To create a fax server, you must install the Fax Server role. This installs the Fax Server role page, Fax Service Manager, Windows Fax and Scan (with faxing capabilities only), the Fax service, and the Fax printer.

Before you begin installing the Fax Server role, make sure that any modem devices have been installed on the server. If you plan to install a new modem device, you can save time by installing it before you set up the Fax Server role. We recommend that you install the Fax Server role locally and not by using a Remote Desktop connection. You can install the Fax Server role remotely, but you need to make sure that local resource sharing is turned off.

To install the Fax Server role

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, click Server Manager, in the left pane click Roles, and then in the right pane click Add Roles.

  2. In the Add Roles Wizard, on the Select Server Roles page, select the check box for Fax Server. When you do this, you will see a message that Print and Document Services also needs to be installed with the Fax Server role.

  3. Click Add Required Role Services and then click Next.

  4. On the Select Fax Users page, click Add and then type the domain and user name for groups and users that will have access to the fax server to send or receive faxes. Click OK and then click Next.

    Note

    The members of the local Administrators group are added automatically to the Fax Users group and cannot be removed. (The local Administrators group is also separately given full permissions for the Fax service.) Membership in this group can be modified later using Fax Service Manager.

  5. On the Specify Who Can Access the Fax Server Inbox page, do one of the following and then click Next:

    • Click Only routing assistants can access the fax server inbox to limit access to the inbox to just members of the Routing Assistants user group. These users are responsible for routing faxes in the inbox to the intended recipients. You will specify group members later in the wizard.

    • Click All users can access the fax server inbox to give all users with access to the fax server the ability to view all received faxes. This option provides less privacy because every fax user can access all received faxes, but also requires less management.

  6. If you chose to limit access to the inbox to Routing Assistants, on the Select Routing Assistants page, click Add and then type the group name or domain and user name for groups and users who will be members of the Routing Assistants group. Click OK and then click Next.

    Note

    As with the Fax Users group, the members of the local Administrators group are added automatically to the Routing Assistants group, and this group can be modified later using Fax Service Manager.

  7. Continue through the wizard until you reach the Confirm Installation Selections page and review the choices that you made. Click Install.

  8. The roles that you selected are installed. If there is an error during the installation, it will be noted on the Installation Results page.

  9. Click Start, click Run, and then type: control printers. Confirm that a printer named Fax exists. If it does not, then restart the computer. (Or, if you cannot restart the computer, stop and restart the Print Spooler service instead. To do this, in Services, in the right pane, right-click Print Spooler, and click Stop. Then right-click Print Spooler again, and click Start.)

  10. Also in Control Panel, double-click Phone and Modem Options, and then in the Location Information dialog, enter information for your country/region, area/city code, carrier code, information to dial an outside line, and whether you use tone or pulse dialing.

Additional considerations

  • To install fax components, you must be a member of the Administrators group or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

  • To open Windows Fax and Scan, click Start, click All Programs, and then click Windows Fax and Scan. The first time that you run this feature, you should run it using Administrator permissions so that the Welcome Fax page appears.

  • After you install the Fax Server role, you can access Fax Service Manager and the Fax Server role page, including tools to manage related events and services, from Server Manager. To do this, in Server Manager, in the left pane, double-click Roles, and then click Fax Server. The role page appears in the right pane.

  • To open Fax Service Manager directly, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Fax Service Manager.

Additional references

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