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The NLU Enterprise Fax Service (NLU-FS) FAQ
What is the purpose of the NLU Fax Service?
The goal of the NLU Enterprise Fax Service (NLU-FS) is to eliminate physical fax machines in favor of more reliable and secure methods of receiving and sending faxes. This enables you to send and receive faxes in electronic form anywhere you can send and receive email. You'll also be able to forward electronic copies of faxes to your colleagues, and to store copies for future reference.
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How does the NLU-FS work?
There are three primary components of the NLU Enterprise Fax Service:
- Receiving faxes directly into your email inbox, using your individual fax number (Phase 1)
- Sending electronic documents as faxes directly from Microsoft Outlook (or other email program that communicates with Microsoft Exchange) (Phase 1) and receiving electronic confirmations of receipt.
- Sending scanned documents as faxes (Phase 2)
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When will the NLU-FS be available?
The two Phase 1 components of the NLU-FS were launched simultaneously in June, 2007. The final component will be rolled out in cooperation with individual administrative and academic units.
As of June 29, 2007, the NLU-FS is available to every user with an NLU direct-dial extension (i.e., a number like 849-947-5333 which can be dialed by any outside caller). This includes individuals at the Wheeling, Chicago, Lisle, North Shore, Elgin, McLean and Tampa Campuses. We are working to provide direct dial numbers to those at the Milwaukee, Beloit and Washington D.C. Campuses.
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What is my new fax number?
Your new fax number is the same as your current direct-dial NLU phone extension. You can confirm your full NLU direct-dial number by checking it in the NLU online directory:
http://directory.nl.edu
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How will I know if I've received a fax?
Each received fax will appear in your email inbox as a regular email with a PDF (i.e., Adobe Acrobat) attachment. The PDF attachment is the fax itself. The email will contain the caller ID, if available, in the "From:" section and the subject will be "Fax Received From (Phone Number)". If no caller ID is available, the "From:" field will be "Fax Server" and the subject will simply say "Fax Received".
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If faxes are received on my regular phone extension, does this mean that I can't send or receive regular voice calls while I am receiving a fax?
No! Even though voice calls and faxes use the same phone number, they do so independently of each other. You may receive (or send) a fax while you are talking on the phone.
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What about existing, dedicated fax numbers?
In the short term, faxes that are sent to existing, dedicated NLU fax numbers will continue to be picked up by the physical fax machines that are associated with those numbers. However, in the coming weeks we will be working with the individuals and departments who use these physical fax machines to find appropriate and non-disruptive ways to redirect the faxes to email inboxes.
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How do I send a fax from Microsoft Outlook (or other email program that communicates with Microsoft Exchange)?
Sending an electronic document as a fax is now as easy as sending an e-mail. Here's how:
- Open Outlook and start a new e-mail message.
- In the "To:" field, enter the fax number using all 11-digits followed by @fax.nl.edu. (You may send a fax to multiple recipients by including all fax numbers in the "To:" field)
Traditional Fax
Number Format |
Fax From
Outlook Format |
| (847) 947-5920 |
18479475920@fax.nl.edu |
- Note the number format is - 1(area code)(Phone Number)@fax.nl.edu
- Make sure the number 1 is entered before the area code.
- The address "@fax.nl.edu" directs the e-mail to the fax server where it is translated to an actual fax.
- Remember that for frequently-used fax numbers, you can create a Contact in your Outlook Contacts list for quick faxing.
- The body of the e-mail serves as the cover sheet for your fax. Any information you put in the body of the e-mail will appear on the first page of your fax.
- You can attach several different types of documents. Supported document types include MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Adobe Acrobat (PDF documents). Attached documents appear as subsequent fax pages after the cover sheet.
Here is an example of a fax send via e-mail:
Once the fax is sent, you will receive an e-mail confirmation as shown below:
Your fax is sent using the global National-Louis University fax template shown below:
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