[VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA

[Oren Yehezkely]

Rob,
This is quite interesting.
Did you use a special kind of ATA?
What did you use between the ATA and server A? Was it G711?
If so how could it work on a 3G connection?

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Rob Dawson <rdawson at force3.com> wrote:

> I looked at this a while back but I was unable to implement due to
> budgetary constraints. I'll give you what I recall -
> - It operates in a store and forward configuration i.e. the ATA receives
> the entire fax then transmits it via HTTPS. I am unsure of size limitations
> but I would imagine it is memory constrained to some upper limit.
> - The ATA receives updates from the fax server and then essentially
> transmits a status fax to the sending machine. They recommended disabling
> transmission reports on the fax machine otherwise it would print a success
> page every time.
> - The terminating end is a third party fax server. There one or two
> alternatives that were available, including a white label cloud based
> solution but I don’t remember the manufacturers. I also inquired about the
> possibility of releasing the interface (I am sure it is a  simple REST type
> interface) for integration into an open source solution like Hylafax but
> never got anywhere with that.
> - I don’t think there is anything else commercial like this, at least not
> as of two years ago.
>
> I did a roll your own version as a proof of concept using two Asterisk
> boxes and an ATA. Essentially, the ATA registered to server A. The dialplan
> directed any valid DN to a fax conversation that converted the file to a
> TIF, named the file based on sending/receiving DN and date/time, and did an
> HTTP PUT to server B. Server B had a cron job that looked for files and
> transmitted them based on the sending and receiving parties from the
> filename, again using Asterisk and the Asterisk fax module. It worked
> really well considering the amount of time that I put into it. I was able
> to transmit over 50 pages over a spotty 3G connection and the public
> Internet, I am sure a commercial product would have similar success, with
> the caveat of any limitations due to memory, etc.
>
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Jay
> Hennigan
> Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 7:46 PM
> To: VoiceOps
> Subject: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA
>
> We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a
> customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it
> via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some
> specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
>
> I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used
> these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly.
> Specifically:
>
> * Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so,
> is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
>
> * Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual
> destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of
> paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box,
> or do they get an "OK" report in error?
>
> * What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box
> that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
>
> * Are there competing products that we should be considering?
>
> The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail
> and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the
> community about this and similar solutions.
>
>
> --
> Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse
> Internet Service  -  http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and
> internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV
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