VoIP Faxing - busy signals
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For those of you using FreePBX or similar, how do you setup your ATA devices to receive incoming faxes so that there is never a busy signal on the line?
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine. So, I have an ATA device on the fax machine that converts to SIP for me. Outgoing faxing works perfect, and incoming faxing works, as long as the line is not busy. If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
For those of you using FreePBX or similar, how do you setup your ATA devices to receive incoming faxes so that there is never a busy signal on the line?
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine. So, I have an ATA device on the fax machine that converts to SIP for me. Outgoing faxing works perfect, and incoming faxing works, as long as the line is not busy. If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Don't send inbound faxes to the machine. Send them to Email.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine.
Literally have never done that. I dont see that working well.
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@JaredBusch said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
For those of you using FreePBX or similar, how do you setup your ATA devices to receive incoming faxes so that there is never a busy signal on the line?
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine. So, I have an ATA device on the fax machine that converts to SIP for me. Outgoing faxing works perfect, and incoming faxing works, as long as the line is not busy. If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Don't send inbound faxes to the machine. Send them to Email.
I'd really like to, but they currently want them at the fax machine. If there isn't any other way, then I will push them to go to email.
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@scottalanmiller said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine.
Literally have never done that. I dont see that working well.
Oh, it's the worst... It works, but I don't like it. I'd rather just push them to use an online service to completely get away from on prem faxing, but for now, this is what they want.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@JaredBusch said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
For those of you using FreePBX or similar, how do you setup your ATA devices to receive incoming faxes so that there is never a busy signal on the line?
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine. So, I have an ATA device on the fax machine that converts to SIP for me. Outgoing faxing works perfect, and incoming faxing works, as long as the line is not busy. If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Don't send inbound faxes to the machine. Send them to Email.
I'd really like to, but they currently want them at the fax machine. If there isn't any other way, then I will push them to go to email.
There probably is a way, it's just not good. If you pass the call directly to the end device there is no handling of the fax, you will probably get something garbled. But at least the failure will be at the request of someone, so you have someone to blame for the faxing failing.
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@scottalanmiller We have a fax machine in our office that is part of an all in one device. I hooked it up to the same device (Grandstream HT701) for a POC and it works, without being garbled. I have a separate DID that comes into the PBX and directly to the extension/ATA device. So far, I haven't had any messy faxes.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@scottalanmiller We have a fax machine in our office that is part of an all in one device. I hooked it up to the same device (Grandstream HT701) for a POC and it works, without being garbled. I have a separate DID that comes into the PBX and directly to the extension/ATA device. So far, I haven't had any messy faxes.
So what happens when YOUR all in one is busy and another fax tries to come in?
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@Dashrender said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@scottalanmiller We have a fax machine in our office that is part of an all in one device. I hooked it up to the same device (Grandstream HT701) for a POC and it works, without being garbled. I have a separate DID that comes into the PBX and directly to the extension/ATA device. So far, I haven't had any messy faxes.
So what happens when YOUR all in one is busy and another fax tries to come in?
Then the busy comes from the end user, not the PBX. So he can point fingers at the guilty party for not having a large enough fax bank.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@JaredBusch said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
For those of you using FreePBX or similar, how do you setup your ATA devices to receive incoming faxes so that there is never a busy signal on the line?
I have a client who wants to keep their fax machine because they literally want to send faxes from the fax machine. So, I have an ATA device on the fax machine that converts to SIP for me. Outgoing faxing works perfect, and incoming faxing works, as long as the line is not busy. If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Don't send inbound faxes to the machine. Send them to Email.
I'd really like to, but they currently want them at the fax machine. If there isn't any other way, then I will push them to go to email.
Then your PBX should be returning a busy signal to the inbound call not accepting it. If that happens, then the sending fax machine (usually) attempts to resend.
This is no different than a basic POTS fax functionality. Why are you expecting different behavior?
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What I'm trying to determine is, what's the difference between his POC and the actual in use machine?
I would assume (ops I'm in trouble for that
) that the exact same thing would happen.reading the OP:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Why is your provider telling you where there is a busy? I've never heard of a provider doing that before. I mean sure, it could be a service, and I suppose it's useful so you can show the client how many busy signals you've handed out. If you can show time and incoming numbers you can filter to show different attempts, not simple retries (with some room for error of course).
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@Dashrender Didn't try it, becuase nobody faxes us. If people request to send us a fax, I counter them with an alternative suggestion....carrier pigeon, or the United States Postal Service.
I'll have to give it a shot to see how it reacts. I'd like to just push for @JaredBusch 's suggestion of just sending to email, but I need to run it by the client first.
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Email is definitely the nice answer if you can talk them into it.
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@Dashrender said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
What I'm trying to determine is, what's the difference between his POC and the actual in use machine?
I would assume (ops I'm in trouble for that
) that the exact same thing would happen.reading the OP:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Why is your provider telling you where there is a busy? I've never heard of a provider doing that before. I mean sure, it could be a service, and I suppose it's useful so you can show the client how many busy signals you've handed out. If you can show time and incoming numbers you can filter to show different attempts, not simple retries (with some room for error of course).
It's the default setting for Vitelity. Any time a call fails to any DID, I can get notified about it. Useful for troubleshooting, but can be a bit much when things like this come up.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
@Dashrender said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
What I'm trying to determine is, what's the difference between his POC and the actual in use machine?
I would assume (ops I'm in trouble for that
) that the exact same thing would happen.reading the OP:
@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
If the "line" is busy (meaning the ATA device/fax machine is currently receiving another fax) when another fax comes in, I get an alert from my provider telling me the line is busy and the call failed. Any good ways to get around this?
Why is your provider telling you where there is a busy? I've never heard of a provider doing that before. I mean sure, it could be a service, and I suppose it's useful so you can show the client how many busy signals you've handed out. If you can show time and incoming numbers you can filter to show different attempts, not simple retries (with some room for error of course).
It's the default setting for Vitelity. Any time a call fails to any DID, I can get notified about it. Useful for troubleshooting, but can be a bit much when things like this come up.
A busy signal should not be considered a failed call. I do not use Vitelity (any more), so I am not familiar with their setup.
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I agree. When I call it via phone, it says busy and i hear the busy tone. I can see the device connected to the PBX, and it is registered. It's been "Busy" for the last hour, so something is up. I might have to ask them to power cycle it and them guide them towards email.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
I agree. When I call it via phone, it says busy and i hear the busy tone. I can see the device connected to the PBX, and it is registered. It's been "Busy" for the last hour, so something is up. I might have to ask them to power cycle it and them guide them towards email.
If your PBX is saying Busy, then you have something configured wrong. a normal busy response is simply a busy tone. The sending fax expects that or an answer tone. Hearing anything else is going to cause problems.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
I agree. When I call it via phone, it says busy and i hear the busy tone. I can see the device connected to the PBX, and it is registered. It's been "Busy" for the last hour, so something is up. I might have to ask them to power cycle it and them guide them towards email.
Only an hour? That's pretty common around here. Either sending or receiving 50+ page faxes seems to happen weekly. My non scientific tests have shown that a fax takes on average 1 min per page from our machines.
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@fuznutz04 said in VoIP Faxing - busy signals:
I agree. When I call it via phone, it says busy and i hear the busy tone.
Do you actually hear a voice say "busy" or something like "this line is busy" before going to a Busy Signal? or are you indicating that you can see the line is busy in the PBX, and you hear the busy tone on the line when you call?
We're still trying to figure out why your VOIP provider is sending you a message about the line - can you give any more details. Maybe you can post a sanitized version of the email.
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Maybe that was confusing. I'm calling into the fax number via my phone. On my LCD screen, it says busy. There is sometimes 1 ring, and then the busy tone. The PBX is not actually saying "busy" to me.
I've instructed the client's IT guy to power cycle the device and he is also checking to see if there are any objection to incoming faxes going to email.
