So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side. Everything under the rainbow. What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production ready for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time and doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for various reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should I use an addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated.
shadowym wrote:> > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side. > Everything under the rainbow. > > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production ready > for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time and > doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, > sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada.One simple question - VOIP or PSTN?
shadowym wrote:> > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it >As it has been said many many times before, Fax detection is an art and most of the time is not reliable. Faxing on the other hand, using iaxmodem along with HylaFAX+ works very well. Search the archives. Doug -- Ben Franklin quote: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
On Thu, 24 May 2007, shadowym wrote:> So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out > side. Everything under the rainbow.If you're talking about running it as analog pass-thru over G.711u over SIP, especially over the Internet-at-large, that's the answer; it mostly works, unless it doesn't. Analog fax is highly susceptible to even very minute distortions introduced by jitter, 1-2% packet loss, and/or out-of-sequence RTP payloads. That's not something software can really fix, except to the extent that T.38 may do so. If you're talking about picking faxes up over TDM/POTS, it should work fine. I've set it up a number of times and never had any problems. -- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : +1-678-954-0670
Anybody?? -----Original Message----- From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side. Everything under the rainbow. What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production ready for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time and doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for various reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should I use an addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated.
Someone already answered this question. The answer is no, it does not work by your definition of production ready. Thanks, Steve Totaro http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com KB3OPB> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of shadowym > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 11:20 AM > To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > Anybody?? > > -----Original Message----- > From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > > > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard storiesit> works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out > side. > Everything under the rainbow. > > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production > ready > for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the timeand> doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, > sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > > I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for > various > reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should Iuse an> addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. > > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
I gave up on the rxfax business as it never worked for me. I use iaxmodem and hylafax and it works perfectly, every single time i use it. inbound or outbound doesnt matter. I have not read about anyone using iaxmodem and hylafax having any issues. and its fairly easy to setup. Took me about 1 hour total to get everything installed and configured.> Message: 3> Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 08:20:22 -0700> From: "shadowym" <shadowym@hotmail.com>> Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception> To: "'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'"> <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>> Message-ID: <BAY102-DAV63A72E6A5A730F28AC8E8DD280@phx.gbl>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"> > Anybody?? > > -----Original Message-----> From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM> To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception> > > > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it> works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side.> Everything under the rainbow.> > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production ready> for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time and> doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines,> sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > > I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for various> reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should I use an> addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. > > Message: 6> Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:38:01 -0400> From: "Steve Totaro" <stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com>> Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception> To: "Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion"> <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com>> Message-ID:> <DFB93BD730105941BD1A782A1EE9E95C16466D@1-0fa9e300af524.asteriskhelpdesk.com>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"> > Someone already answered this question. The answer is no, it does not> work by your definition of production ready.> > Thanks,> Steve Totaro> http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com> KB3OPB> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20070528/a8e0e644/attachment.htm
On 5/24/07, shadowym <shadowym@hotmail.com> wrote:> So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side. > Everything under the rainbow. > > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production ready > for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time and > doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, > sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > > I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for various > reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should I use an > addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. >No. Digium still refuses to include proper faxing support in Asterisk. OpenPBX is still unstable and developers really aren't too excited about getting it to work... to much other stuff to fix before they worry about fax. FWIW OPBX has seemed sort of dead recently. If you want proper (T.38) fax support then pick up a Cisco AS53xx, AS54xx, AS58xx, 2600, 3600, 7200. You need IOS 12.1 or above, double check Cisco for specific WIC, RAM and other misc. requirements of course!
Please qualify your usage. A couple faxes a day, a couple hundred, a couple thousand, or a couple hundred thousand? Are you running asterisk and hylafax on the same machine? What is your TDM connectivity? Hylafax uses quite a lot of CPU juice. Anyone ever scale up a quad T1/E1 server for faxing using asterisk and hylafax? Must be a heck of a server! Thanks, Steve Totaro http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com <http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,37/>KB3OPB _____ From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Greg Kennedy Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 4:02 PM To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: [asterisk-users] RE: Bottom line on fax reception I gave up on the rxfax business as it never worked for me. I use iaxmodem and hylafax and it works perfectly, every single time i use it. inbound or outbound doesnt matter. I have not read about anyone using iaxmodem and hylafax having any issues. and its fairly easy to setup. Took me about 1 hour total to get everything installed and configured.> Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 08:20:22 -0700 > From: "shadowym" <shadowym@hotmail.com> > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > To: "'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'" > <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> > Message-ID: <BAY102-DAV63A72E6A5A730F28AC8E8DD280@phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Anybody?? > > -----Original Message----- > From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > > > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining outside.> Everything under the rainbow. > > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it productionready> for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the timeand> doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, > sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > > I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to forvarious> reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should I usean> addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. > > Message: 6 > Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:38:01 -0400 > From: "Steve Totaro" <stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com> > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > To: "Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion" > <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> > Message-ID: ><DFB93BD730105941BD1A782A1EE9E95C16466D@1-0fa9e300af524.asteriskhelpdesk .com>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > Someone already answered this question. The answer is no, it does not > work by your definition of production ready. > > Thanks, > Steve Totaro > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com > KB3OPB > >-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20070528/bc92ae50/attachment.htm
A colleague of mine did some testing the other day, with a digium TDM400 with FXS modules hooked up to fax machines and a TE120P hooked up to our testing E1 line. It seems to work pretty well, and she said it was easy to configure. PaulH On Mon, 2007-05-28 at 14:55 -0700, shadowym wrote:> Thanks for all the replies. Seems there are at least 2 or 3 people giving > strong recommendations to iaxmodem/hylafax as a reliable (ie. business grade > production) solution. That is just the sort of feedback I was looking for. > > My application is just standard business reception of faxes. Right now they > use WinFax and probably receive about 30 to 50 faxes a day. I want to wean > them off Winfax as it's not really supported anymore and I dislike all > things Symantec in general. > > Receiving faxes on Asterisk has the added benefit of being able to use the > fax line as an extra outgoing line when the rest are in use. That is what > they are doing now on their key system and they don't want to lose that > ability. I don't blame them. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Duncan Turnbull [mailto:duncan@e-simple.co.nz] > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 2:18 PM > To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > I use Asterisk and Hylafax and iaxmodem to send 600+ faxes per week with no > baby sitting, I receive about 20 and it requires no baby sitting > > Hylafax and iaxmodem with Asterisk works very well - check out iaxmodem and > hylafax lists for much bigger examples > > Cheers Duncan > > -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com > [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of shadowym > Sent: Tuesday, 29 May 2007 7:34 a.m. > To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > Sorry but I must have missed it if someone else responded. If the built in > fax reception doesn't work very well what about the 3rd party stuff > mentioned on the Asterisk Wiki? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Totaro [mailto:stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com] > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 8:38 AM > To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > Someone already answered this question. The answer is no, it does not work > by your definition of production ready. > > Thanks, > Steve Totaro > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com > KB3OPB > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > > bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of shadowym > > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 11:20 AM > > To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' > > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > > > Anybody?? > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] > > Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM > > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > > Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > > > > > > > > So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories > it > > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out > > side. > > Everything under the rainbow. > > > > What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is it production > > ready for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the > > time > and > > doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about dropped lines, > > sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > > > > I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for > > various reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. > > Should I > use an > > addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > > > asterisk-users mailing list > > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
If you are a junk spam faxer then it should suit your needs. If you occasionally send faxes and if you do not receive one or the other party does not receive one or it spits out junk but that is OK, then it should fit your needs. If you are faxing contracts or other important documents that are worth something, then go for a more reliable solution. On a 3ghz HP DL320 with a gig of RAM, each fax took about 5% indicated by top. I would not want to go above ten simultaneous faxes so I setup ten IAX Modems (50% in top). Even at that rate, there were a lot of failures. I did not bother to figure out why because these were legal contracts, in bulk, amounting to big dollars. The variables are very simple for any of these kind of decisions. Don't think about savings, think about costs. Costs of equipment Costs of time (resources) implementing Costs of maintenance Costs of losing data (faxes in this case) Costs of going back and doing it the right way if you find the above costs are higher than another solution. Thanks, Steve Totaro http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com KB3OPB> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jon Pounder > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 4:54 PM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] RE: Bottom line on fax reception > > Quoting Steve Totaro <stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com>: > > > Please qualify your usage. A couple faxes a day, a couple hundred,a> > couple thousand, or a couple hundred thousand? > > > well what is your usage where it doesn't work ? > > I would like to know where it does and doesn't work as well but so far > various groups have conflicting opinions. > > > > > > > > > > > Are you running asterisk and hylafax on the same machine? What isyour> > TDM connectivity? > > > > > > > > Hylafax uses quite a lot of CPU juice. Anyone ever scale up a quad > > T1/E1 server for faxing using asterisk and hylafax? Must be a heckof a> > server! > > > > > > > > Thanks, > > Steve Totaro > > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com > ><http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,37/> >> > > KB3OPB > > > > > > _____ > > > > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com > > [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Greg > > Kennedy > > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 4:02 PM > > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > > Subject: [asterisk-users] RE: Bottom line on fax reception > > > > > > > > > > I gave up on the rxfax business as it never worked for me. I use > > iaxmodem and hylafax and it works perfectly, every single time i useit.> > inbound or outbound doesnt matter. > > I have not read about anyone using iaxmodem and hylafax having any > > issues. and its fairly easy to setup. Took me about 1 hour total toget> > everything installed and configured. > > > > > >> Message: 3 > >> Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 08:20:22 -0700 > >> From: "shadowym" <shadowym@hotmail.com> > >> Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > >> To: "'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'" > >> <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> > >> Message-ID: <BAY102-DAV63A72E6A5A730F28AC8E8DD280@phx.gbl> > >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > >> > >> Anybody?? > >> > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: shadowym [mailto:shadowym@hotmail.com] > >> Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:35 AM > >> To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > >> Subject: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > >> > >> > >> > >> So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard storiesit> >> works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not rainingout> > side. > >> Everything under the rainbow. > >> > >> What's the bottom line with recent updates on 1.2.x? Is itproduction> > ready > >> for fax? By production ready I mean that it just works all the time > > and > >> doesn't need any babysitting. Do I have to worry about droppedlines,> >> sometimes not detecting incoming fax tone....yada yada. > >> > >> I know I don't have to use fax on Asterisk but I really want to for > > various > >> reasons. Mostly incoming but outgoing is a nice to have. Should Iuse> > an > >> addon package and if so which one? Any help would be appreciated. > >> > >> Message: 6 > >> Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:38:01 -0400 > >> From: "Steve Totaro" <stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com> > >> Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] Bottom line on fax reception > >> To: "Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion" > >> <asterisk-users@lists.digium.com> > >> Message-ID: > >> > ><DFB93BD730105941BD1A782A1EE9E95C16466D@1-0fa9e300af524.asteriskhelpdesk> > .com> > >> > >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > >> > >> Someone already answered this question. The answer is no, it doesnot> >> work by your definition of production ready. > >> > >> Thanks, > >> Steve Totaro > >> http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com > >> KB3OPB > >> > >> > > > > > > > > Jon Pounder > > _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ > _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/_/ > _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ > _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ > > > Inline Internet Systems Inc. > Thorold, Ontario, Canada > > Tools to Power Your e-Business Solutions > www.inline.net > www.ihtml.com > www.ihtmlmerchant.com > www.opayc.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- > bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jon Pounder > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 9:10 PM > To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com > Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] RE: Bottom line on fax reception > > Quoting Steve Totaro <stotaro@asteriskhelpdesk.com>: > > > If you are a junk spam faxer then it should suit your needs. > > > > If you occasionally send faxes and if you do not receive one or the > > other party does not receive one or it spits out junk but that isOK,> > then it should fit your needs. > > > > If you are faxing contracts or other important documents that areworth> > something, then go for a more reliable solution. > > > > On a 3ghz HP DL320 with a gig of RAM, each fax took about 5%indicated> > by top. I would not want to go above ten simultaneous faxes so Isetup> > ten IAX Modems (50% in top). Even at that rate, there were a lot of > > failures. I did not bother to figure out why because these werelegal> > contracts, in bulk, amounting to big dollars. > > anyone have a comparison with a multicpu machine with the same or > lower clock rate ? >Let me further qualify my results. This was done with whatever the current stable versions of Asterisk, Hylafax, and IAXmodem were available in January of this year. The faxes were outbound. PDFs put into a Samba share and a cron job moving them over to the Hylafax monitored directory. Thanks, Steve Totaro www.asteriskhelpdesk.com> > > > > > > The variables are very simple for any of these kind of decisions.Don't> > think about savings, think about costs. > > > > Costs of equipment > > Costs of time (resources) implementing > > Costs of maintenance > > Costs of losing data (faxes in this case) > > Costs of going back and doing it the right way if you find the above > > costs are higher than another solution. > > > > Thanks, > > Steve Totaro > > http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com > > KB3OPB
> >> > > > > Let me further qualify my results. This was done with whatever the > > current stable versions of Asterisk, Hylafax, and IAXmodem were > > available in January of this year. The faxes were outbound. PDFsput> > into a Samba share and a cron job moving them over to the Hylafax > > monitored directory. > > > > for my application I am more concerned with inbound working, outbound > is just a bonus if it works. one of the big points is when you have a > distributed workforce conventional fax machines don't work out since > you get a paper result in one place and the recipient in another. > Hylafax output can easily be redirected from a general delivery > mailbox, or people can have their own fax extensions or DID to > automate delivery even more. In my application voip itself really > doesn't factor in either, the fax setup is on the same box the analog > lines physically terminate at. > > I have had pretty good luck with an old slow machine, ancient > asterisk, low quality channel bank, and a physical fax modem on the > same box as asterisk running hylafax, analog line in - pbx - analog > line out - faxmodem, occasionally I get errors on faxes, and rarely > someone can't get a fax through, but giving them the extension of a > physical fax machine always works. So I am not convinced that problem > is purely to blame on anything other than the far end station. > > What I would like to eliminate is the fxs port and physical faxmodem > from the setup and use iaxmodem instead (frees up a port, plus doesn't > need faxmodem at all, and less complicated) it sounds like this sort > of configuration works pretty well according to most of the posters. I > know there are some issues with fax autodetection, but normally the > sender fax is programmed to retry a few times, and failing that, your > answer message could include a message to hit start on the fax machine > if it does not start automatically, or dial an extension manually to > start it. > > another thing I like to do is if I scribble something down on a piece > of paper, I just drop it in the fax machine and send it to the fax > modem by calling its extension, I get a nicely scanned pdf in the mail > that I can then forward to anyone without knowing their fax number or > paying for a fax call, great for emailing diagrams of things without > taking the time to draw them on the computer.Yes, I suppose the thread title is "reception". I am pretty sure the PDF decoding or encoding is what eats up the processor cycles, tiff would probably be much less processing. The poor man's scanner option is also pretty nice. Depending on the fax machine, it could be on par with a Panafax which is a costly little and awesome piece of equipment. Thanks, Steve
> So what is the bottom line? Does it work or not. I've heard stories it > works, it doesn't work, it kinda sorta works when it's not raining out side. > Everything under the rainbow.I have comiled stats on my asterisk pbx over the last three years. All spam faxes arrive perfectly readable. For actual documents faxed by customers, one in 5 work. Because of this I removed the PDF conversion. In a perfect world, emailing a PDF would be a joy. In the real world we tell people "this is the 21st century, use email". For the rare customer that can't use email or snailmail, we have a windoze share program called Mighty Fax that receives all faxes sent to us perfectly. So, the bottom line as you say, is a $29.95 shareware that receives all faxes and rx_fax, free, that receives faxes when it wants to and seems to love spam faxes.