[VoiceOps] Fax

Sat May 25 01:18:01 EDT 2024

Disclaimer: I have only ever deep-dived into T.38, and not into either T.37 or
the HTTPS-based systems.

That said, my understanding is that T.37 specifically deals with faxing via
e-mail.  So if the transport mechanism doesn't involve e-mail on one or both
ends, then it's not T.37.  Typically, the fax machines on both sides would have
ethernet connectivity and built-in T.37 support: you would enter in an e-mail
address rather than a phone # as a destination when sending, and the sending
fax machine would construct an e-mail message formatted in a particular way as
defined by the T.37 spec with a TIFF attachment, send that e-mail via standard
SMTP, and the receiving fax machine would eventually receive the e-mail and
print the attachment out, just as if it had received the document over a phone
line.  The whole process avoids the PSTN entirely.  It's technically
store-and-forward since one or more e-mail servers in the middle are
necessarily involved.  There is optionally a provision for a PSTN-to-email
gateway to allow for faxes to be sent and received between a terminal with
native T.37 support and a PSTN-attached terminal.

The solution FaxBack pitches with its "HTTPS ATAs" is not T.37, nor (obviously)
is it T.38, either.  I don't believe there is a standard that governs it, but
it's also not a FaxBack-proprietary protocol, either.  It's a solution they
bought off the shelf from AudioCodes.  It's definitely proprietary to 
AudioCodes, but any provider who wants to offer a similar service can deploy
these same ATAs to their customers.  Like T.37, it is also store-and-forward;
it just doesn't use e-mail as the transport/proxy method, but is rather pushing
or pulling documents from a bespoke server.  Specifically, the ATA is
communicating with a web server in a data center, running the AudioCodes Fax
Connector server software (https://www.faxata.com/FaxConnector.html).  It
appears as if Fax Connector itself has the ability to gateway between T.37 and
the AudioCodes ATAs, which may be how you friend concluded that this is a T.37
solution.  But strictly speaking, the "call" leg between the ATA attached to
the analog fax terminal and the Fax Connector server is not T.37.

FaxBack might provide both T.38 transport/gatewaying as well as this AudioCodes
HTTPS thing; it's not 100% clear to me at the brief glance I've had at their
offerings.  They do have this white paper from 2006, which spends time the
real-time capabilities of T.38 over and above "store and forward" solutions (
http://www.faxback.com/Resources/WhitePapers/BoardlessFaxingWhitepaper.pdf),
but then they also have this page on "why HTTPS Fax Connections are better" (
https://faxback.com/Solutions/HttpsFax.aspx) where they throw T.38 under the
bus.  I'm not really sure if their position has evolved due to first-hand
experience, or if they are talking out of two sides of their mouth; heh.

-- Nathan

From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Mike Hammett
via VoiceOps
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2024 5:17 AM
To: Mark Wiater
Cc: voiceops at voiceops.org
Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Fax

https://www.faxback.com/Products/HTTPSFaxATA.aspx

-----
Mike Hammett
Intelligent Computing Solutions
http://www.ics-il.com

Midwest Internet Exchange
http://www.midwest-ix.com

â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”

From: "Mark Wiater via VoiceOps" <voiceops at voiceops.org>
To: voiceops at voiceops.org
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2024 7:12:28 AM
Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Fax

Isn't FaxBack just sending a return fax to the number you just received a fax
from, whatever protocol?  Or is the term FaxBack more specific than that?

On 5/23/2024 7:46 AM, Kili Land via VoiceOps wrote:

    Faxback is t.38

     â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”â”

    From: VoiceOps <voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org> on behalf of Mike Hammett
    via VoiceOps <voiceops at voiceops.org>
    Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2024 6:13:02 AM
    To: KARIM MEKKAOUI <amekkaoui at mektel.ca>
    Cc: voiceops at voiceops.org <voiceops at voiceops.org>
    Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Fax

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    Are FaxBack and similar solutions standards-based or are they proprietary?
    I swore they were proprietary, but a friend of mine swears they are t.37.

    -----
    Mike Hammett
    Intelligent Computing Solutions
    http://www.ics-il.com

    Midwest Internet Exchange
    http://www.midwest-ix.com

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: KARIM MEKKAOUI via VoiceOps <voiceops at voiceops.org>
    To: voiceops at voiceops.org
    Sent: Thu, 18 Apr 2024 21:22:16 -0500 (CDT)
    Subject: [VoiceOps] Fax

    Hi VOIPOPS Community

    Do you know about any fax over internet solution that works? We tried
    multiple ATA and multiple ATA configurations, sometime it works sometimes
    not.

    Also, do you know about any eFax solution provider that works good.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    KARIM
    MEKTEL INC.

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