Strategy for integrating our fax machine into system

[zooeyhall]

We have a fax machine that I would like to integrate into our 3cx phone system. We would like to both receive and send faxes through the 3cx system.

I was thinking about getting an ATA device to interface the analog modem on the fax machine with the 3cx system, and then getting a DID number that goes to the fax machine's ATA extension number in 3cx.

Is this a workable solution, or am I totally wacko for thinking something like this would work?

Yes--I know the 3cx system can receive faxes and send them via email, but my boss is kinda old-fashioned and wants incoming faxes to come to the fax machine. And then, too, we want to be able to send faxes OUT also.

Would the above arrangement enable us to utilize our fax with the 3cx system, without getting another PSTN dedicated line?

If we use an ATA adapter, is there a 3CX recommended brand/model?

We are using 3cx Small Business Edition, with PSTN trunk lines.

Thanks for any input!

 

[ITWorks]

We currently have 6 fax machines connected via 3 Linksys PAP2T ATAs to an ISDN PRI gateway and plan to add 4 more next month. It was a little time consuming coming up with a uniform adapter configuration that worked with our assortment of fax machines, but we now send/receive about 20 faxes per day requiring about 1 resend per 80 - 100. We are using the 3CX T38 fax to email attachment as a backup. Having been unable to get the the Cisco ISDN Gateway to talk T38 properly with 3CX, we utilized a Grandstream FXO Gateway with an incoming analog line. T38 on this gateway works fine with 3CX. If ever we are unable to receive a fax due to compatibility issues on a Linksys ATA, we will have the sender send it to the Grandstream PSTN number and the receptionist will recieve the email and forward it on to the right person. We have yet to need this backup however; only using it in testing.

Mark

 

[RobLloyd]

That are all good suggestions. You need an FXS adapter - Grandstream, Patton, Linksys, AudioCodes to hookup as an extenstion in 3CX. From there your analog devices should work just fine.
If you have PSTN lines then you need an FXO adapter, again the above brands all work, then an FXS to fax extension. But if you already have a PSTN with a dedicated fax # then just go old fashioned and stay with that.
If you VoIP provider supports T38 then you just need the FXS. Use the DID function to go right to that extension.