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Home > Applications > Fax > Fax Over IP FAQ ApplicationsFax over IP FAQsQ: I have a VoIP network already in place, how do I add Fax over IP?Answer: It’s easy to add an IP Fax server to an existing VoIP network. Fax over IP utilizes the same infrastructure as a VoIP network. Specifically, fax traffic can be run over a T.38 compatible VoIP Gateway and/or IP-PBX. View our complete, up-to-date list of vendor interop and certifications on the TR1034 and SR140. Cantata’s Brooktrout TR1034 and SR140 platforms are built on the T.38, SIP, and H.323 industry standards, which enable them to interoperate with other equipment which properly adheres to these standards. As with any IP-based service, the network should be provisioned to provide the necessary bandwidth (which may vary depending on usage patterns.) However, FoIP traffic typically uses only about 1/3 the bandwidth of VoIP traffic, and therefore will have a much smaller impact on the required network bandwidth needs. Furthermore, unlike VoIP, T.38-based fax over IP is not as susceptible to packet loss from jitter and latency (compared to G.711 fax) and the fax connection has very long timeouts based on the T.30 specification. Therefore, network administrators can continue to prioritize VoIP packets as a high priority via which ever QoS mechanism is currently in place. Q: How can I calculate the ROI of a Fax over IP implementation?Answer: The ROI of Fax over IP varies from customer to customer. However, Cantata has simplified this analysis for you with our interactive FoIP ROI calculator. By inputting a number of simple variables such as average number of faxes a day, and average telecom costs, you can quickly and easily estimate the savings your organization will realize when migrating to FoIP. Q: Will Cantata’s Brooktrout Fax over IP products operate within a Virtual environment?Answer:Cantata’s Brooktrout SR140 will work with VMware ESX today. Each virtual module within VMware needs to be configured with a different MAC address. Cantata will support any issue on a VMware based platform that can be reproduced on one of our tested and certified platforms which are listed in our release notes. **Please Note: any use of VMware to simulate the proper environment to allow a single SR140 license to be used multiple times on the same server is strictly in violation of the EULA and is illegal. Each virtual module is required to use a separate SR140 license. Q: Which IP-PBX and T.38 VoIP Gateways are the TR1034 and SR140 interoperable with?Answer:Cantata has worked closely with multiple IP-PBX and gateway vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel, and Quintum to ensure interoperability. View our complete, up-to-date list of vendor interop and certifications on the TR1034 and SR140. Q: What if I require SR140 interoperability to a network element not listed on Cantata’s website?Answer:Cantata’s Brooktrout TR1034 and SR140 platforms are built on the T.38, SIP, and H.323 industry standards which enable them to interoperate with other equipment which properly adheres to these standards. If the VoIP Gateway or IP-PBX that you want to use SR140/TR1034-T1/E1/IP with is not on the Cantata FoIP interop list, check to see if the device supports T.38. If it does, there is a high probability that you will be able to send and receive faxes through the device. If not, please contact your Cantata Sales Representative to determine if we can work with you to add the device to our interop list. Q: My router is a T.38 device. Do I still need the SR140?Answer: Yes. To fax in an IP environment, a fax over IP ‘endpoint is required.’ The fax over IP endpoint, such as an SR140 or TR1034, will terminate the fax unlike a router which routes IP packets, or a gateway that converts information from the circuit to the packet network. Just as in a circuit switched configuration, all of the faxing intelligence is within the fax endpoint. If the fax is required to be transported across the PSTN, then it must utilize a network element to perform the IP to circuit switch gateway functionality. This is typically one or more VoIP gateways on the edge of the network or an IP-PBX. Q: Are there any bandwidth concerns (or QoS concerns) when overlapping Fax over IP onto a VoIP network?Answer: As with any IP-based service, the network should be provisioned to provide the necessary bandwidth (which will vary depending on usage patterns.) However, Fax over IP traffic typically uses only about 1/3 the bandwidth of VoIP traffic, and therefore will have a much smaller impact on the required network bandwidth needs.
Obviously, if the modulation rate to the far fax machine is less than 14.4 kbps, then you will need less bandwidth on the IP network. Furthermore, unlike VoIP, T.38-based FoIP is not based on the T.30 specification. Therefore, network administrators can continue to prioritize VoIP packets as a high priority via which ever QoS mechanism is currently in place. Q: Are there any security concerns or network access concerns if I migrate to Fax over IP?Answer: With any IP network, customers should always take the appropriate measures to ensure their network is secure physically and logically from external attacks by viruses, malicious users or other intrusions. If security from internal attacks is a concern, the IP network may be configured to use VPNs between the T.38 endpoint and a gateway. With a properly configured IP Network in place, customers will not be presented with additional security concerns based on the addition of Cantata’s TR1034 or SR140 platforms. A good summary of potential threats and security responses for Fax over IP in general is available. Along with standard network security measures, the Cantata Brooktrout Fax over IP products have incorporated additional features to ensure increased security. Specifically, if a malicious packet gets through the firewall or a virus is spawned internal to the enterprise, Cantata’s Fax over IP products ensure fax server network security at four levels:
Q: How do I connect my “Traditional Fax Machine” to my VoIP network?Answer:Although a traditional fax machine may be connected to analog ports in a hybrid IP-PBX or by using other methods, doing so defeats most of the value of deploying fax on your VoIP network. Companies can achieve dramatic savings by integrating their fax servers with their VoIP network. Implementing an IP-based fax server, instead of a traditional fax machine, enables companies to:
Q: Is Fax over IP reliable?Answer:If high quality T.30 and T.38 fax protocols (such as those used by the SR140 or TR1034-T1/E1/IP) as well as a VoIP gateway that is capable of supporting ECM and V.17 is used, then FoIP using T.38 is just as reliable as fax over a circuit switched network. Q: Why is the T.30 fax protocol important to FoIP?Answer: Whether faxes are sent in real-time over the PSTN or over IP, T.30 remains at the heart of the every real-time fax connection. To guarantee delivery every time, even for calls between two T.38 endpoint devices, a good T.30 implementation is required. Cantata is recognized as having the best T.30 protocol implementation available on the market today as a result of more than 10+ years experience developing and supporting intelligent fax boards that are deployed in a wide variety of enterprise and service provider environments. Q: Can I connect my MFP (multi-function printer/peripheral) to my IP Fax server?Answer:MFPs are increasingly being deployed to replace traditional copying, printing, faxing and scanning devices with a single peripheral. Organizations can integrate MFPs with a centralized fax over IP server. In addition to providing fax capability at the device, fax servers can enable business applications and desktop computers to send and receive faxes. Fax servers also allow users to choose from cover pages, specify transmission instructions, integrate contact information from directories, fax to group lists, receive delivery notifications and receive faxes directly in their email inbox. Q: How can my fax server be integrated as part of my compliance strategy?Answer: Whether it’s Sarbanes-Oxley, Freedom-of-Information Act, HIPAA, Basel II, SEC Rule17 (a) 4, or any number of other regulatory frameworks, legal and/or industry compliance has vaulted to the top of almost every company’s agenda around the globe. Fax documents are essential to a range of key business processes across all industries—in critical functional areas such as purchasing, finance, human resources, legal, and sales. While compliance expertise typically resides in legal and auditing disciplines, IT professionals can play a critical role in shaping how compliance efforts manifest themselves in the infrastructure. In fact, compliance requirements can even be a catalyst for systems that improve the efficiency of enhanced, automated business processes. For more on this topic, read our whitepaper, “Why
and How Fax-Document Management Q: Is there a difference in the feature sets of the TR1034 and SR140?Answer: No, both the Cantata Brooktrout TR1034 and SR140 fax platforms support real-time FoIP, achieving the same high levels of performance, reliability and scalability that enterprises have come to expect over the past 20 years from Cantata, while capturing the added benefits of FoIP. The TR1034 is a hardware-based platform, supporting both circuit switched and VoIP networks, providing companies with a smooth migration path from circuit switched fax to IP fax. For companies looking for a pure software-based IP fax solution, Cantata offers the Brooktrout SR140, a host-based fax-over-IP platform for companies that have transitioned their networks to VoIP. The SR140 has the same renowned functionality as the TR1034, including our industry leading T.30 protocol, Error Correction Mode and MMR fax compression. To add channels as their needs grow, customers simply purchase and install a new software license key to instantly upgrade their solution. There is no hardware to buy, maintain or upgrade, ever. Q: What host processor resources are required to run SR140?Answer: When using SR140, these requirements should be no less than:
You should also be sure to check with your specific fax application provider on their minimum system requirements as well. Q: What happens if I move from H.323 to SIP?Answer: Although H.323 has a very large installed base in the market today, many customers are making the decision to move to SIP. If you choose to make these changes in your network, your investment in SR140 or TR1034-T1/E1/IP is protected since these products include both the H.323 and SIP call control stacks. Q. I have a TR1034 board already and now I want to move to IP. How do I know if my existing TR1034 board supports IP?Answer: If the TR1034 model name ends with “-1N” then it is fully capable of both circuit switched and packet switched fax without any upgrades. If the TR1034 model name ends with “-0N” then it has the necessary hardware support for Fax over IP, however, you will need to purchase a software update to add Fax over IP capability to the product. If the TR1034 model name does not end with either “-0N” nor “-1N” then it is not capable of supporting FoIP. Q: What is the difference between real-time FoIP and store and forward faxing?Answer: There are currently two ways to implement FoIP. The first standard, T.37, is used mainly for store-and-forward faxing. It defines elements of how Internet email can be adapted to support a facsimile service and specifies the format in which fax is to be delivered as an e-mail attachment. The second standard, T.38, defines the protocol for real-time delivery of FoIP. With T.37 FoIP, the fax is sent over IP as e-mail attachment and delivered directly to an email address or via a gateway to a Group 3 fax device over the public switched telephony network (PSTN). While T.37 allows for cost savings through toll arbitrage, from a user's perspective it is a store and forward model and is not real time. Given the current state of the Internet email infrastructure, there are limitations on the ability to receive confirmation that a fax was successfully delivered to its destination. T.37 confirmations rely on the store and forward mechanism known as Delivery Service Notification (DSN). Unless all email relay servers along the IP delivery path support DSN, a request for confirmation will not be satisfied. Even if DSN is supported on the entire IP route, there may be delays in relaying the confirmation back to originating T.37 device due to network congestion, since the DSN is generated asynchronously and is not part of the original T.37 communication. With T.38 real-time FoIP, such as on Cantata’s SR140 and TR1034 series of intelligent fax platforms, faxes are delivered in real-time exactly like a regular fax call. The two fax machines synch up and send data over a local telephone connection, with an IP leg between the two local connections. If the fax is busy, the caller gets a busy signal and the user has the option to retry sending later or to revert to store-and-forward mode as a transportation mechanism. A key point is that the confirmation takes place during the T.38 fax session, not at a later point. Store-and-forward-mode FoIP works like email. The caller sends the fax message to a server, which sends it to another server, which sends the fax to the recipient. Eventually, the caller is notified with receipt confirmation. Q: Is a fax sent by a fax machine to a T.38 enabled fax platform sent as T.30 end to end?Answer: The fax sent by a fax machine will be T.30 end to end. When that fax hits the IP gateway, the gateway will encapsulate the T.30 protocol data in the T.38 packets, which are then sent to the TR1034 board. The fax call is T.30 end-to-end, it's just that part of the call is over a traditional phone network, and part of the call is over a packet-switched network. This is different from G.711 pass-through, which is an option on many IP gateways. Q: Can the Brooktrout TR1034 intelligent fax board be connected directly to a Cisco Call Manager?Answer: Yes. Cantata’s fax platforms connect directly to Call Manager via SIP or H.323. In this fashion, Cantata’s SR140 and TR1034 can be used in a Cisco MGCP, SIP, or H.323 based network. Q: Can the TR1034 fax board with real-time FoIP ever be used in a hybrid situation with faxes being sent in IP and PSTN at the same time or from the same server?Answer: No. The TR1034 intelligent fax board needs to be set for either IP or PSTN fax transmission, but not both at the same time. In addition, a fax server cannot be set up with two TR1034 boards with one sending faxes over IP and the other over PSTN. Q: How are legacy fax machines affected? Do they know they are talking to an SR140 or TR1034 fax-over-IP platform?Answer: Fax machines still communicate using the T.30 protocol, and will have no idea that the device on the other end is an IP-enabled TR1034 or SR140 fax platform connected to an IP network. This is because the TR1034 is still communicating using T.30 protocol; on the packet network, the T.38 protocol has to be encapsulated as packets by the T.38 protocol. But it's still the same T.30 protocol being spoken end-to-end Q: Will the faxes that I receive on my IP-enabled TR1034 board over an IP network contain an IP address or the sending fax number? Answer: The faxes will still contain the sending
machine phone number. This information is exchanged as part of the
T.30 protocol, and will still be available when faxes are sent/received
over an IP network. For example, if the sending fax machine has
phone number 408-370-1171, and it sends a fax to a TR1034 board
that is in IP mode, the received fax will show that it came from
408-370-1171.  | |||||||||||||||||
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