Re: Requirement to enter fax nos for Outlook contacts in "canonical" format - absurd!

It's even worse than that.
Let's say, for example, that you wanted to do a mail merge to fax. In that
case, international format for phone numbers will not work. Instead the fax
numbers have to be in one-off format [FAX:nnnnnnn].

FWIW, international format has been a requirement for processing dialing
rules forever, so at least it's consistent. And it is a simple matter to
configure Outlook to add country codes automatically when you enter phone
numbers.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Mike" <google@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1112883199.820196.304450@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I could not believe what difficulty I had trying to fax a Word document
> using Microsoft's Fax driver! I am a 20+ year programmer, so can only
> imagine the frustration and wasted time of less technical folks as they
> try to diagnose why their attempts to fax using Windows XP and Outlook
> fail.
>
> Long story made short: Using XP Professional, I enter all my Outlook
> 2003 contacts using a number format like 111-222-3333. Outlook then
> reformats it to (111) 222-3333. Great, so Outlook "pretties" up the
> format for us automatically. Then I try to send a fax from Word 2003
> using the Microsoft Fax "wizard". I checked off the box to "Use Dialing
> Rules", which I thought would end up inserting a 1 before the (111)
> 222-3333 since my 111 number was NOT in my local area code. WRONG - it
> does NOT dial the 1 required for making long distance calls in all the
> USA! Through some magical osmosis, you have to "know" to enter your
> Outlook/Address Book phone numbers in what Microsoft calls "canonical
> format", so instead of entering 111-222-3333 in my Outlook contact's
> fax field, I have to enter the absurd format of +1 (111) 222-3333.
> Whatever Microsoft engineer came up with this system should be shot :)
> I guarantee that if we surveyed 100 people, not one of them would know
> what "canonical" means! Now get this Microsoft logic: On the Send Fax
> Wizard - Recipient Information screen if you *manually* enter the Fax
> Number(e.g. 111-222-3333), then the wizard DOES insert a 1 for you
> before the area code. Why are we penalized for using the address
> book????
>
> Come on Microsoft, make your fax and dialing software intelligent, and
> CONSISTENT. Why isn't there a setting in the Area Code Rules to
> address this? How come manually entered fax nos do get the 1 prefix
> added? Where does that "intelligence" come from?
>
> In the mean time, I hope Microsoft enjoys all the confusion this must
> be causing users :)
>
> I am always amazed at how Microsoft gets 99% of things right, but the
> 1% "wrong" include some real winners - like long distance dialing...
>


.

Relevant Pages

  • Requirement to enter fax nos for Outlook contacts in "canonical" format - absurd!
    ... I could not believe what difficulty I had trying to fax a Word document ... Using XP Professional, I enter all my Outlook ... 222-3333 since my 111 number was NOT in my local area code. ... Outlook/Address Book phone numbers in what Microsoft calls "canonical ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax)
  • Re: Requirement to enter fax nos for Outlook contacts in "canonical" format - absurd!
    ... Seems to me you need to be looking at creating rules based on the area code with different rules for the local area code than you have for the others. ... And it is a simple matter to configure Outlook to add country codes automatically when you enter phone numbers. ... Through some magical osmosis, you have to "know" to enter your Outlook/Address Book phone numbers in what Microsoft calls "canonical format", so instead of entering 111-222-3333 in my Outlook contact's fax field, I have to enter the absurd format of +1 222-3333. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax)
  • Re: Requirement to enter fax nos for Outlook contacts in "canonical" format - absurd!
    ... for local calls to rules for long distance calls (which I use a prepaid ... distance rules when the area code is present even if the area code is the ... international format for phone numbers will not work. ... >> Whatever Microsoft engineer came up with this system should be shot:) ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax)
  • Re: Reading Fax Number from Outlook 2003
    ... > Do you really mean Microsoft Fax? ... the Windows XP Fax service will not process dialing rules ... >> area code and number and select use dialing rules. ... >> Does anyone have an idea how I can get MS fax to use Outlook fax numbers ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax)
  • Re: OT - some useful info
    ... > bring you this newsletter each week, check out the Desktop Search Handbook ... Outlook Picture Viewer ... Licensing Microsoft fonts ... > used OfficeML formats - an XML version of the document formats. ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
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