From: rshockey@ix.netcom.com (Richard Shockey) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.fax,alt.fax Subject: [FAQ} Network Fax Servers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 1 of 1 Keywords: fax,faq,fax on demand Organization: rshockey@ix.netcom.com (Richard Shockey) FAQ on Fax Servers Frequently Asked Questions An Introduction, Buyer's Guide, & Specification Guide to LAN & Host Fax Servers (Excerpted from the Davidson Consulting print publication of the same name) By Peter J. Davidson With some limited assistance by Richard Shockey Davidson Consulting 530 N. Lamer Street, Burbank, CA 91506 Phone: 818-842-5117 FAX: 818-842-5488 MAIL: davidsonco@aol.com or 75600.3341@compuserve.com Richard Shockey Nuntius Corporation 8045 Big Bend Blvd Suite 110 St.Louis, MO 93119 Voice 314-968-1009 FAX 314-968-3163 MAIL: rshockey@ix.netcom.com FAX FAQ LEGAL NOTICE COPYRIGHT 1992 - 1995 Peter Davidson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UPDATED: 01/14/96 The FAQ has been written in part, and compiled by, Peter Davidson. While reasonable efforts have been made to verify the information in this document, no liability can be accepted by Peter Davidson or Davidson Consulting, or the many contributors for the correctness of the information herein. Readers are cautioned to take such measures as they deem necessary to verify the information herein before taking any action based on this information. Limited permission is granted to copy or distribute this faq for non-commercial purposes as long as: (a) the FAQ is reproduced in its entirety (including this NOTICE) without any changes, and (b) the distribution is done for non-commercial purposes. Electronic distribution of this FAQ (in its entirely) as part of electronic mail and the Usenet Netnews system is specifically permitted. Including this FAQ in a printed book or CD-ROM is specifically not permitted without prior permission from the author and copyright holder. Introduction This FAQ is brought to you by Peter Davidson and Richard Shockey This article contains the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) often seen in the USENET newsgroup comp.dcom.fax and alt.fax relating to network fax servers. If you would like to make any submissions or corrections to the FAQ, please contact Peter Davidson at davidsonco@aol.com or 75600.3341@compuserve.com or Richard Shockey rshockey@ix.netcom.com Your input is greatly appreciated. Suggested questions need not be accompanied by suggested answers. Flames and other comments(constructive or otherwise) are also welcomed. Standard Disclaimers: The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author(s) and contributors, and does not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of their employers or other companies mentioned. The information provided herein is believed to be correct but the authors and contributors cannot accept any liability for errors and omissions. Readers are cautioned to verify any information before making decisions or taking action based upon this information. While every reasonable effort has been taken to maintain and objective and unbiased approach in the collection and presentation of this information, readers are advised that the authors and possibly some of the contributors work for or have an interest in commercial organisations involved in the fax and/or computer industry. Table of Contents A: Introduction What kind of report is this? What are fax servers? What is the difference between fax servers, fax gateway and LAN fax? What does a fax server consist of? Why use fax servers? What are the most common problems users run into with fax servers? Can a fax server replace a fax machine? How can fax servers be harnessed to automate business operations? B: Fax Servers What types of fax servers are available? What is the difference between computer-based and turnkey fax servers? What is the difference between dedicated and shared fax servers? Which fax server operating system should I use? What are the compatibility issues for fax servers? How does one determine the volume of work a fax server can support? Why would I need more than 1 phone line? How many phone lines are needed? How do vendors price fax servers? C: Sending How do fax servers work when somebody wants to send a fax? Is it true that sending via computer fax saves users ten minutes per fax compared to using fax machines? Is it true that 90% of all faxed documents are originally created on computers? How do operating environments affect faxing through a fax server? What do I need to know about fax phonebooks? What do I need to know about fax broadcasting? What do I need to know about delayed transmissions? What do I need to know about redialing? What do I need to know about cover sheets? What do I need to know about attaching files? What do I need to know about send-confirmation and error reports? D: Receiving How are faxes received by a fax server? Why do network managers tend to want electronic fax reception? What issues do network administrators have to consider if they implement electronic fax reception? What's the truth about the benefits of electronic fax reception (EFR)? Saving Trees Receive Alerts Confidentiality View & Delete Junk Fax Attach a Distribution List Annotate Read Faxes on Screen Remote Access OCR E: Management What responsibilities does the LAN fax administrator have? What is it like to install a fax server? How can I integrate fax server operations with existing computer applications and resources? Is there a need to archive faxes? Can I integrate Fax on Demand and BroadcastFax Technology with my FaxServer? F: Market & Vendors What is the state of the fax server market? Who are the leading suppliers? G: Vendor Addresses and Phone Nunbers Introduction What kind of report is this? It is an introduction to fax servers, which are sometimes also referred to as LAN fax or fax gateways or host fax. It includes a mixture of content, some for beginners, some that is more advanced. It is not a programming guide. What are fax servers? Fax servers are shared fax resources installed on LAN and multi-user computer networks. They typically are installed on a gateway PC or file server. They enable network users to: * Have computer files transmitted as faxes to any fax machine or device in the world * Receive faxes from any fax machine or device in the world at the fax server (where the fax phone call terminates) either for automatic print-out or to be routed via some mechanism to fax or universal-message mailboxes associated with each individual end user (or department or workgroup) on the LAN. Faxes are received as faxes -- image files! -- not as computer-editable alphanumerics What is the difference between fax servers, fax gateways & LAN fax? One can make distinctions, but mostly all those terms are used loosely to mean the same thing: some kind of fax node or capability on a network which allows network users to fax out computer files and sometimes to receive faxes to their workstations. The term 'fax server' is often used two ways: (1) as an overall LAN fax system, and (2) just as the single computer-and-software node that acts as the fax gateway for the rest of the nodes on the network. What does a fax server consist of? A computer platform, fax server software, one or more fax modems, boards or fax machines, and end user fax software (including management software for the fax server administrator). Why use fax servers? Fax servers offer many benefits. Versus using fax machines, the major reason is to save time by sending from one's desktop PC rather than walking to the fax machine. Versus single-user fax/data modems, fax servers offer (1) cost-justification for use of intelligent (microprocessor-based) fax boards, which send faxes more quickly due to use of MR and MMR fax compression along with faster handshaking, which means reduced phone charges, (2) the offloading of file-conversion processing to the server so it doesn't take time on the end user PC, and (3) the ability to keep fax servers on 24-hours-a-day, which meansits ability to receive faxes is constant (as opposed to what happens when an individual userturns off [or undocks] their PC with a fax modem in it). What are the most common problems users run into with fax servers? * Installation & configuration can be complex; few people know computer and fax technology well enough to make this a simple exercise. * Cross platform issues: most fax servers support DOS & Windows users; but many networks also have Mac & UNIX & other workstations to support as well. * Print-to-fax technology means that users have to switch back and forth between having their default printer drivers be the laser printer driver and the fax-device driver. This drives some people to distraction and they cease using computer fax. * Idiosyncrasies, usually due to problems with fax software & hardware combinations or software bugs (in the fax software or operating system, etc.), which can suddenly mean that critical faxes can't be sent or received. * Use of low-end modems which can't fax to many other fax devices and which transmit slower than most fax machines, causing fax phone bills to rise * Receiving faxes on fax servers can be problematic. Some manual or automatic method is required to route faxes past the fax server and onto end user mailboxes. The automatic methods either have some catch to them or involve extra monthly phone bill charges from the telephone company. Even then, receiving faxes electronically on PCs isn't everyone's cup of tea: they can be hard to read (impossible for some people) and time-consuming to access and print * Getting support can be a problem. If there isn't a local VAR, support is usually remote. Among other things, this often means the customer has to do its own training of end users. Can a fax server replace a fax machine? Yes and no. A fax server per se can only fax out computer files, so paper documents can't be faxed unless one has a scanner (even then, it's easier faxing paper documents from fax machines than from general-purpose scanners). Also, fax machines are very reliable for receiving faxes, whereas some fax servers, especially those based on inexpensive fax modems, may have problems receiving faxes. And, believe it or not, not everyone uses computers all the time. Finally, computers are known to be relatively unstable; when a fax server or network crashes, businesses appreciate having fax machines around. How can fax servers be harnessed to automate business operations? Lots of ways: * Core business application integration: e.g., medical labs can automatically fax out test results, insurance agents can automatically file image documents with the home office, and real-estate agencies can provide remote searching of residential listings for relocating executives. * Fax publishing: e.g., publish company newsletters by fax to save all the hassle of printing them, stuffing them in envelopes, adding postage, etc. * Fax-on-demand: e.g., the fax server platform provides the engine and shared phone lines to support fax-on-demand databases. Such databases allow callers to call in and select documents and direct the system to immediately fax the documents back to the callers' fax machines. * Fax-on-command: e.g., via image-document databases (documents stored in fax format for quick transmission without conversion), telemarketers and customer service agents can fax brochures and diagrams without leaving their seats and telephones. And without relying on customers to call a fax-on-demand system. * Business-form faxing, whereby (1) overlay forms can be displayed on end users' PC screens and they can just type in the data and then the whole form can be faxed, (2) OCR or OMR-based paper forms can be filled out remotely, faxed from fax machines to specially-equipped fax servers, which read the data on the forms and enter them into computer systems like databases or spreadsheets (i.e., semi-automated data entry). * Production-level broadcasting, whereby multiple-line fax servers execute broadcasts rapidly and efficiently. Fax Servers What types of fax servers are available? Fax servers come in a variety of "packages." Some are computer-based, others are self-contained standalone boxes. Some are based on fax boards, others on fax machines. Fax server types also differ according to internal configurations. Some fax server nodes communicate with clients using network transports like IPX or TCP/IP. Others simply create directories on server and client nodes and then poll all client directories for computer files to be faxed. Integration with network protocols is more efficient relative to creating less overall LAN traffic. Especially in host computer environments, some fax servers simply sit between the computer and the printer and, upon recognizing special embedded codes keyboarded on documents to be faxed (e.g., [[SEND: 1-818-842-5488]]), strip out the codes and fax the files accordingly (while passing files without the codes directly to the printer). What is the difference between computer-based and turnkey fax servers? Fax servers either consist of (1) fax server software and fax boards installed on general-purpose computer platforms or (2) self-contained, freestanding or turnkey systems. The advantages of turnkey systems include that the platform environment is controlled for easier installation and configuration, the software and hardware is built to work together, and there is no fingerpointing between separate hardware and software vendors. The advantages of installing fax server software on a general-purpose PC or computer may include potential economies (use a used PC), flexibilities in enhancing the system with third-party products, and the fact that in-house service and support may be better versed with general-purpose computer platforms than with a turnkey system. What is the difference between dedicated and shared fax servers? Fax server nodes may be dedicated or shared: * Dedicated means that the underlying computer does nothing but support the fax server function * Shared means that end users may run applications on the fax server node and thereby share it Which fax server operating system should I use? The three primary choices are DOS, OS/2, NT and UNIX. Windows 3.x also can be used, but is widely considered a bit on the unstable side. GPFs in the middle of nighttime fax broadcasts or receptions can sour users on Windows 3.X-based servers in a hurry. For the first decade of computer fax, DOS has been the most widely used fax server OS, with DOS-based servers capable of supporting up to 8 intelligent fax boards (assuming available slots -- and those can be multi-port boards. But DOS fax servers can bog down when lots of computer files are submitted for conversion to G/3 fax. DOS servers are not multitasking, and the file conversion process (usually the most severe bottleneck) can therefore impact all other system processes too. OS/2-based fax servers have long had speed, power, multitasking, and ease-of-use advantages over DOS servers. E.g., you can have one OS/2-based PC run transmissions in the background and a second run file conversions in the background (both can be shared servers). Thus, the cost of a dedicated fax server is eliminated, file-conversion overhead doesn't impact the ability to handle transmissions, and end users can still get work done. NT servers are now emerging to provide what is similar level of performance to OS/2 servers, with a key differentiator likely to be that NT will be used much more widely than OS/2. OS/2, however, is a much more proven OS than NT. NLMs also bring the NetWare operating system into the picture by enabling fax server software to run directly on NetWare file servers, rather than on separate PCs. Again, this means no extra dedicated fax server PC -- and automatic fax support for all those NetWare goodies like security. Finally, UNIX offers the most robust, most scalable, and most proven platform -- the whole AT&T phone network runs on it! -- but it tends to be more expensive than OS/2, NT and NLM-based solutions. For workgroup fax servers, DOS is fine. In departmental servers, the choice is between DOS or the other three 32-bit multitasking operating systems (OS/2, NT, NetWare NLM). On an enterprisewide level, it's a choice between the 32-bit-ters and UNIX. The Mac also can act as a fax server, though one drawback is that it doesn't support intelligent fax boards (they all fit AT-compatible expansion slots). This limits Mac fax servers to use of fax modems (no microprocessor on board) What are the compatibility issues for fax servers? All LAN fax systems are G/3-compatible, which means they can send and receive faxes to and from about 99% of the fax universe. But many intra-system compatibility issues exist: * Fax servers must be compatible with customer LANs and/or host computer networks * Server and client software must be compatible with installed hardware and operating systems * Fax server software must work with suitable fax boards, machines or other fax devices (and printers too) * Fax servers may have to support the particular file formats which users exploit. Fax servers also must support available serial ports and IRQs. Plus, where TSRs are used (i.e., in DOS, to provide access to the fax capability without having to exit primary applications like word processors), a slight possibility exists that fax program TSR interrupts will conflict with (be the same as) those of some other TSRs in use with other programs. For fax servers which support multiple fax devices, some features may be fax-device-dependent (e.g., BFT is supported only if the fax device used supports BFT). How does one determine the volume of work a fax server can support? Fax server capacity hinges upon many factors: * How many phone lines one fax server node can support * How reliably fax phone calls can be initiated and maintained so they don't have to be retried * How quickly fax phone calls are actually completed, which largely depends on whether fax boards or modem support (1) 14.4 or 9.6 Kbs transmission speed (28.8 Kbs is coming in the 1996/1997 time frame), (2) whether they support faster G/3 compression methods: MMR is the fastest, MR is in the middle, and MH is the slowest, (3) whether they support on-the-fly bit stuffing, and (4) how fast they handshake and retrain. The difference can be huge! * How fast the fax server can convert computer files to G/3 fax format, which among other factors has to do with the fax server software, the fax board, the operating system and microprocessor speed and power * How efficiently the fax server handles busy/no-answer calls (see redialing discussion in the Sending section) * How many servers can be installed on one LAN and if load balancing between them is supported Although vendors often specify fax server nodes as supporting an unlimited number of users ,the actual number effectively supported hinges on the amount of fax activity on a LAN/network, upon the number of phone lines supported by a server, and upon system assets such as available memory and true multitasking. Why would I need more than 1 phone line? Multiple phone lines support several fax server applications: simultaneous send-and-receive, simultaneous (as opposed to sequential [one call at a time]) broadcasting, multi-line receive and, where DID inbound routing is implemented (see below), multiple lines are required to send faxes because DID lines are receive-only. How many phone lines are needed? Essentially, this an erlang table issue. How long do your fax phone calls last on average? How many fax phone calls are sent and received during your peak hours? Grab the telecom manager and use the tables he or she uses to figure out the number of PBX lines needed. There are also some rules of thumb (which can work out just fine or make your fax server act as if its "all thumbs"): * One-line fax machines are typically shared by 10 to 20 users * Small businesses might want to estimate the time to fax a page at 1 minute. If you send 10 4-pages faxes per hour, that's 40 minutes, which leaves only 20 free minutes. If you receive the same number (another 40 minutes), you've run out of time and calls will be blocked unless additional lines are installed. How do vendors price fax servers? Vendors employ a broad range of pricing structures. Here are some typical options: * Unlimited-user prices for fax server software designed to run on a single server * Unlimited-user prices for fax server software designed to run on a single server with a single phone port -- but extra charges are levied to add more phone ports * Graduated site licenses for which pricing is determined by the number of users per license * Graduated site licenses for which pricing is determined both by the number of users and number of ports per license * Specific prices for specific bundles of fax server software, fax boards, and sometimes the platform as well Prices vary tremendously, from as low as $100 for just the software to as high as tens of thousands of dollars for multi-line large-computer fax servers. Many buyers want fax servers to cost almost nothing and to perform very well. Somebody told them fax is a commodity. Well, in fax servers, the performance of software and hardware and the combination of the two can make huge differences, even if it all seems alike on the surface. The old adage applies: you get what you pay for... Sending How do fax servers work when somebody wants to send a fax? A PC user creates, retrieves or otherwise makes a computer file the active file. To access the fax software, the user "prints" the active file to a fax device rather than to the printer. In other words, the user would have at least two printers defined: (1) one for the actual printer and (2) for the fax server. To print, the printer driver is selected, in which case the file prints at the printer. To computer fax, the fax device driver is selected and, when the file is "printed" to the fax device, a fax software dialog box displays on screen. The dialog box lets the user select a recipient from the fax phonebook or enter a name and fax number. Users also can attach a predesigned cover sheet and/or computer file. Then the dialog-box SEND button is clicked. At that point, the computer file is relayed from the PC, over the network to the fax server, where it is converted from its printer-code file format (e.g., PCL or GDI, the state it is in by virtue of being printed to the fax device) to a G/3 fax format. The fax server then TXs the file and, once sent, provides a send confirmation, or error report, depending on whether the fax was sent successfully or not. Is it true that sending via computer fax saves users ten minutes per fax compared to using fax machines? Too many variables exist to make blanket statements, but here's some food for thought. The average fax is about four pages long and takes anywhere from about 1 to 4 minutes to send. If one has to walk a minute to a fax machine and a minute back, wait a minute on average and take 30 seconds to set up the transmission, that is 7 " minutes total, not ten. And if one has a fast scanning fax machine, the total comes down to about 4 minutes. And if one has a personal fax machine, the total comes down to between " and 1 minute. And the time to send a computer fax? Well, it isn't really fair to talk about the time it takes to fill in the SEND dialog box because that's roughly equivalent to the time taken to create a physical cover sheet for fax machine transmissions. So, the major factors are in computer faxing are the time to select the print-to-fax driver (anywhere from 10 to about 45 seconds -- we've timed it on our kid's 486SX running Windows) and to relay the computer file to the fax server (which is a lot faster with a fax server than with PC fax because, with the later, the file conversion takes place on the end user PC rather than a remote fax server). The ballpark-estimate upshot: (1) versus personal fax machines, computer fax may or may not save time; (2) versus fast-scan departmental machines, on average it will save 3 minutes or so, and (3) versus conventional-scan departmental fax machines, the savings would average perhaps 6 minutes or so per fax. Is it true that 90% of all faxed documents are originally created on computers? That 90% of all faxed documents are originally created on computers is a blanket statement that is true for some people and false for others. Moreover, the issue isn't whether the document is created on a computer, but whether it exists in a suitable form on a computer at the moment it is to be faxed. I.e., if a computer file is printed and an approval signature added by hand, then the computer file no longer is identical to the paper document and only the paper document is ready to fax, even though originally created on a computer What do I need to know about fax phonebooks? How many entries can they hold? Are there both system and personal phonebooks? Can you use your existing e-mail address directory? Can phone numbers from other databases be imported so they don't have to be entered manually? Can they be exported in case you change fax servers? What do I need to know about fax broadcasting? Can you broadcast over multiple phone lines? How easy is it to create and save broadcast groups? Can it be done "on the fly" by clicking names in a list? Can names be merged to personalize each recipient's cover sheet? Does the system create one file and merge names, etc., onto it, or does it create a separate file for each recipient (if it is the latter, the fax server must do a computer-file to fax-file conversion for each broadcast recipient, greatly slowing down the speed with which the fax broadcast can be completed, regardless of actual transmission times). What do I need to know about delayed transmissions? User interfaces vary; some automatically prompt the time and date of a transmission while others require extra steps to get to submenus in order to delay transmissions. If delayed-transmission phone discounts are important to you, make sure you use software which either auto prompts users or via which some users can be forced to delay all transmissions. Many users instinctively send all faxes immediately because it provides a sense of closure. Thus, users may have to be trained or motivated to use the delayed transmission feature. What do I need to know about redialing? Is it programmable by user? Is it programmable by the reason for needing to redial (e.g.,redial in 1-minute intervals on no-answer, redial in 5-minute intervals on busy signals, and noredial at all when non-fax devices answer). By the by, it is our understanding that the FCConly allows automatic redialing five times in succession (but many fax servers allow 99 or more times). Perhaps most importantly, how efficiently does the fax server redial?!! In other words, if multiple fax jobs are queued and one job doesn't get answered, does the fax server re-queue that fax and transmit the next one in the queue or does it sit idle for the programmed redial interval (e.g., 1 minute or 5 minutes) and then redial the original fax while all the others wait Idly in the queue. In the latter case, if the fax server is programmed to redial five times at five minute intervals, all faxes could be delayed 25 minutes while the fax server redials the original fax. Meanwhile, redialing only refers to unanswered calls. There is a second issue about re-sending faxes when fax phone calls fail for some reason during mid-call. Some fax servers may not re-send the fax at all (but hopefully list it as a failed transmission in an error report). Some send the whole fax all over again (even if 9 out of 10 pages were sent during the first call). Some send only the unsent pages (like pages 9 and 10 when the phone call failed during the transmission of page 9). What do I need to know about cover sheets? Does the fax software support cover sheets? Does it have a library of cover sheet templates which users can easily employ? Does the library include suitable cover sheet templates or are they mostly humorous templates? Can the templates be easily modified? Can you create your own cover sheet design in some other draw package then drag-and-drop cover sheet fields on it within the fax software? What do I need to know about attaching files? Is it easy to do and can it be done in one step from the basic SEND dialog box? Can users attach multiple files? Can they see which files are attached? What do I need to know about send-confirmation and error reports? Can they be activated at end user workstations as audio and/or visual signals? Are they accurate: i.e., they should indicate that the fax server has successfully transmited the fax or not; some relay back confirmations of successful sends merely when the computer file has been relayed from the client PC to the fax server (but the fax phone call hasn't actually taken place) Are error details sufficient? Error details should indicate why a transmission failed so users know what to do next. Was the fax machine just busy or was the receive device not a G/3-compatible fax device (which might mean a voice number was dialed by mistake)? Receiving How are faxes received by a fax server? Inbound faxes are received off of phone lines at the fax server node. That is wherethe fax phone call ends. And because the G/3 fax standard did not, until 1993, support a standard way to insert a fax phone-number extension (subaddress) into the fax handshake process (and it is not backwards compatible with the fax machine installed base), to automatically route faxes past the fax server node to end-user fax mailboxes or workstations is problematic. Three general options exist to distribute received faxes past the fax server to recipients: * Auto print on the LAN/network printer, at which point the paper faxes must be physically distributed. A key benefit: plain-paper faxes. First issue: will the addition of fax jobs overburden the printer, slowing the completion of print jobs and fax print-outs, too? Second issue: as with fax machines, auto print does not provide security for received faxes -- they can be read by any passersby. * Manual routing: A LAN administrator or clerk can access faxes (physically stored in a buffer at the fax server) by retrieving them from a Receive Log, determine their addressees by reading them off the cover sheets, and then route the faxes to recipient mailboxes by clicking on recipient names in a fax mailbox list. With a two-level manual routing management hierarchy (LAN administrator and end user), only the LAN administrator can manually route faxes. With a three-level hierarchy (LAN administrator, designated router, end user), a clerk can be assigned to do the routing. Manual routing can be a bottleneck if the routing clerk becomes busy with other matters, is out sick, or leaves the company. Manual routing does not provide foolproof security: even if the routing clerk is limited to viewing only the cover (first) page of the fax, (a) that may contain confidential information, and (b) they may be able to print out exception faxes, which means they can print any fax and see the full document. * Automated inbound routing: Here, various technologies are applied so faxes received at the fax server node are automatically machine-routed past the server to recipient fax mailboxes. Only the DID method is virtually foolproof -- and it incurs extra ongoing costs. Why do network managers tend to want electronic fax reception? For years, network managers of many stripes have called asked which is the best method for inbound routing? Typically, we have answered, "DID, unless this, that or the other thing," at which point the callers thank us for our time and start to hang up. At which point we interject, "But why do you want to implement inbound routing?" In almost every case, we hear hesitation, followed by a rambling answer that indicates that this part of the equation hasn't really been thought through. And it is an important consideration because, while electronic fax reception can be a super utility for some people, for others it can amount to little more than a frustrating waste of time. So, for years, we've been asking ourselves, why do network managers always want inbound routing and electronic fax reception? And we could never come up with a convincing answer. Until one day an industry veteran enlightened us: "It's not in their job description. These are network managers, not mailroom managers. They do not want to be tasked with getting pieces of paper [faxes] from one place to another. That's not their job, that's somebody else's job." This does indeed seem to be the answer: network managers want inbound routing and electronic fax reception because, if they are going to oversee fax deliveries to end users, it has to happen over the network because networking is what they do! But implementing electronic fax reception isn't a "gimme." It involves some "buts": * But DID has to be budgeted for, ordered from the phone company, and correctly installed * But users have to be trained in the software commands and steps necessary to retrieve their faxes and then process them * But some end users physically cannot read faxes on computer screens (e.g., anyone with bifocals), so they must print them all out * But retrieving and printing out faxes (e.g., under Windows 3.x with all 386s and many 486s) can be just as much a hassle as getting them from fax machines to end users We have probably heard twenty times more sob stories about businesses having problems with electronic fax reception than of them having success. Of course, it may be the nature of our business that we hear complaints more often than praise, but we cannot help but to advise businesses to tread cautiously in the area of electronic fax reception. Have strategic reasons to do it. Test it out with end users. What issues do network administrators have to consider if they implement electronic fax reception? Receiving faxes electronically means that bit-intensive fax images cross the LAN, potentially slowing overall response times in high-volume fax environments. It also means that received faxes are temporarily and/or permanently saved, which can eat up tremendous amounts of memory; some file-deletion/memory-management system must be implemented. Finally, receiving electronically means maintaining an inbound routing table, including adding and deleting names as employees come and go. What's the truth about the benefits of electronic fax reception (EFR)? * Saving Trees: Many buyers expect electronic fax reception to eliminate the printing of received faxes onto paper. That would save trees and toner, both morally sound objectives in an ecologically-conscious world. But the economics aren't all that compelling: consider that at 3-cents-per-page, eliminating the printout of 10,000 fax pages saves a mere $300. Meanwhile, the extra time it can take to read faxes on screen (and then to print them, e.g., under Windows) can wipe out those savings in a hurry. And here's the real-world truth: when end users display faxes on screen, more often than not they end up printing the faxes anyway, especially when multi-page faxes are involved. So, the reductions in paper and toner usage tend to be substantially less than what many buyers anticipate. * Receive Alerts: When faxes are received electronically into user fax mailboxes, they trigger visual and/or audio alerts at recipient PCs. Thus, awareness of the fax's arrival isn't delayed until the user goes looking for it at a fax machine or until the mailroom delivers it. * Confidentiality: Received direct to memory rather than sitting openly in a fax machine output tray, electronically received faxes may remain confidential. That is, if they are automatically routed (e.g., via DID or subaddressing) rather than manually routed. In any event, fax mailbox security usually isn't some kind of rocket science, but merely simple password protection. * View & Delete Junk Fax: Unimportant faxes can be viewed on screen, quickly identified as junk faxes, and deleted before wasting paper and toner. Well, keep in mind that "quickly" is a relative term. Imaging a received fax page (text-only) on screen can take from a couple seconds to more than a minute, depending on the amount of text per page, PC power, the operating system, and the power of one's graphics card. The soft labor cost to view a page is often greater (sometimes far greater) than any hard paper and toner costs which electronic viewing is expected to eliminate. * Attach a Distribution List: Users can attach a distribution list to a received fax and easily forward it to anyone else with a "need to know." This is good unless it is overdone to the point it starts wasting people's time because people start "cc:ing" all their faxes. . * Annotate: Full-featured computer fax software supports the keyboarding of annotations onto received faxes in the process of viewing them. Computer-resistant workers may never master this, however. And, unless skillfully done, computerized annotations can be harder to notice than handwritten annotations (though easier to read once noticed). * Read Faxes on Screen: Users can read faxes on PC screens so they never have to leave their desks (of course, when mailroom workers or receptionists deliver paper faxes, workers never have to leave their desks either). But reading faxes on-screen can turn into an EFR anti-benefit. Faxes are hard to read on screen, even on today's "high-resolution" (super VGA) PC screens (7,699 dots per square inch versus 19,894 dpsi for a "low-res" fax;. Moreover, faxes often must be reduced in size (the print too) to fit the width of a PC screen, a situation made worse because faxes often are a bit blurry and skewed from phone line noise and scanning. All this can translate into lowered productivity. Davidson Consulting conducted a study wherein a dozen people read three-page faxes both on screen and on plain paper -- and it took them 83% longer to read the faxes on screen (and reader comprehension was better with paper too). Short faxes may be easily readable on screen, longer ones usually aren't. And some people can't read faxes on screen at all. * Remote Access: With remote access, users on the road can dial up the fax server to retrieve faxes received in their fax mailboxes. Just how effective this remote access is depends on specific user needs at any given moment and if one-call and/or two-call remote access is provided. For instance, if a traveler only has immediate access to a phone, the need is for two-call access so he or she can call, direct faxes to be forwarded to a hotel or branch office fax machine, then hang up and have the fax system make the call. But, if in a hotel room late at night when the hotel business office is closed, a two-call system is useless (i.e., a second call to one's room gets blocked when the hotel operator answers and, and upon hearing fax tones and not knowing to which room they are directed, hangs up). In that situation, a one-call solution is necessary so the user can dial up from a PC in one's room, access the fax mailbox, and retrieve the faxes back to the PC all in a single phone call. * OCR: A received fax can be processed by optical character recognition (OCR) software, which converts text in the fax image to editable computer code, eliminating the need to rekeyboard the data. OCR works reasonably well with crisp laser-printed 300-dpi copies and platen scanners -- 99% to 99.5% accuracy, or about 5 to 25 errors per double-spaced page. But with 200x100-dpi normal resolution faxes, sometimes slightly skewed and blurred from scanning and phone-line noise, OCR more likely registers 80% accuracy rates -- or a whopping 400 errors per double-spaced page! Hence the nickname, relative to fax, of 'optically confused recognition.' Management What responsibilities does the LAN fax administrator have? System management functions include initial installation, adding and deleting authorized users, monitoring and manipulating (e.g., deleting a session) the transmission queue on occasion, setting operational parameters to fine-tune the system, and managing activity and cost-chargeback reports. It may also be necessary to program the fax server for integration with a strategic application. Management capabilities range from little more than the ability to monitor activity logs to being able to fine-tune scores of operational settings to cut costs and improve productivity. Ongoing maintenance involves adding new users, maintaining routing tables, and managing stored, received faxes. As mentioned above, receiving electronically may add considerably to maintenance requirements compared to when fax servers are used only for sending faxes. What is it like to install a fax server? Installation may be laborious or highly automated. Some systems allow network users to be registered automatically via automatic downloading from a network operating system directory (e.g., NetWare bindery emulation), while others require manual input of all user names. With some fax servers, clients and remote fax server nodes can be installed automatically and managed from one remote workstation (or any remote workstation). Most allow phone numbers to be imported into phonebooks. Installation of fax boards into fax server PCs can become complicated if there are IRQ conflicts and the like. As plug-and-play becomes a reality, fax devices should become easier to install. Some fax boards already are much easier to install than others. With self-contained turnkey fax servers, fax boards are built-in, which also can simplify installation. In general, a certain amount of effort has to be put into software configuration. Decisions must be made about redialing, configuring phone lines for sending and/or receiving, who will be forced to delay transmissions (or not), whether lines will be send and/or receive (and whether to schedule different phone line configurations by time of day), who will be alerted when problems arise, how to set thresholds that define when something becomes a problem, etc. How can I integrate fax server operations with existing computer applications and resources? Depending on the fax server, lots of ways. APIs, embedded codes, DDE, OLE, NLMs, etc. Simple print-to-fax. Most vendors have a propritary Application Programmming Intervace however there are several Defacto industry standards that many vendors support including CAS the Communicating Application Specification, originally developed by Intel for the SatisFAXtion boards and MAPI the mail API for Microsoft Platforms. You should check with each Fax Server vendor for their API tools. This is especially important in corporate environments that have unique needs. Can I integrate Fax on Demand and BroadcastFax Technology with my FaxServer? Yes.Fax-on-demand delivers information to anyone with a fax and a phone. It is available 24 hours a day, every day. This simplicity of getting information and continuous availability is a boon to many companies. These companies are supporting software and hardware computer products and distributing product literature. Catalog-based businesses are providing additional information to prospective buyers. The pervasive presence of fax terminals provides businesses with new opportunities to give better customer support, stay close to their customers and expand sales. In its simplest form, fax-on-demand provides access to a database of documents grouped to satisfy the interests of callers. These documents could be brochures for recently introduced products, products on sale or all current products. Callers select documents by entering a three or four digit numbers from a phone touch tone pad. The selected documents are delivered to the caller's fax machine or any other whose number has been entered. A directory of documents is provided when there are many documents stored. It may be received by selecting an item number from the voice prompt menu of a system. The list has a brief description of each document and gives its access number. The caller makes a second call to the system to select the documents of interest to the caller. Lists are easily changed to add new categories of documents and to add documents in each category. Documents Requested are sent out through the Fax Server. Fax broadcasting allows the system to send the same document to many faxes Ä from two to thousands. Fax broadcasting is usually done at night when phone rates are low and when traffic on the fax-on-demand system is light. Some systems provide a merge function (similar to mail merge in word processing) that allows for personalizing the message in a fax broadcast. The Fax Server then sends out the Broadcast Fax along with other transactions. Many systems allow for sophisticated Queue management so requests from the desktop have priority over Fax Broadcast transactions. Is there a need to archive faxes? Although not widely practiced or available today, fax archiving may be an important fax server aspect. With fax archiving, tape or optical drives record the full images of all inbound and outbound faxes so archival records exist for purposes of simple retrieval (i.e., for re-faxing) or for litigation purposes. With fax machines there is always a paper copy to archive, but that is not so with fax server systems (some fax servers let users auto print all outbound faxes, mimicking fax machines' paper archiving capability). Market & Vendors What is the state of the fax server market? It is a small but rapidly growing market (30% to 50% per year). Somewhere in the $100-$200 million range, worldwide, in 1995. The market is segmented several ways: * By network operating system and/or fax server operating system * By store-and-forward vs real-time (i.e., whether the fax server queues fax jobs & releases the client PC or if user PCs are involved full-duration in a fax call along with the fax server) * By type of fax device: i.e., fax modems, fax boards and fax machines Who are the leading suppliers? Let's talk segments again: * Low-end PC networks (20-users and under): Delrina, US Robotics (Optus), Global Village, Castelle, Cheyenne/BitFax, Traffic, LANSource, Vidicode Datacommunications * Novell NetWare LANs (50-users and under): Delrina (via acquisition of Intel SatisFAXtion) Castelle, Cheyenne, Optus, RightFAX, Traffic * Novell NetWare LANs (50-users and over): Alcom, Biscom, Castelle, Cheyenne, Optus, RightFAX * E-mail-integrated fax servers: Lotus, Optus, RightFAX, TopCall, TRS, Siren, Resource Partners * Fax machine-based fax servers: Wordcraft, LA Business, Softline, Canon, Lanier, Pitney Bowes, JetFax, Mita, Ricoh/Biscom, Panasonic, Muratec * NLM-Based: Cheyenne, Optus, Tobit, Biscom * NT LANs & servers: Omtool, Optus, RightFAX * Apple Macintosh: Global Village, 4-Sight, PSI/Supra * Banyan VINES: Biscom, Alcom, Traffic * IBM mainframe: AIFP, Teubner, TopCall, Biscom * IBM AS/400: TopCall, CMA-Ettworth, Quadrant, Biscom * UNIX-based fax servers: Devcom, Siren, Softlinx, Faximum, V-Systems, Bristol, Biscom * Production-level fax servers: AIFP, Biscom, FaxBack, T4, TopCall * Enterprisewide fax servers: Biscom, TopCall, Devcom, Bristol, Siren, Open Port, RightFAX, Optus, Omtool VENDOR ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS Communique Laboratory, Inc. 6185 Ordan Dr, Suite 220 Mississauga ONT L57 2E1 1-416-795-2888 Sight International Ltd 64/68 Norwich Ave West Bournemouth BH2 6AW 44 202 761 766 4-Sight L.C. 1801 Industrial Circle, Box65340 West Des Moines IA 50265 1-800-448-3299 AIFP 5560 SW 107th Beaverton OR 97005 1-800-366-1611 ASP Computer Products 160 San Gabriel Drive Sunnyvale CA 94086 Alcom Corporation 1616 N. Shoreline Blvd Mountain View CA 94043-1316 Voice: 1-415-694-7000 FAX: 1 415-694-7070 WWW:www.alcom.com Arnet Corporation 618 Grassmere Park Drive #6 Nashville TN 37211 Biscom, Inc. 321 Billerica Road Chelmsford MA 01824 1-508-250-1800 Bristol Group Ltd 100 larkspur Landing Circle #200 Larkspur CA 94939 Brooktrout Technology, Inc. 144 Gould St -- Needham Exec Ctr Needham MA 02192 1-617-449-4100 WWW:www.brooktrout.com CEC Corp 208 E 51st St -- # 400 New York NY 10022 800-477-0791 CMA-Ettworth 15 Coombe Road Surray, London KT2 7AB 011-44-181-541-1444 CMA-Ettworth, Inc. 7380 Sand Lake Rd #550 Orlando FL 32819 407-352-5248 Cypress Research Corp 240 E Caribbean Dr Sunnyvale CA 94089 408-752-2700 Calculus, Inc. 1761 West Hillsboro Blvd Deerfield Beach FL 33442-1530 Canon U.S.A., Inc. One Canon Plaza Lake Success NY 11042-1113 1-516-488-6700 Cardiff Software 6351Yarrow Dr Suite E Solana Beach CA 92075 1-619-931-4530 Castelle Corp. 3255-3 Scott Blvd Santa Clara CA 95054 1-408-496-0474 Cheyenne Comm. Fremont Develop. Center 47987 Freemont Blvd Fremont CA 94538 510-490-2928 Cheyenne Software, Inc. 55 Bryant Ave Roslyn NY 11576 516-484-5110 Cobalt Technologies Inc. 234 Church Street Canada L3P 2M7 Markham 905-472-0411 Copia International Ltd 1342 Avalon Court Wheaton IL 60187 800-689-8898 Fax Server and Fax on Demand WWW: www.copia.com DCE Corporation 181 Grove St Stamford CT 06902 1-800-326-3821 Data Processing Design, Inc. 22687 Old Canal Road Yorba Linda CA 92687 Delrina Corp. 895 Don Mills Rd., 500-2 ParkCent Toronto ONT M3C 1W3 1-416-441-3676 WWW:www.delrina.com Devcom Mid-America 2603 W. 22nd St., Suite 23 Oak Brook IL 60521 1-708-574-3600 Equisys Ltd 45 Curlew St London SE1 2ND ENGLAND 44171-403-2227 European Business Group Katana House Fort Fareham, Newgate Lane, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 1AH Extended Systems 6123 N. Meeker Ave Boise ID 83704 1-208-322-7575 Fax*Star 4001 Westerly Pl Newport Beach CA 92660 Faximum Software, Inc. 1497 Marine Dr., Suite 300 W. Vancouver BC V7T 1B8 1-604-925-3600 Fischer International Syst. Corp. 4073 Merchantile Ave Naples FL 33942 1-813-643-1500 GammaLink 1314 Chesapeake Terrace Sunnyvale CA 94089 1-408-744-1400 WWW:www.gammalink.com or www.dialogic.com Global Village Communication Inc 1144 E. Arques Ave Sunnyvale CA 94086 1-408-523-1000 WWW: www.globalvillage.com Ibex Technologies, Inc. PO Box 148 Placerville CA 95667 1-916-621-4342 Fax on Demand For Fax Servers WWW: www.ibex.com Incotel, Inc. 5 Penn Plaza New York NY 10001 212-594-8340 JetFax, Inc. 1376 Willow Rd Menlo Park CA 94025 1-800-753-9329 Keller Group Inc. 8600 Jewel Avenue North Stillwater MN 55082-9351 612-429-7273 Konica Business Machines USA 500 Day Hill Rd Windsor CT 06095 1-203-683-2222 LA Business Systems, Inc. 497 Pleasant Ave Highland Park IL 60035 1-312-433-6477 LANSource Technologies, Inc. 526 Queen St East Toronto ONT M5A 1V2 416-866-8575 Lanier Worldwide, Inc. 2300 Parklake Drive NE Atlanta GA 30345 1-404-621-1110 Lotus Development Corp. 55 Cambridge Pkwy Cambridge MA 02142 Minolta Corporation 101 Williams Drive Ramsey NJ 07446 1-201-825-4000 Mita Copystar America, Inc. 225 Sand Road Fairfield NJ 07004 1-201-825-4000 Mitek Systems, Inc. 10070 Carrroll Canyon Road San Diego CA 92131 619-635-5900 800-350-0661 Monroe Systems 1000 The American Rd Morris Plains NJ 07950 1-201-993-2000 MultiTech Systems 2205 Woodale Dr Mounds View MN 55112 1-612-785-3500 Muratec/Murata Business Systems 5560 Tennyson Pkwy Plano TX 75024 1-214-403-3300 Nuntius Corporation 8045 Big Bend Blvd Suite 110 St.Louis, MO 93119 Voice 314-968-1009 FAX 314-968-3163 Fax on Demand for Network Fax Servers Okidata 532 Fellowship Rd Mount Laurel NJ 08054 1-609-235-2600 Omtool 2 Manor Parkway Salem NH 03079 603-898-8900 Open Port Technology 5520 W. Touhy Avenue Skokie IL 60077 312-867-5000 Optus Software, Inc. 100 Davidson Ave Somerset NJ 08873-9931 1-201-271-9568 PSI DIRECT 851 E Hamilton Ave -- # 200 Campbell CA 95008 408-369-5705 Pacific Image Communications 919 South Fremont Avenue, Suite 238 Alhambra CA 91803 457-8880 Panasonic Two Panasonic Way Secaucus NJ 07094 201-348-5200 Pitney Bowes 3191 Broadbridge Ave Stratford CT 06497-2559 1-203-381-7000 Pure Data Limited 180 West Beaver Creek Rd Richmond Hill ONT L4B 1B4 1-905-731-6444 WWW: www.puredata.com Quadrant Software PO Box 200 Mansfield MA 02048 508-337-8559 Resource Partners Box 689, Meadow Street Wakefield NH 03872 603-522-9500 Ricoh Corporation Five Dedrick Place West Caldwell NJ 07006 1-201-882-2000 RightFax, Inc. 4400 E. Broadway, Suite 312 Tucson AZ 85711 1-520-327-1357 STF Technologies 1-70&Highway23P.O. Box81 Concordia MO 64020 816-463-7972 Scandinavian SOFTLINE TECHNOLOGY Tekniikantie 12 (Innopoli) Espoo FINLAND 02150 Sharp Electronics Corp. Sharp Plaza Mahwah NJ 07430-2135 1-201-529-8200 Simplify Development Corp 20 Industrial Park Dr Nashua NH 03062 603-881-4450 Siren Software 505 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto CA 94301 415-322-0600 Soft-Switch (Lotus) 640 Lee Rd-Chesterbrook Corp Ctr Wayne PA 19087-5698 215-640-9600 SoftLinx, Inc. 234 Littleton Road Westford MA 01886 508-392-0001 Softline Technology Inc 2502 California Avenue Santa Monica CA 90403 310-589-9116 SupportNet 8425 Woodfield Crossing Blvd., #125 Indianapolis IN 46240-2495 317-469-4189 T4 Systems, Inc. 3 Innwood Circle Little Rock AK 72211 1-501-227-6245 TGI Technologies 107 E 3rd Ave Vancouver BC V5T 1C7 604-872-6676 TRS Technologies 13865 NW Cornell Rd Portland OR 97229 503-646-5321 Teubner & Associates PO Box 1994 Stillwater OK 74076 1-405-624-2254 TopCall Corp. 435 Devon Park Drive, Suite 804 Wayne PA 19007 215-688-2600 TopCall International Gesmbh Zetsschegasse 21 Vienna A-1232 011-43-1661-330 Toshiba America Information Syst 9740 Irvine Blvd Irvine CA 92713 1-714-583-3000 Traffic Software 360 W 31st Street New York NY 10001-2793 212-714-1584 Traffic Software, Inc. Skipholt 50c, PO Box 5114 Reykjavik Trio Information Systems AB Odelbergsvag 17 134 40 Gustavsberg Sweden 46-08-570305-90 Trio Information Systems, Inc. 8601 Six Forks Rd., Suite 615 Raleigh NC 27615 919-846-4990 U.S. Robotics, Inc. 8100 North McCormick Blvd Skokie IL 60076-2999 708-982-5069 V-Systems 39 Brookhollow Drive Santa Ana CA 92705 Vidicode Datacommunications 1220 Cypress Drive Wilmington NC 28409 Voice 910-452-1842 FAX 910-343-1201 WWW: www.vidicode.com Vivitek 12493 Brookglen Dr Saratoga CA 95070 Wilco Communications, Inc. 201 Rock Rd., Suite 210 Glen Rock NJ 07452 1-201-612-9414 Wordcraft Systems 2082 Michelson Drive #300 Irvine CA 92715 1-714-261-7044 Xerox Corp. 3400 Hillview Ave., Mailstop 504 Palo Alto CA 94304 Xerox Corporation Xerox Square -- 011A Rochester NY 14644-1877 716-423-5798 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Richard Shockey Developers of Fax on Demand Solutions President For Business, Media, Industry and Nuntius Corporation Government. 8045 Big Bend Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63119 For a Demonstration Call our Voice 314.968.1009 CommandFax Demonstration Line FAX 314.968.3163 at 314.986.3461 Internet: rshockey@ix.netcom.com <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<