Fax Server
-
I have 34 sites that I cover throughout the county. We have 33 of them remotely connecting to a terminal server and a Client to Site VPN to upload/download necessary documentation. My Executive Director has tasked me with finding the right fax server option for us. I know she expects me to find the best but also most cost effective option (NPO). Also, this is my first time playing with fax server tech.
Is there a way for the fax server to automatically designate what faxes are and put them into folders? The only way I can think of doing this is by having one phone number per site and set it up that way but I know the expectation is to reduce the amount of phone numbers we are paying for. Any ideas?
-
If you are dealing with tradition fax, pretty much you are correct, no option other than using the DID (phone number) to determine intended destination. Same as with physical faxes, the number has always been what determines intended recipient. Faxing is by "device" not by "person."
You can do things like have an IVR in front of fax extensions, but that would be really confusing for someone sending a fax who didn't have a phone in their hand listening to the instructions. It's physically possible, but would never practically work.
-
If only I knew all of the numbers that would ever fax us I could just designate them by the phone number! Ugh. Thanks SAM
-
@wirestyle22 said:
If only I knew all of the numbers that would ever fax us I could just designate them by the phone number! Ugh. Thanks SAM
Yeah, that would work, if you had all of that info.
-
@scottalanmiller Do you think it would benefit us to break it down in clusters of sites per phone number to reduce the time it takes to sift through it all? I'm trying to figure out the optimal way to do this and it's tough.
-
@wirestyle22 said:
@scottalanmiller Do you think it would benefit us to break it down in clusters of sites per phone number to reduce the time it takes to sift through it all? I'm trying to figure out the optimal way to do this and it's tough.
I would keep it simpler and just use DID for everything.
I hate faxing with a passion, but when a place refuses to do better (aka Medical) then you just have to bite the bullet and make it work as good as you can.
Find a good quality SIP provider that supports (blame game and all that) faxing and just get all the DID ported in or new numbers purchased.
Then have the faxes routed to email by DID and be done.
Individual DID are not that expensive when you break away from also paying for the copper with POTS.
-
@JaredBusch Let me recap to make sure I understand. I pay for the DID service with a set amount of telephone numbers (w/ trunking etc) and my PBX can then route the faxes to e-mail, which I can assume applies to groups I have set up in active directory?
-
@wirestyle22 said:
@JaredBusch Let me recap to make sure I understand. I pay for the DID service with a set amount of telephone numbers (w/ trunking etc) and my PBX can then route the faxes to e-mail, which I can assume applies to groups I have set up in active directory?
DIDs and trunks are not connected. Some vendors sell them together, but there is no direction association. You only need DIDs in this case.
-
@scottalanmiller Got it. Thanks
-
@wirestyle22 said:
@JaredBusch Let me recap to make sure I understand. I pay for the DID service with a set amount of telephone numbers (w/ trunking etc) and my PBX can then route the faxes to e-mail, which I can assume applies to groups I have set up in active directory?
You do not even need to have things go to your PBX.
Here is a sample of how VoIP.ms handles it. They do not officially support this yet and it is still qualified as "Beta" but it works.
The DID costs $1.99/month and inbound faxes cost $0.029 per minute.
-
@JaredBusch Awesome. Thanks Jared.
-
Here is the settings screen.
-
@JaredBusch said:
@wirestyle22 said:
@JaredBusch Let me recap to make sure I understand. I pay for the DID service with a set amount of telephone numbers (w/ trunking etc) and my PBX can then route the faxes to e-mail, which I can assume applies to groups I have set up in active directory?
You do not even need to have things go to your PBX.
Here is a sample of how VoIP.ms handles it. They do not officially support this yet and it is still qualified as "Beta" but it works.
The DID costs $1.99/month and inbound faxes cost $0.029 per minute.
That's super cool! I can think of a few companies that could benefit from that.
-
@coliver said:
@JaredBusch said:
@wirestyle22 said:
@JaredBusch Let me recap to make sure I understand. I pay for the DID service with a set amount of telephone numbers (w/ trunking etc) and my PBX can then route the faxes to e-mail, which I can assume applies to groups I have set up in active directory?
You do not even need to have things go to your PBX.
Here is a sample of how VoIP.ms handles it. They do not officially support this yet and it is still qualified as "Beta" but it works.
The DID costs $1.99/month and inbound faxes cost $0.029 per minute.
That's super cool! I can think of a few companies that could benefit from that.
If faxing is a lifeblood, you may want to test this well. I have only used it a few times.
Or as I said in the earlier post, pick a SIP provider that officially supports it.
-
How many actual fax lines do you have today? Are they all normal POTS lines, meaning each line plugs into a Fax machine or Fax device which then either prints or saves the fax to a shared location?
Assuming every site has one, that 34 lines - you probably can't reduce yourself to just one fax trunk, you'd have to see how often faxes are coming in to know how many trunks you'll require.
If your PBX is able to receive faxes directly, that may be a good solution for you depending on how many simultaneous faxes you might receive. Then it would be up to the PBX to distribute the faxes in a manor it supports and you like.
-
That's super cool Jared! nice find.
Of course if this is HIPAA information you probably can't use this solution, but still nice to have in the back pocket.
-
I have not used this feature, but if you need sending, you can setup email to fax also.
-
@Dashrender said:
That's super cool Jared! nice find.
Of course if this is HIPAA information you probably can't use this solution, but still nice to have in the back pocket.
Do not get me (or @scottalanmiller usually) started on faxing and HIPAA....
-
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
That's super cool Jared! nice find.
Of course if this is HIPAA information you probably can't use this solution, but still nice to have in the back pocket.
Do not get me (or @scottalanmiller usually) started on faxing and HIPAA....
A fax is secure, isn't it?
-
@JaredBusch said:
@Dashrender said:
That's super cool Jared! nice find.
Of course if this is HIPAA information you probably can't use this solution, but still nice to have in the back pocket.
Do not get me (or @scottalanmiller usually) started on faxing and HIPAA....
That's fine - I won't. regardless - it's still the defacto standard of what all medicine in the USA uses for intra clinic communications.
