Generating Fax output

It is possible to generate Fax output from OL Connect through the use of PDF/VT output. Here are the details on how to implement such a process.

Required Components

The following components are required in order to output to Fax:

  • A OL Connect Image license which includes OL Connect Fax.

  • A Job Preset adding the appropriate metadata fields

  • An Output preset generating a PDF/VT file.

  • A OL Connect Workflow process outputting to the OL Connect Fax task.

Job Preset Configuration

The following metadata fields must be added to the Metadata Options page:

  • FaxNumber: The phone number where the fax will be sent. Often part of the data.

  • FaxInfo: The description of the fax in both the OL Connect Fax dialog box and the fax log file.

Output Preset Configuration

The following settings must be used in the Output Preset:

  • In the Print Options, a PDF type should be selected, such as Generic PDF.

  • In the PDF Options, the PDF Type should be set to PDF/VT

OL Connect Workflow Process

Using a Print template

The following Workflow process will produce output from a Print template and fax it.

  • The four regular OL Connect tasks to generate print output:

    • Execute Data Mapping

    • Create Print Content

    • Create Job using the above Job Preset.

    • Create Output using the above Output Preset. The task's Output Management must be set to be Through Workflow.

  • The OL Connect Fax connector task set to Passthrough (the first "Document" on the list).

Faxing a PDF (as-is)

If the original data file is a PDF that should be faxed as-is (without any changes to its content), the following Workflow process will do that.

  • Execute Data Mapping.

    • Make sure your data mapping configuration extracts the FaxNumber and Faxinfo values for the document.

    • Set the Output Type to Output IDs in Metadata.

    • Tick the option to "Bypass content creation". In this case, the Create Print Content task is not needed.

  • Create Job.

    • In the Job Preset, make sure to create both FaxNumber and FaxOption metadata tags at the Document level, and set them to the corresponding fields from your data mapping configuration.

  • Create Output.

    • Make sure your Output Preset is set to output PDF/VT.

    • The task's Output Management must be set to be Through Workflow.

  • The OL Connect Fax connector task.

    • Set the document to None (the first "Document" on the list) to run in Passthrough mode.