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Is 3CX capable of detecting a fax call on a PSTN line

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WiVM

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Is 3CX capable of detecting a fax call on a incoming PSTN line that is shared for voice communication? If the incoming call on the PSTN line is a fax it need to be forwarded to the fax extension, voice call should be handled by the SIP phones. Can 3CX do this? The PSTN line will be connected to a LinkSys SPA3102.
 
no we cant do this, sorry, we need a dedicated DID for Fax and one for voice
 
Hello,

Ok, that is not really good news. We currently pay for a dedicated fax line but noticed that we only received about 5 faxes last year, (of which a few unwanted fax mailings). We are sending about 50 faxes a year. As with most companies, most of our customers started using email instead, but still, we don't really want to stop offering the possibility to send faxes to us. We hoped to share the voice and fax on the same line as a "workaround".

In the documentation of the LinkSyS SPA3102 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/col...9692/ps9944/ps9946/data_sheet_c78-502105.html), I have found this feature "Fax tone detection and pass-through (using G.711)".

Do I understand it correctly that the LinkSyS is capable to detect faxes and route them? If true, is this device then able to forward a detected fax to the FXS phone port? If we then connect our fax to the FXS port we should normally be able to send and receive faxes using our analog fax device, right?

Then again the concern which I already mentioned in my previous topic in this forum. In the documentation of 3CX for SPA 3102 (http ://www.3cx.com/voip-gateways/linksys-3102/ - NO LONGER AVAILABLE) I noticed a note: “How to configure a LINKSYS SPA-3102 for ATA Functionality Note: The Linksys SPA3102 can either be set as a gateway OR as an ATA device. 3CX does not support the device when configured in both modes simultaneously.”. Would this forwarded fax solution work (if the detection works like I understand), if we want our PSTN line to be accessible on the 3CX via the same SPA3102?

And last, if the SPA3102 is able to detect faxes (let’s hope), is the DID coming from the phone company or can the Linksys then assign a DID based on this fax detection signal?
 
Based on the small amount of info available I think that the function "Fax tone detection" is actually to do some compression to be able to better use fax of VOIP. And not to detect that the call is a fax or a voice.
 
Except from adding a splitter before the VOIP gateway to split the fax calls to the analog fax device, I don't really see a solution. Except if it is possible to just present the fax as an extension and manually transfer a fax call to it. But does this internal transfer works when the call is forwarded by 3CX to a GSM gateway (Portech mv-370) and we try to transfer the forwarded call for our mobile back to the internal fax extension? For incoming calls we will only have one PSTN line, for outgoing calls only the Portech MV-370 with one mobile extension.
 
The fax splitter box might be your best solution. Something like this http://www.vikingelectronics.com/products/pdf/faxj-1000.pdf I used to see more around in retail locations than in the last few years. I'm sure that is because fax usage is dropping off as more people use email.



The other option, if your phone company PSTN line provides it, is a "smart ring" feature. You get a second phone number on the same line, one for faxes and one for regular voice calls. You then need a small box http://www.byterunner.com/byterunner/category=Distinctive+Ring+Routers that only passes each ringtype on each of the two ports. You get a normal ring on one number and a double, or triple ring on the other number. There are some cheaper splitter boxes that pass both rings on one port but only the double/triple ring on the second port, you wouldn't want that type as 3CX would see calls to both numbers

Some fax machines have this feature built in but you have to be sure that they cut off the call from passing through to the 3CX gateway. http://www.ehow.com/how_5977782_set-phone-line-distinctive-ring.html
 
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