Talk:Fax server

I edited some material contributed by Julie Deanna which had a very anti-fax-server tone to it. Sure, let's hear all about the alternatives, but this is not the place for attacks or advertising or propaganda! Also worthy of mention is the link spam which has been contributed by Julie Deanna, but that's another discussion. 83.70.78.179 17:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The "link spam" has been removed. 83.70.68.221 13:57, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merging[edit]

I propose that Internet fax be merged into this article. "Internet faxing" is nothing more than communicating with a fax server which happens to be operated commercially. That article contains nothing that is not already covered here. 83.70.65.227 13:23, 15 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

5 days later and no objections, so here goes! 213.94.241.138 08:51, 20 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that Internet Fax should have it's own page. There is a distinction between fax servers and Internet fax and it makes it very difficult to understand if we merge them all together.

What is the distinction? 213.94.241.138 20:20, 20 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There are 3 forms of internet faxing

public fax servers convert a file (usually email) to a fax. Basically, you send an email from your PC over the Internet to the server, which converts it to a fax, connects to the PSTN, and sends it as a fax. The exact reverse is also possible
Fax over VoIP. T.38. As businesses use Voice over IP to save money, reduce phone circuits etc, many are looking to sending faxes in the same way. Unfortunately, faxes convert digital data to any sounds that standard old phones can handle. VoIP converts standard voice tones to digital bits to go over the internet. Basically, VoIP often misses some of the sounds a Fax makes since it is looking for voice tones, not machine generated tones. T.38 is designed to look for those fax tones and send them over the internet.
Fax over email. T.37. A fax machine converts a fax to an email attachment and sends it via SMTP. This can be sent to an email recipient, or another T.37 fax machine.

I really think that limiting the meaning of "Internet Fax" to a public fax server is a mistake. But without defining clearly the above 3 internet fax options, it made sense.

See also [1] Greg 23:48, 10 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See my proposed page: [2] Greg 02:31, 11 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See my comments at Talk:Internet fax. Rwxrwxrwx 09:25, 13 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]