Enhanced addressing for fax recipients

A system comprising:

• a display to display a user interface of a fax application that assists a user in composing and addressing a fax, the fax application being configured to utilize a network-accessible fax service provider, the user interface comprising one or more fields which permit entry of data relating to the fax, the one or more fields including a “To” field in which address information is entered;
• one or more processors;
• one or more computer-readable media coupled to the one or more processors;
• computer-readable instructions on the one or more computer-readable media which provide the user interface on the display, the fax application comprising:
• a number composition helper user interface component that is configured to help the user enter addressing information for one or more fax recipients, at least some of which is then provided onto an addressing line for the fax, in a fax format, the fax format comprising [Name]<Number>, wherein the [Name] part of the format is optional, and wherein the <Number> part of the format is a canonical number;
• a resolver component that is configured to resolve information provided by the user in different ways;
• a multiple address book support component that is configured to enable the user to select one or more fax addresses from amongst different address books, at least one of which being a messaging application programming Interface (MAPI)-compliant address book;
• and
• an encoding component that is configured to encode fax format addresses so that the fax format address can be used in MAPI-compliant contexts, and to prevent the fax format addresses from being parsed as an e-mail address by pre-pending a fax-specific globally unique identifier (GUID) to the fax format addresses.

A computer implemented method to enhance a user's fax addressing experience, the method comprising:

• providing, on a display, a user interface to a fax application that facilitates user composition of a fax including addressing information for a fax recipient, the fax application being configured to utilize a network-accessible fax service provider, the user interface comprising one or more fields which permit entry of data relating to the fax, the one or more fields including a “To” field in which address information may be entered;
• providing, via the user interface, multiple different ways that enable the user to address the fax, at least one of which enabling the user to enter, via an input device, fax recipient addressing information into at least one of the one or more fields;
• providing, via the application, a number composition helper that is configured to help the user enter the addressing information in a fax format, the fax format comprising [Name]<Number>, wherein the [Name] part of the format is optional, and wherein the <Number> part of the format is a canonical number,
• providing at least a portion of the addressing information onto an addressing line for the fax;
• providing a resolver component of the fax application that is configured to resolve fax formatted addressing information in different ways;
• in response to determining that the fax formatted addressing information is resolved, presenting the fax formatted addressing information in the user interface with underlining and enclosed in angle brackets;
• providing a multiple address book support component that is configured to enable the user to select from amongst different address books, at least one of which being a MAPI-compliant address book;
• and
• providing an encoding component that is configured to encode fax format addresses so that the fax format addresses can be used in messaging application programming interface (MAPI)-compliant contexts.