RightFax Fax Storage: Managing Fax Images in RightFax

Posted on by Paperless Productivity Posted in RightFax, RightFax Support

Most RightFax fax storage—for dialing rules, users, fax metadata, etc.— is in a SQL Server instance, which runs wherever you specified during installation. Together, this provides everything but the actual faxed document.

RightFax stores the actual fax images within the \RightFax\Image\ directory*, which usually lives in C:\ProgramFiles\. Naturally, the database contains identifiers that associate the images with all other info from that fax transmission.

If you’re familiar with RightFax’s command-line diagnostics, then the quickest way to see an images list is with rfdiag -dir2.

You can also export comprehensive RightFax fax storage metadata with FaxDump.exe; for our purposes, the relevant fields are “BodyFileName” and “ByteCount”.

* RightFax versions 16.2 and newer offer an add-on called SQL Storage for RightFax Images – High Availability. This lets you use SQL Server’s mirroring/High Availability features to simplify your fax image storage structure. If you’re not already on a recent RightFax release, then contact us for more information on upgrade paths and levels of effort.

RightFax Image Storage Format

If you use a version of RightFax older than 10.6, your only image storage option is TIFF-G3 (the standard for faxes) or TIFF-G4 (the standard for scanned images).

These are effective but archaic formats that date back about three decades. Metadata support is very limited.

However, from v10.6 onward, users can save faxed as PDFs via FaxUtil. That same release also introduced the RightFax Encryption Module, an optional add-on that lets administrators encrypt the entire RightFax image directory.

Why Access RightFax Fax Storage?

If you’re hunting for the RightFax fax storage location in order to clear out old files, then there may be a better way. Assuming you have an Enterprise license or above, automatic Fax Aging will unclutter ancient faxes in a granular, automated fashion.

For various reasons, some images in the \Image\ directory may no longer have references in the database, which might render them difficult to access (and not very useful when you do access them). So, if it’s time for some spring cleaning, you can use the orphan.exe utility to identify and delete, restore, or otherwise handle these “orphan” fax images.

If you’re preparing for a migration or upgrade, then the respective tools will take care of fax images stored in the usual place, and will also log their movement. However, there are a few nuances for images without DB records (or vice-versa). For those cases, or if you have more elaborate image storage schemes or DB modifications, then we’d recommend reaching out to get an expert opinion on how to ensure data integrity.

If you’re rethinking RightFax image storage, or need to find more redundant or secure storage options, then drop us a line today for a complimentary 1:1 consultation.

Common RightFax Support Questions: Can I Save Directly to PDF?

Posted on by Paperless Productivity Posted in Uncategorized

Many clients have inquired whether RightFax supports saving fax images directly into PDF format. This was impossible until quite recently, since TIFF was the only available format for users saving from FaxUtil.

Thankfully, OpenText has heeded the feature requests and decided to debut this functionality in the latest version, 10.6. Best of all, the process is extremely simple, since users need only take the following steps:

  1. Within FaxUtil, open the faxed document they wish to save.
  2. Open the File menu and select Save As.
  3. Choose the PDF option from the menu.

(Again, please bear in mind that only TIFF G3 and G4 formats are offered in versions prior to 10.6.)

Given the longstanding RightFax support for TIFF files, what are the advantages of adding save-to-PDF functionality? TIFF G3 and G4 (the standards for faxes and for scanned images, respectively) date back nearly three decades, and are more limited in the metadata they can store, e.g., by a lack of XML support. Perhaps more importantly for fax users in particular, TIFF documents tend to render lower quality printouts and lower-definition viewing, so end users may find direct-to-PDF support in RightFax quite convenient.

If you are running an older version of RightFax, and users are demanding a simpler way to save to PDF, then contact Paperless Productivity to confirm your active RightFax support and schedule an upgrade to 10.6. We also invite you to learn more about this latest RightFax release in general, or if you’re still stuck in the dark ages of paper faxing, to find out whether a fax server solution makes sense for your organization.

For more information or to request RightFax upgrade assistance, please contact us today.

What Is Enterprise Faxing, Really? (part 3)

Posted on by Paperless Productivity Posted in News to Use, RightFax

We toss around the term “enterprise faxing” on a regular basis in our blog and websites. However, it’s worth taking a closer look at this phrase to see just what it is—and isn’t. So, for the next few weeks, we’ll very briefly break down some of the most essential attributes of an enterprise fax solution.

After our previous discussion on fax integration, it became clear that while a wide range of possible document sources is a valuable feature, it also requires a wide range of security protocols. Thus, true enterprise faxing is also highly secure and subject to very granular, customizable controls.

Any organization large enough to care about unifying its fax environment is almost certainly large enough to have offices that will be handling sensitive data. Even if initial pilot projects do not involve protected data, full deployments or expansions often do. It would be a tremendous disappointment for an initially successful fax solution to get extended throughout the company, only to encounter insurmountable security concerns down the road.

In short, data must be as secure at rest as in transit, and that’s exactly why genuinely enterprise-oriented fax servers and cloud fax services support airtight encryption.

As for RightFax in particular, not only does the available Encryption Module use an ultra-safe protocol (192-bit Triple DES), but it even lets administrators track exactly who accesses which fax images, in addition to the standard ‘audit trail.’ In some cases, and especially for organizations concerned with strict standards like HIPAA, these sorts of detailed security features make RightFax the default option.

Without a doubt, security features are one of the easiest ways to distinguish enterprise fax software from more bare-bones products. We’re all aware that security threats evolve continually, which means fax solutions must do the same if they are to remain a step (or several) ahead and provide the security that large, complex clients require.

In that sense, security is one of many ways in which bona fide enterprise fax solutions are abreast of innovations in networking, workflow automation, and so forth. That’s a matter that deserves far more than a sentence of discussion, so we’ll take it up next week in the final—for now—post in this short series.

We’d love to hear more about your own experiences with faxing, both enterprise and otherwise. Whether we’re preaching to the choir or offering a completely different perspective, feel free to chime in!

What Is Enterprise Faxing, Really? (part 2)

Posted on by Paperless Productivity Posted in News to Use, RightFax

We toss around the term “enterprise faxing” on a regular basis in our blog and websites. However, it’s worth taking a closer look at this phrase to see just what it is—and isn’t. So, for the next few weeks, we’ll very briefly break down some of the most essential attributes of an enterprise fax solution.

Last time, we talked about the nature and necessity of scalable enterprise faxing, and left off with the observation that documents tend to fluctuate not only in volume, but also in source.

That leads to this week’s main point: almost by definition, enterprise faxing must provide for integration with multiple document sources.

A lot of information (but certainly not all of it!) arrives digitally these days. Even in organizations lacking OCR data capture solutions, most papers are eventually scanned, which leads to even more digital volume.

The value of a fax environment that can exploit digital document availability is therefore pretty hard to argue with. And along those lines, since electronic sources include everything from emails to network storage to back-end systems, a broad range of compatibility is awfully helpful. Since the highest-volume customers (e.g., Fortune 500 firms) demand such complex and robust integrations, OpenText has taken fax compatibility to a remarkable level in the latest version of RightFax.

A full listing and explanation of RightFax integrations is outside the scope of this post. For now, suffice it to say that virtually every major workplace application (like Exchange and SharePoint), ERP system, EMR / EHR software, and so forth is covered, either out of the box or via a straightforward module.

Now, one might astutely point out that numerous and flexible integrations are no good if data cannot be kept private. And that’s absolutely true. After all, from finance to law to healthcare, the duties and penalties around compliance are considerable. For that reason, we believe that true enterprise faxing is also highly secure. Next week we will look more closely at the topic of fax security, and meanwhile, we welcome your inquiry!

We’d love to hear more about your own experiences with faxing, both enterprise and otherwise. Whether we’re preaching to the choir or offering a completely different perspective, feel free to chime in!

What Is Enterprise Faxing, Really? (part 1)

Posted on by Paperless Productivity Posted in News to Use, RightFax

We toss around the term “enterprise faxing” on a regular basis in our blog and websites. However, it’s worth taking a closer look at this phrase to see just what it is—and isn’t. So, for the next few weeks, we’ll very briefly break down some of the most essential attributes of an enterprise fax solution.

Today, let’s start this little series with one of the biggest buzzwords in IT: scalability.

Why does it matter in the context of fax servers / services? In the long run, it’s extremely important that a fax environment can smoothly grow with demand. Expansion should be easy and affordable, and it must be equally reliable and functional regardless of fax volume.

Conversely, a small-scale solution stretched beyond its limits in a desperate attempt to provide some modicum of fax access throughout a company just isn’t an enterprise solution. Unfortunately, that’s often the case when organizations begin with a few standalone fax machines and enjoy quick growth in business—and in fax usage.

Granted, such an arrangement may work for a little while, but we regularly see these ‘solutions’ cause headaches that just don’t occur in scalable environments.

As opposed to such a haphazard system, an enterprise-grade fax environment is purposefully architected. It is scaled to current business needs (including occasional peaks and even new, upcoming offices/facilities) but retains the freedom to increase/decrease capacity as conditions change. Otherwise—as often occurs with more improvised solutions—fluctuations in volume can make it tough simply to keep up.

And as documents grow in number, it’s likely that they come from increasingly diverse sources. Check back next time as we find out why a ‘source-agnostic’ design is critical to enterprise faxing. Meanwhile, feel free to contact our RightFax experts to learn more.

We’d love to hear more about your own experiences with faxing, both enterprise and otherwise. Whether we’re preaching to the choir or offering a completely different perspective, feel free to chime in!