Fax Service
Overview
The Fax Service sends queued documents out as faxes. On a fixed timer it checks SBN for the next batch of fax requests, locates the document for each request (typically a PDF produced by the Report Service), sends it, and then reports the result back to SBN so the request is marked complete. If a fax cannot be delivered the service retries it up to a configured number of attempts before giving up.
Faxes are normally sent through the fax capability built into Windows, so the service runs on a Windows machine with faxing available. As an alternative, the service can be switched into Custom Mode, where instead of faxing directly it hands each document to an external program of your choosing — useful for sites that deliver faxes through a third-party or cloud fax provider. The Fax Service requires a working SBN data-server connection; if that connection is unavailable at start-up the service logs the reason and stops. It also needs access to the folder where report output is written, which is configured on the Report Service rather than here.
Dashboard
Installing and managing this service is done from the SBN Services Dashboard — see <a href="/help/SBN-Services/Dashboard">here</a>.
Service Properties
Only properties specific to this service are listed here. Common service properties (SBN Server connection, Logging, SMTP) are found <a href="/help/SBN-Services/Common-Properties">here</a>.
Timer (In Seconds)
How often the service checks SBN for newly queued faxes.
Max Records
The maximum number of fax requests the service will pick up in a single pass. Lower this if you want the service to work through the queue in smaller batches.
Max Retries
How many times the service will re-attempt a fax that failed to send before marking it as unsuccessful.
Reports PDF Directory
The folder the service reads documents from is shown here for reference only. It is not set on this service — it comes from the Report Service properties.
Use Custom Mode
When checked, the service stops faxing documents itself and instead passes each one to the external program named below. Leave it unchecked to use standard Windows faxing.
Custom External File (Full Path)
The full path to the external program used when Custom Mode is enabled. The service runs this program for each queued document and uses its result to decide whether the fax succeeded.