Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations. I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically: * Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data? * Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error? * What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN? * Are there competing products that we should be considering? The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV
Jay, It is my understanding that the HTTPS function of the audiocodes was developed and to be used with Faxback technologies solutions: http://www.faxback.com/Solutions/AudioCodesFaxATA.aspx To answer your question, I beleive you would have a Faxback server with PRI's at the other end http://www.faxback.com/Products/HTTPSFaxATA.aspx We use these through a 3rd party (concord fax) and they are awesome! Everything goes over HTTPS. We use these for locations where the internet is not always the best, or multi page faxes that don't do well over G711 or T38 On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 6:45 PM, Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net> wrote:
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
We are also using these through a third party (Axacore). Fax ATAs on the customer premise, server in the data center running G711 to our Sonus core. Not quite a pots line, but much better then a traditional ATA solution. --- Christopher Aloi Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 16, 2015, at 8:03 PM, Colton Conor <colton.conor at gmail.com> wrote:
Jay,
It is my understanding that the HTTPS function of the audiocodes was developed and to be used with Faxback technologies solutions: http://www.faxback.com/Solutions/AudioCodesFaxATA.aspx To answer your question, I beleive you would have a Faxback server with PRI's at the other end http://www.faxback.com/Products/HTTPSFaxATA.aspx
We use these through a 3rd party (concord fax) and they are awesome! Everything goes over HTTPS. We use these for locations where the internet is not always the best, or multi page faxes that don't do well over G711 or T38
On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 6:45 PM, Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net> wrote: We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
_______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
We use this product for our fax solution and it works near flawlessly. We haven't had any complaints about large faxes so I can talk to that specifically. We also use it with a third-party fax provider who ships us the units. I'm not sure if they use a specific firmware. I know faxback also utilizes this product with great success. Shripal
On Mar 16, 2015, at 7:45 PM, Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net> wrote:
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
Jay, The sending fax machine does not receive an accurate response. The machine sees all faxes as successful because it is not really sending the fax. I recommend disabling the result report on the fax machine to save on wasted paper and confusion. The actual result will come via email. On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 8:07 PM, Shripal Daphtary <shripald at gmail.com> wrote:
We use this product for our fax solution and it works near flawlessly. We haven't had any complaints about large faxes so I can talk to that specifically. We also use it with a third-party fax provider who ships us the units. I'm not sure if they use a specific firmware.
I know faxback also utilizes this product with great success.
Shripal
On Mar 16, 2015, at 7:45 PM, Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net> wrote:
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
I looked at this a while back but I was unable to implement due to budgetary constraints. I'll give you what I recall - - It operates in a store and forward configuration i.e. the ATA receives the entire fax then transmits it via HTTPS. I am unsure of size limitations but I would imagine it is memory constrained to some upper limit. - The ATA receives updates from the fax server and then essentially transmits a status fax to the sending machine. They recommended disabling transmission reports on the fax machine otherwise it would print a success page every time. - The terminating end is a third party fax server. There one or two alternatives that were available, including a white label cloud based solution but I don?t remember the manufacturers. I also inquired about the possibility of releasing the interface (I am sure it is a simple REST type interface) for integration into an open source solution like Hylafax but never got anywhere with that. - I don?t think there is anything else commercial like this, at least not as of two years ago. I did a roll your own version as a proof of concept using two Asterisk boxes and an ATA. Essentially, the ATA registered to server A. The dialplan directed any valid DN to a fax conversation that converted the file to a TIF, named the file based on sending/receiving DN and date/time, and did an HTTP PUT to server B. Server B had a cron job that looked for files and transmitted them based on the sending and receiving parties from the filename, again using Asterisk and the Asterisk fax module. It worked really well considering the amount of time that I put into it. I was able to transmit over 50 pages over a spotty 3G connection and the public Internet, I am sure a commercial product would have similar success, with the caveat of any limitations due to memory, etc. Rob -----Original Message----- From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Jay Hennigan Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 7:46 PM To: VoiceOps Subject: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations. I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically: * Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data? * Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error? * What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN? * Are there competing products that we should be considering? The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
This is what I was wondering. The the HTTPS functionality something that only works with Faxback, or a company using Faxback technology, or is it standards based? On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:19 AM, Rob Dawson <rdawson at force3.com> wrote:
I looked at this a while back but I was unable to implement due to budgetary constraints. I'll give you what I recall - - It operates in a store and forward configuration i.e. the ATA receives the entire fax then transmits it via HTTPS. I am unsure of size limitations but I would imagine it is memory constrained to some upper limit. - The ATA receives updates from the fax server and then essentially transmits a status fax to the sending machine. They recommended disabling transmission reports on the fax machine otherwise it would print a success page every time. - The terminating end is a third party fax server. There one or two alternatives that were available, including a white label cloud based solution but I don?t remember the manufacturers. I also inquired about the possibility of releasing the interface (I am sure it is a simple REST type interface) for integration into an open source solution like Hylafax but never got anywhere with that. - I don?t think there is anything else commercial like this, at least not as of two years ago.
I did a roll your own version as a proof of concept using two Asterisk boxes and an ATA. Essentially, the ATA registered to server A. The dialplan directed any valid DN to a fax conversation that converted the file to a TIF, named the file based on sending/receiving DN and date/time, and did an HTTP PUT to server B. Server B had a cron job that looked for files and transmitted them based on the sending and receiving parties from the filename, again using Asterisk and the Asterisk fax module. It worked really well considering the amount of time that I put into it. I was able to transmit over 50 pages over a spotty 3G connection and the public Internet, I am sure a commercial product would have similar success, with the caveat of any limitations due to memory, etc.
Rob
-----Original Message----- From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Jay Hennigan Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 7:46 PM To: VoiceOps Subject: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
Rob, This is quite interesting. Did you use a special kind of ATA? What did you use between the ATA and server A? Was it G711? If so how could it work on a 3G connection? On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Rob Dawson <rdawson at force3.com> wrote:
I looked at this a while back but I was unable to implement due to budgetary constraints. I'll give you what I recall - - It operates in a store and forward configuration i.e. the ATA receives the entire fax then transmits it via HTTPS. I am unsure of size limitations but I would imagine it is memory constrained to some upper limit. - The ATA receives updates from the fax server and then essentially transmits a status fax to the sending machine. They recommended disabling transmission reports on the fax machine otherwise it would print a success page every time. - The terminating end is a third party fax server. There one or two alternatives that were available, including a white label cloud based solution but I don?t remember the manufacturers. I also inquired about the possibility of releasing the interface (I am sure it is a simple REST type interface) for integration into an open source solution like Hylafax but never got anywhere with that. - I don?t think there is anything else commercial like this, at least not as of two years ago.
I did a roll your own version as a proof of concept using two Asterisk boxes and an ATA. Essentially, the ATA registered to server A. The dialplan directed any valid DN to a fax conversation that converted the file to a TIF, named the file based on sending/receiving DN and date/time, and did an HTTP PUT to server B. Server B had a cron job that looked for files and transmitted them based on the sending and receiving parties from the filename, again using Asterisk and the Asterisk fax module. It worked really well considering the amount of time that I put into it. I was able to transmit over 50 pages over a spotty 3G connection and the public Internet, I am sure a commercial product would have similar success, with the caveat of any limitations due to memory, etc.
Rob
-----Original Message----- From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Jay Hennigan Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 7:46 PM To: VoiceOps Subject: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
On 3/17/15 9:29 AM, Oren Yehezkely wrote:
This is quite interesting. Did you use a special kind of ATA?
Yes, the Audiocodes MP202B with fax-to-https.
What did you use between the ATA and server A? Was it G711? If so how could it work on a 3G connection?
It's sent as https. That's the trick to the whole thing. The fax data is stored and forwarded as TCP after the fact, hence no worries about moderate packet loss, jitter, etc. What I'm trying to wrap my head around is what goes on the other end. Something has to receive the https fax, extract the destination number, and connect to the PSTN (ideally via TDM such as a PRI) to deliver the document to the ultimate endpoint. Is there an Audiocodes big-brother to the ATA for this? If not, what are people using? In addition, because of the store-and-forward nature, there needs to be a means of notifying the sending fax of the (delayed) failure. Apparently some third-party implementations send the failure report as email, but I can see logistical problems with this in a large office where there are multiple users of a common fax machine. I would like the option that a failure report be sent as fax to the originating machine.
If the ATA is using a FaxBack server, that server would be most likely be relaying the fax over SIP providers that support T.38 or very clean G711u pass-through to reach the PSTN further up the line, or some traditional telephony (POTS modem bank, T1, etc.). Regards, *Calvin Ellison* Voice Services Engineer calvin.ellison at voxox.com +1 (213) 285-0555 ----------------------------------------------- *voxox.com <http://www.voxox.com/> * 9276 Scranton Rd, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92121 [image: Voxox] On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 8:56 AM, Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net> wrote:
On 3/17/15 9:29 AM, Oren Yehezkely wrote:
This is quite interesting. Did you use a special kind of ATA?
Yes, the Audiocodes MP202B with fax-to-https.
What did you use between the ATA and server A? Was it G711?
If so how could it work on a 3G connection?
It's sent as https. That's the trick to the whole thing. The fax data is stored and forwarded as TCP after the fact, hence no worries about moderate packet loss, jitter, etc.
What I'm trying to wrap my head around is what goes on the other end. Something has to receive the https fax, extract the destination number, and connect to the PSTN (ideally via TDM such as a PRI) to deliver the document to the ultimate endpoint. Is there an Audiocodes big-brother to the ATA for this? If not, what are people using?
In addition, because of the store-and-forward nature, there needs to be a means of notifying the sending fax of the (delayed) failure. Apparently some third-party implementations send the failure report as email, but I can see logistical problems with this in a large office where there are multiple users of a common fax machine. I would like the option that a failure report be sent as fax to the originating machine.
_______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
Bear in mind, this was just for testing so I used a SPA 8000 and a spare server because it is what I had laying around and I didn?t want to buy any hardware. I also used HTTP instead of HTTPS, again, just for testing. Server A and the SPA were local to each other, i.e. on the same switch, using G.711. These two pieces together constituted what would have been the ?ATA?. For production I was looking at using an IP02 or IP04 - http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=440. That is what would have been deployed as the CPE. I am no good at ASCII art so try this ? Fax Machine --> FXS port on SPA --> Switch --> Server A -->Internet --> Server B -->PSTN The connection between the servers is the one that was transmitted via HTTP over the 3G connection. Since it was just a simple file upload via a PUT request the quality of the connection didn?t matter. I have all the client side work that I did, well most of it. Below are the relevant dial plan snippets for the CPE side. Again, it was really simple. Any inbound call to a valid 7 digit, 10 digit, or international number was directed to the infax context. It received the fax as a tiff, transmitted it to the remote server using curl/HTTP, and deleted the file. No error checking or anything, but this was just a proof of concept. if I remember correctly the outfax context was used when a fax was received from the remote server. Received is not quite correct because the faxes were actually downloaded via PHP and curl. The script pulled a directory listing from the remote server. It would then download the files it found and create an outgoing spool file for each fax. Again, this was all pretty kludgy and far from ready for prime time, but as a basic proof it did work very well. I am having some issues finding the associated PHP files but if I can locate them I will make them available if anyone is interested. ; Send all inbound calls to the infax context ; exten => _xxxxxxx,1,Goto(infax,s,1) exten => _xxxxxxxxxx,1,Goto(infax,s,1) exten => _011xxx.,1,Goto(infax,s,1) ; [infax] exten => s,1,Answer exten => s,n,NoOp(**** INCOMING FAX FROM ${CALLERID(num)} ${STRFTIME(${EPOCH},,%c)} ****) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(ecm)=yes) exten => s,n,Set(FILENAME=${CALLERID(dnid)}-${CALLERID(num)}-${STRFTIME(${EPOCH},,%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)}) exten => s,n,Set(FAXFILE=${FILENAME}.tif) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(ecm)=yes) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(maxrate)=14400) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(minrate)=2400) exten => s,n,NoOp(FAXOPT(ecm) : ${FAXOPT(ecm)}) exten => s,n,NoOp(FAXOPT(maxrate) : ${FAXOPT(maxrate)}) exten => s,n,NoOp(FAXOPT(minrate) : ${FAXOPT(minrate)}) exten => s,n,NoOp(**** RECEIVING FAX : ${FAXFILE} ****) exten => s,n,ReceiveFAX(/tmp/${FAXFILE}) exten => h,1,NoOp(**** MOVING FAX ****) exten => h,n,System(/usr/bin/curl -F 'ufile=@/tmp/${FAXFILE}\;type=image/tiff' http://XX.XX.XX.XX/upload_ac.php) exten => h,n,System(/bin/rm -f /tmp/${FAXFILE}) exten => h,n,Hangup() ; [outfax] exten => s,1,NoOp(send a fax) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(filename)=${FAXFILE}) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(ecm)=yes) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(headerinfo)=${FAXHEADER}) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(localstationid)=${LOCALID}) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(maxrate)=14400) exten => s,n,Set(FAXOPT(minrate)=2400) exten => s,n,SendFAX(${FAXFILE},d) From: Oren Yehezkely [mailto:orenyny at gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 12:29 PM To: Rob Dawson Cc: Jay Hennigan; VoiceOps Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA Rob, This is quite interesting. Did you use a special kind of ATA? What did you use between the ATA and server A? Was it G711? If so how could it work on a 3G connection? On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Rob Dawson <rdawson at force3.com<mailto:rdawson at force3.com>> wrote: I looked at this a while back but I was unable to implement due to budgetary constraints. I'll give you what I recall - - It operates in a store and forward configuration i.e. the ATA receives the entire fax then transmits it via HTTPS. I am unsure of size limitations but I would imagine it is memory constrained to some upper limit. - The ATA receives updates from the fax server and then essentially transmits a status fax to the sending machine. They recommended disabling transmission reports on the fax machine otherwise it would print a success page every time. - The terminating end is a third party fax server. There one or two alternatives that were available, including a white label cloud based solution but I don?t remember the manufacturers. I also inquired about the possibility of releasing the interface (I am sure it is a simple REST type interface) for integration into an open source solution like Hylafax but never got anywhere with that. - I don?t think there is anything else commercial like this, at least not as of two years ago. I did a roll your own version as a proof of concept using two Asterisk boxes and an ATA. Essentially, the ATA registered to server A. The dialplan directed any valid DN to a fax conversation that converted the file to a TIF, named the file based on sending/receiving DN and date/time, and did an HTTP PUT to server B. Server B had a cron job that looked for files and transmitted them based on the sending and receiving parties from the filename, again using Asterisk and the Asterisk fax module. It worked really well considering the amount of time that I put into it. I was able to transmit over 50 pages over a spotty 3G connection and the public Internet, I am sure a commercial product would have similar success, with the caveat of any limitations due to memory, etc. Rob -----Original Message----- From: VoiceOps [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org<mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org>] On Behalf Of Jay Hennigan Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 7:46 PM To: VoiceOps Subject: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations. I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically: * Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data? * Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error? * What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN? * Are there competing products that we should be considering? The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net<mailto:jay at impulse.net> Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323<tel:805%20884-6323> - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org<mailto:VoiceOps at voiceops.org> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org<mailto:VoiceOps at voiceops.org> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
Has anyone checked if the store and forward is HIPAA/HITECH compliant? Even the fax server would need encryption and security (if any fax contained ePHI). On 3/16/2015 4:45 PM, Jay Hennigan wrote:
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
-- Regards, Peter Radizeski @ RAD-INFO INC Circuits * Bandwidth * Consulting (813) 963-5884
It is important to keep in mind that analog fax machines have been considered compliant through policy for decades - i.e. compliance is not something technology alone can provide. The policies around the mediums of access, transport and storage of the objects in question are of more value than the technology itself in terms of compliance. -Jesse -----Original Message----- From: Peter Rad. [mailto:peter at 4isps.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 9:01 AM To: voiceops at voiceops.org Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA Has anyone checked if the store and forward is HIPAA/HITECH compliant? Even the fax server would need encryption and security (if any fax contained ePHI). On 3/16/2015 4:45 PM, Jay Hennigan wrote:
We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
-- Regards, Peter Radizeski @ RAD-INFO INC Circuits * Bandwidth * Consulting (813) 963-5884 ________________________________ This e-mail and any attachments are confidential. If it is not intended for you, please notify the sender, and please erase and ignore the contents.
Jesse is correct. The minute your lawyer customers realize that the fax confirmation page their fax spit out was not a result of direct acknowledgment from the far end fax machine, they freak out. And if they don't freak out, then it is time to encourage them to finally ditch this legacy method of document transmittal in favor of something more modern.
On Mar 17, 2015, at 5:23 PM, Jesse Howard <jhoward at ShoreTel.com> wrote:
It is important to keep in mind that analog fax machines have been considered compliant through policy for decades - i.e. compliance is not something technology alone can provide. The policies around the mediums of access, transport and storage of the objects in question are of more value than the technology itself in terms of compliance.
-Jesse
-----Original Message----- From: Peter Rad. [mailto:peter at 4isps.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 9:01 AM To: voiceops at voiceops.org Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] Audiocodes MP202B fax-to-https ATA
Has anyone checked if the store and forward is HIPAA/HITECH compliant? Even the fax server would need encryption and security (if any fax contained ePHI).
On 3/16/2015 4:45 PM, Jay Hennigan wrote: We've recently become aware of the Audiocodes MP-202B ATA that sits at a customer premise, captures transmission from a fax machine, and sends it via HTTPS to a remote server. We are considering this as a solution to some specific problematic fax-over-IP situations.
I have a few concerns, and am wondering if anyone on the list has used these units and what your experience is with them, good, bad, or ugly. Specifically:
* Does the ATA receive the entire fax and then send it over HTTPS? If so, is there a limitation on the number of pages or size of data?
* Does the sending fax get an accurate report of failure if the actual destination fax is unreachable (busy, no answer, wrong number, out of paper, etc.) once the transmission is accepted by the local Audiocodes box, or do they get an "OK" report in error?
* What goes on the other end? Is there a bigger version Audiocodes box that connects to a PRI or other TDM connection to the PSTN?
* Are there competing products that we should be considering?
The Audiocodes website is somewhat lacking in terms of technical detail and I have a call into them but wanted to get some feedback from the community about this and similar solutions.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
-- Regards,
Peter Radizeski @ RAD-INFO INC Circuits * Bandwidth * Consulting (813) 963-5884
________________________________
This e-mail and any attachments are confidential. If it is not intended for you, please notify the sender, and please erase and ignore the contents. _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
participants (10)
-
calvin.ellison＠voxox.com -
colton.conor＠gmail.com -
ctaloi＠gmail.com -
jay＠west.net -
jhoward＠ShoreTel.com -
nicksten＠gmail.com -
orenyny＠gmail.com -
peter＠4isps.com -
rdawson＠force3.com -
shripald＠gmail.com