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#6773 07/24/05 06:42 PM
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I had a thought (frightening!), but was trying to find a good solution to fit my idea. I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.

I currently get most of my service orders emailed to me. They come in .PDF format. My PDA gets the email, and converts .PDF and .DOC files into plain old text, which works out fine if all I want to do is see the address for where I'm going next, or see the details of the job description. I'd like to take it one step farther, though. I know I could do something with a fax box through voicemail, but here is what I'm looking to accomplish:

I would like to be able to forward that email from my PDA to a fax number. This way, when I get to a jobsite and find out what their fax number is, I can have that service order faxed right to me. This frees up our dispatchers, and I don't end up having to wait as long. This way too, I can get my notes jotted on the service order and secure a signature from the customer (okay, so I'm still ending up doing things the old-fashioned way, but it's a start).

I looked into eFax.com. Novel idea, and they will even give me a free trial offer, but the FREE is only for incoming, not outgoing. They want $0.10 per fax (or per page, I forget which) for faxes I send. The way it works with them, according to the way I understood it and the way it was explained by them, is that I can send an email to [email protected]. It supposedly will fax the email and supported attachments to that fax number. I didn't quite understand how they know who to bill it to, so I don't know for sure this would work from my PDA. Maybe they know based on what email address it's being sent from.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone knows of an easy in-house solution that accomplishes the same thing. Can I get Exchange's (2003) built in fax "server" to do this? If not, does anyone know of another program to do this? The attachment is the key part.

Thanks!

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| Telephone Systems, Voicemail Syste... & Data Cabling - Central Valley, CA

[This message has been edited by 5years&counting (edited July 24, 2005).]

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#6774 07/25/05 07:14 AM
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We use the fax client built in to Windows Small Business Server 2003 to receive faxes. They are then sent to a couple of email addresses. However, I'm not sure that you could fax out simply by emailing from your palm.

You may take a look at https://www.snappysoftware.com

We used it before we went to SBS 2003. It worked well.

#6775 07/25/05 07:31 AM
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If you have MS Outlook 2000 or better, you can use a faxmodem and Winfax Lite addon(standard outlook featue but not automatically installed) on any workstation.
Let me know if you need more info on this.

#6776 07/25/05 09:39 AM
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Quote
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by dennis:
If you have MS Outlook 2000 or better, you can use a faxmodem and Winfax Lite addon(standard outlook featue but not automatically installed) on any workstation.
Let me know if you need more info on this.
</font>

Well, it's actually for a PDA, so I don't think that would work.

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| Signal Communication Systems - Fresno, CA |

| Telephone Systems, Voicemail Syste... & Data Cabling - Central Valley, CA

#6777 07/25/05 02:24 PM
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Seems like you are going through a lot of trouble just to print out a work order at the jobsite. What if they don't have a fax available? Kind of amateurish don't you think to rely on the customers equipment to do your work.

Probably time to ditch the PDA and get a real computer (laptop) and a printer for your truck.

-Hal


CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Some comments made by me are known to the State of California to cause irreversible brain damage and serious mental disorders leading to confinement.
#6778 07/25/05 04:08 PM
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Ouch Hal!

Actually, I have a T-Mobile Sidekick II that I carry for personal use, and am making use out of it to get my company emails, so I can keep up with correspondence. I'm just trying to make do with what I already have. When a service order is dispatched while we are out in the field, often times I just get the email, then have to print it and fill it out at a later date, and then I also don't end up getting the customer's signature. Not a great situation. Sometimes they will fax it to the customer site. I have never had a customer complain or even really comment on this. They always just say it's okay. Most of the time this was a last-minute call requesting service, so they are happy to oblige.

Oh, and by the way. I do carry a laptop. I just don't have wireless (cellular) internet for it, and I don't have a printer in my van. More expense than I'm looking for at this point (the internet access, not the printer).

What do you use?

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[Linked Image from sundance-communications.com]
| Signal Communication Systems - Fresno, CA |

| Telephone Systems, Voicemail Syste... & Data Cabling - Central Valley, CA

[This message has been edited by 5years&counting (edited July 25, 2005).]

#6779 07/25/05 11:21 PM
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Old fashion but we just carry blank work orders. On emergencys we just fill it out and have the customer sign. Gets the job done.

Steph


Do the job right the first time.
#6780 07/26/05 12:30 AM
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Ditto for me phone girl.Having a stack of blank service orders is always a must for me.I use at least 5-10 of them a week.It saves time for dispatch and it allows me to be productive by not having to wait around on faxes.

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Richard


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#6781 07/26/05 02:08 AM
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Same for me, We all cannot be as top notch as Hal

#6782 07/26/05 08:00 AM
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Hey, I didn't say I used a laptop and printer! We still use written work orders and carry blanks on the truck too.

If I needed to generate printed work orders in the field that's how I like to think I would do it. I've seen it done that way by other companies.

-Hal


CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Some comments made by me are known to the State of California to cause irreversible brain damage and serious mental disorders leading to confinement.

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