Introduction
This section provides an overview of the applications and principal file types of the CopiaFacts system.
See also the Quick Reference section covering the basic steps to send faxes using CopiaFacts.
We suggest that you read first the topics in this overview if you are new to Copia software.
Meeting your Communications Requirements
CopiaFacts software is the most comprehensive set of fax and e-mail solutions on the market today. The system is infinitely expandable, both in size and features, and if you have a requirement for something which you that you think that CopiaFacts may not offer, please ask us. Copia's technical support staff are ready to help: don’t hesitate to call with any problem. Developers at Copia strive to make the product friendly and straightforward while retaining its versatile, technical prowess.
The hardware requirements for a CopiaFacts server are dependent on the number of channels (which control telephone lines, ports and e-mail threads) to be supported. To support a fax board with a couple of fax channels, and a few e-mail channels, a typical modern business desktop machine is more than sufficient (provided that it has a free slot for the fax board, if used). A machine of this type is also fine for running the CopiaFacts client software.
CopiaFacts version 9 supports only Brooktrout and Diva fax/voice boards, and version 8.3.1 still includes support for some older boards; we no longer recommend voice and fax solutions based on hardware boards for new installations, and we are no longer able to test CopiaFacts with most end-of-life boards.
Using dozens of VoIP or FoIP ports, or large numbers of e-mail channels may require more powerful processors and/or multiple processor cores and additional memory. When running CopiaFacts in a virtual machine, attention will be required to the host settings and the resources provided for the VM. Please contact Copia for assistance in specifying hardware for larger servers.
Most of the CopiaFacts screen dialogs can be re-sized. However we recommend a minimum screen size of 1024x768 or 1280x720. The majority of CopiaFacts programs allow for running on newer screens with high DPI.
CopiaFacts servers that do not require fax or voice hardware (that is, those that use only FoIP, VoIP, e-mail or SMS) can run in a virtual machine.
We no longer recommend, and have not tested, running current versions of CopiaFacts under Windows 8.x and earlier or Server 2012 and earlier.
CopiaFacts software version 9.1 runs under Workstation and Server versions of Windows, major versions 10 and later. A small number of CopiaFacts 9.1 components may also run under earlier versions (when all Windows service packs have been applied), or even earlier OS versions, but compatibility is not guaranteed (see the notes below). CopiaFacts installers no longer run on XP/2003 or earlier.
Earlier, unsupported CopiaFacts releases are still available which will run on an earlier Windows version. Windows XP and Server 2003 are no longer supported by Microsoft and are insecure: we recommend urgent action to move from these operating systems, and we no longer recommend attempting to run CopiaFacts on these operating systems.
Both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system versions are supported. Most CopiaFacts applications are 32-bit applications but some DLLs and printer drivers are provided in 64-bit versions also. The CopiaFacts DLL names for 64-bit have a '64' suffix and are installed in the Program Files\Copia folder on 64-bit systems.
CopiaFacts is not officially supported on Home editions of Windows. Some customers use CopiaFacts on these OS, but Copia reserves the right to make a special charge for support if you need assistance to get programs installed or working on a Windows Home edition.
It is very important to disable the operating system caches which prevent CopiaFacts nodes from seeing the up-to-date state of files on the network. To do this, look at the 'Lifetime' registry keys described in the Microsoft documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/performance-tuning/role/file-server/ and set all these values to zero. The COPIAFACTS engine will record the settings of these values in the system information at the start of each trace file.
 | SetCacheParametersDft.reg file to re-enable cache (not recommended) |
Thanks to the file-based queue mechanisms, CopiaFacts servers can also accept faxing and e-mailing tasks generated from other operating systems such as Unix and Linux, although Copia does not supply software for this purpose. The Fax API topic describes this.
CopiaFacts programs do not currently support file path names longer than MAX_PATH (260) characters when enabled in Windows 10 version 1607 and later.
Windows .Net Requirements
CopiaFacts applications do not currently require .Net to be installed. However the API topics show how integration with .Net applications and DLLs can be achieved.
CopiaFacts is designed to operate in a network environment with multiple connected machines, though you can also run a standalone fax server.
 | It is very important that all machines have the same clock time, and we recommend that all machines that can access the Copia Application Data on your file server are synchronized with an external time server. We also recommend that you check the time-zone settings: even if two machines show the same time, if one is set to Daylight Savings Time and another is not or if one is set to a different time zone, serious problems may result. |
Internet/Bandwidth Requirements
If you are using FoIP or sending large e-mail volumes, you must consider the amount of Internet bandwidth you require.
Unlike traditional digital telephone calls, which require a bandwidth of 56-64 kb/s per call, a typical FoIP call over a VoIP channel in G.711 mode (alaw or mulaw) requires 80 to 100 kb/s bandwidth. This leads to one of the principal advantages of using T.38 mode, which typically only requires 45 kb/s of your Internet connection.
T.38 mode is also highly recommended because it fixes many of the problems of using VoIP circuits for fax, such as packet delays, packets out of order, long faxes failing, and the ability to negotiate higher baud rates (above 14,400) while at the same time being unable to support such speeds after the call has been established.
The Internet requirements for BladeWare FoIP are also documented in the topic IP Requirements for FoIP.
E-Mail bandwidth requirements can be calculated from the number of concurrent e-mail channels and the average size in bytes of the e-mails you will be sending. Unlike FoIP, transmissions will not immediately fail for lack of sufficient bandwidth, instead transmissions will start to take much longer, and are eventually likely to result in server timeouts.
See also the Hardware documentation topics.
Installation
Copia provides separate installers for CopiaFacts Server components and CopiaFacts Client Components. See the Installation Notes topic for more information on installation procedures.
