Troubleshooting - Portal Fax
Table of Contents
Prerequisites: Not Receiving Fax Emails Can Receive but Cannot Send Faxes Error Reference for Portal Fax Send Failures Contact Support Error Messages The 5 error types: Document Conversion Error Line Error Fax Error Fatal Error General ErrorPrerequisites:
- A Portal Fax Account
- Access to the portal
This article covers how to troubleshoot some more common portal fax troubles.
Not Receiving Fax Emails
Please ensure that your portal account has voicemail enabled and email alerts selected. If either feature is disabled, you will not receive faxes to your email. However, they will appear in the portal messages area.
Can Receive but Cannot Send Faxes
If your Portal Fax account is receiving faxes successfully but outbound faxes are failing, work through the following checks in order.
1. Check your monthly page limit
Portal Fax supports up to 200 pages per month. If the limit has been reached, outbound faxes will fail silently or queue without sending. Log in to the portal, navigate to your fax user settings, and confirm the current page usage for the billing period. If the limit has been reached, outbound sending will resume at the start of the next billing cycle.
2. Confirm the file format and size
Portal Fax supports the following file types: PDF, DOC, DOCX, JPG, TIF, and PNG. Files must not exceed 20MB and 200 pages per fax. If the file is in an unsupported format or exceeds these limits, the fax will fail to send without a clear error message. Convert the file to PDF and retry.
3. Check the destination number
Confirm the fax number is correct including the area code, and that the destination fax machine is on and ready to receive. Try calling the number from a regular phone to confirm it is active before resending.
4. Check for error messages in the fax history
Navigate to your fax user settings in the portal and review the outbound fax history. If an error code is shown, refer to the error reference below.
Error Reference for Portal Fax Send Failures
The following errors may appear in your portal fax history for outbound faxes. These are based on the Phaxio error taxonomy used by the Portal Fax platform.
| Error | What It Means | What To Do |
|---|---|---|
| Unexpected DCN while waiting for DCS or DIS | The remote fax machine sent a disconnect signal during the initial handshake before fax negotiation completed. This is typically a compatibility issue with the receiving machine. | Ask the recipient to check their fax machine. Request they send a test fax to a different number to confirm it is working correctly. Try resending at a different time. |
| No response after sending a page | The remote machine stopped responding after receiving part of the fax. | Retry. If it persists, ask the recipient to check their fax machine's paper and ink status. |
| Failed to train with any compatible modems | The two fax machines could not agree on a compatible transmission speed or protocol. | Retry. If persistent, ask whether the recipient's fax machine supports T.38 or is on an analogue landline. |
| Far end cannot receive at the size of image | The receiving fax machine does not support the document size being sent (e.g. legal vs letter). | Reformat the document to standard letter size (8.5 x 11 inches) and retry. |
| The remote fax machine hung up before receiving fax | The receiving machine answered but immediately disconnected. May indicate the machine is busy, out of paper, or incompatible. | Contact the recipient to confirm their machine is ready to receive and retry. |
| No fax tone detected | The number answered but is not a fax line, or the fax machine is not in receive mode. | Confirm the destination number is a fax line and the machine is set to auto-receive mode. |
| Incomplete transmission | The fax started sending but did not complete. Often caused by network interruption or remote machine disconnection. | Retry. If persistent, try sending a shorter document to determine whether the issue is file-length related. |
Note: Portal Fax retries automatically before marking a fax as failed. If you do not see an error in your portal history, the fax may still be in queue. Allow a few minutes before checking the status.
Contact Support
If you have any other issues, please contact support, and be sure to provide any identifying information.
- What are the intended phone numbers for sending and receiving?
- What approximate time was the Fax attempted?
- What happened when the fax was sent? Any Error Messages?
Error Messages
When your receive a callback from Portal fax notifying you of a failure, it will contain two values that can help you understand what went wrong: an error_code and an error_type.
The error_type will give you a general idea of why the operation failed, whereas the error_code describes the issue in more detail. Below we list the error_codes for the API, segmented by their corresponding error_type.
The 5 error types:
Document Conversion Error
documentConversionErrors usually occur when there is a problem with one of the files you posted.
| id | message |
|---|---|
| 4 | There was a problem in converting and merging files to the output file format. Contact support. |
| 54 | Could not access the url you provided. |
| 55 | The string_data URL you provided is invalid |
| 57 | There was a problem storing the file you provided. |
| 69 | There was a problem in converting and merging files to the output file format. |
| 122 | User simulated Document Conversion Error |
| 128 | Could not determine mimetype for file. |
| 129 | Mimetype not supported. |
| 130 | Mimetype not supported: application/xml |
| 133 | Failed to normalize PDF document |
Line Error
There was a problem with the phone line. The call could not be placed.
| id | message |
|---|---|
| 11 | The call dropped prematurely |
| 15 | Congestion |
| 16 | Ring Timeout |
| 17 | Busy |
| 19 | Immediate Hangup |
| 30 | No answer from the fax machine. |
| 32 | Incompatible destination |
| 34 | Phone number not operational |
| 43 | Problem establishing connection |
| 49 | The Receiving Phone Number Is Not Operational |
| 50 | Call rejected |
| 52 | No route available |
| 73 | Number changed |
| 87 | No answer from the fax machine |
| 88 | Network Error |
| 100 | Problem with remote carrier |
| 110 | Network error |
| 112 | No answer |
| 115 | The phone number has been changed |
| 121 | User requested simulated lineError |
Fax Error
A problem occured during the fax communication process.
| id | message |
|---|---|
| 6 | There was an error communicating with the far side. |
| 7 | Far end cannot receive at the size of image |
| 8 | No response after sending a page |
| 10 | Disconnected after permitted retries |
| 12 | Received no response to DCS or TCF |
| 13 | Timed out waiting for the first message |
| 14 | Timed out waiting for initial communication |
| 18 | Unexpected message received |
| 20 | The HDLC carrier did not stop in a timely manner |
| 21 | Received a DCN from remote after sending a page |
| 22 | Received bad response to DCS or training |
| 25 | Far end cannot receive at the resolution of the image |
| 26 | The remote fax machine failed to respond |
| 28 | Failed to train with any of the compatible modems |
| 29 | Invalid response after sending a page |
| 31 | Fax machine incompatibility |
| 38 | The remote fax machine hung up before receiving fax |
| 40 | Telephony error |
| 41 | Unexpected DCN while waiting for DCS or DIS |
| 44 | Telephony Error |
| 46 | Insufficient funds to send fax and not able to auto recharge: There was a problem charging your credit card. Please check your payment information and try again. |
| 48 | No answer (The Receiving Machine May Be Out Of Paper) |
| 53 | Unexpected DCN after EOM or MPS sequence |
| 60 | Transmission error after page break |
| 63 | Fax protocol error |
| 68 | Far end is not compatible |
| 75 | Manually canceled by user |
| 76 | Canceled automatically because timeout exceeded |
| 77 | Timed out waiting for receiver ready (ECM mode) |
| 79 | Can't cancel the fax, it's already complete! |
| 80 | Received a DCN while waiting for a DIS |
| 82 | There was an error communicating with the far side |
| 84 | Unexpected command after page received |
| 113 | The file for this fax has been deleted or is not accessible. |
| 117 | No pages received |
| 119 | User requested simulated faxError |
| 131 | Incomplete transmission |
| 132 | No fax tone detected |
Fatal Error
Something went wrong internally on our systems. This should occur very infrequently.
| id | message |
|---|---|
| 9 | Could not send the file to the fax server for spooling |
| 23 | There was a problem in the final stages of sending your fax. Contact support. |
| 24 | Error 500 - There was a problem in processing your request |
| 126 | User requested simulated fatalError |
General Error
Similar to fatalError but higher priority. As soon as one of these occurs, rest assured that we’re looking into it immediately and will follow up with what went wrong.
| id | message |
|---|---|
| 3 | General error. Contact support. |
| 5 | Insufficient funds to send fax and not able to auto recharge. |
| 86 | Insufficient funds to send fax and not able to auto recharge: Cannot autorecharge. There have been 4 or more failed billing attempts for this card. |
| 120 | User requested generalError |
| 125 | Insufficient funds to send fax and not able to auto recharge: Cannot autorecharge at this time. We've attempted to charge repeatedly in the past 2 hours. |