate into Microsoft Outlook

Nov 2004: It has been brought to our attention that some InterFAX clients are experiencing problems importing the InterFAX security certificate into Microsoft Outlook (Outlook Express does not reportedly exhibit this behavior). Importing the certificate is only necessary if encrypting emails sent to the InterFAX email-to-fax service.

Please follow these steps to work around this problem:

I. Request an InterFAX Certificate

This page explains how to do it.

II. Export the InterFAX Certificate:

• 1. Open the signed mail received from InterFAX Secure.
• 2. Click on the “secured” symbol to view the certificate (appears on the top-right corner of the mail message).
• 3. If prompted, press “Details…”.
• 4. Double click “signer: “send@fax.tc“
• 5. Click “View Certificate”
• 6. Choose the Details tab and click “Copy to file”
• 7. A new window will appear: “Welcome to the Certificate Export Wizard”, click “Next”.
• 8. Keep the default setting: “DER encoded binary…”, click “Next”.
• 9. Choose a location on your computer to save the certificate. You will need to remember this location for the import process later. For example: My Documents\InterfaxCert.cer, Click “Next”.
• 10. Click “Finish” to complete the process.
• 11. You should see a message box: “The export was successful”, Click “OK”
• 12. Click “OK”, “Close” and “Close” (if exists, click “Close” again) on previously opened windows.

III. Import the InterFAX Certificate:

• 1. In the mail message from InterFAX Secure, right-click our “From” address and select “Add to Address Book”
• 2. Your address book will open on this newly-created entry. Click the “Digital IDs” tab and click “Import…”
• 3. Locate the previously exported certificate and click “Open”.
• 4. The “Certificates (Digital IDs)” window should show the certificate “Secure InterFAX Inc.”.
• 5. In case a previous certificate was installed it is important to mark the new certificate as default (Click “Set as Default”).
• 6. Marking a certificate and clicking “Properties” will show the certificate’s properties.

Problem: “The Internet Fax Service Requires MS Outlook 2003”

If you get the following popup notification when attempting to send a fax from Office 2003, scroll down to see the solution.

The problem is that even though you may have Outlook 2003 installed and even though you have activated it to work with InterFAX, Outlook is not configured as your default email program.

Here’s how to turn Outlook into your default email program:

From within Internet Explorer click Tools -> Internet Options (alternatively, from the Control Panel, click Internet Options), then select the “Programs” tab and select “Microsoft Office Outlook” as your email client. Click “OK”.

Understanding InterFAX outbound fax transmission confirmation formats

When you send faxes through the InterFAX email-to-fax service, you may choose to receive confirmations. You can select to receive confirmations on success of a transaction, on failure, always, or never. This setting can be viewed and changed by logging into your InterFAX account and clicking Preferences -> Outgoing, and scrolling down to the Authentication & Feedback section.

These confirmations are standard email messages which are returned to the original sender address of the email-to-fax. Different formats of these confirmations are available and will be discussed here.

Confirmation Option: Plain Text

This returns a human-readable message with no HTML formatting. See the field descriptions below for an explanation of fields.

Confirmation Option: HTML – Local Language

This returns a human-readable email with both a text part and an HTML part. HTML-capable email programs will display only the HTML part. The content will be in the default language of the InterFAX partner handling your account.

See the field descriptions below for an explanation of fields.

Confirmation Option: HTML – English

This returns a human-readable email with both a text part and an HTML part. HTML-capable email programs will display only the HTML part. The content will be in the English. See the field descriptions below for an explanation of fields.

Confirmation Option: CSV

This returns a machine-readable email, with details of your transaction as comma-separated values. The content fields are: TransactionID, CSID, PagesSent, Status, OriginalSubject, DestinationFax, Duration, SubmitTime, CompletionTime, Contact. See the field descriptions below for an explanation of fields.

Confirmation Option: XML

This returns a machine-readable email, with details of your transaction as an XML structure. An example structure is given below. See the field descriptions below for an explanation of tags.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

   12345678
   PRODI'S PIZZA
   1
   0
   Online Pizza Order #5696523
   0013447974477
   52
   2005-12-07 13:45:01
   2005-12-07 13:47:41
   John Moore

When submitting a fax broadcast, a slightly more complex structure is returned, with the following format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

 
    TransactionID
    CSID
    PagesSent
    Status
    OriginalSubject
    DestinationFax
    Duration
    CompletionTime
    CompletionTime
    Contact
 
 
    TransactionID
    CSID
    PagesSent
    Status
    OriginalSubject
    DestinationFax
    Duration
    CompletionTime
    CompletionTime
    Contact
 
 
    TransactionID
    CSID
    PagesSent
    Status
    OriginalSubject
    DestinationFax
    Duration
    CompletionTime
    CompletionTime
    Contact
 
...

Field Descriptions

Field/Tag	Description
TransactionID	The transaction ID of the fax in the InterFAX system. This is a unique identifier. Note that individual faxes sent to recipients in a fax broadcast each have a distinct transaction ID.
CSID	Calling Station Identifier. This is the identifier set on the destination fax machine. Every fax machine can be programmed with its own identifier which includes up to 23 letters and digits.
PagesSent	The number of complete pages successfully sent. Partially-sent faxes will display a number smaller than the number of pages originally submitted.
Status	The result of the fax transmission. In human-readable confirmations, this will be spelled out in words. In machine-readable confirmations, see the list of InterFAX Error Codes.
OriginalSubject	The text inserted into the subject line of the outgoing email-to-fax. This is for reference only and is not used by InterFAX. Note that advanced modifiers, such as /b, are removed from the information returned here.
DestinationFax	The destination fax number in international canonical format.
Duration	The duration in seconds of the outgoing fax.
SubmitTime	The date and time at which InterFAX received this fax for transmission. In ISO 8601 date/time format, i.e. yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
CompletionTime	The date and time at which InterFAX completed handling of this fax, whether succesfully transmitted or not. In ISO 8601 date/time format, i.e. yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.
Contact	This field is populated online when sending a broadcast using InterFAX’s online list management system. In such a case, it includes the value of the Contact field of the respective entry.