larry@tapa.uucp (Larry Pajakowski) (03/07/90)
We are in the market for a fax modem/softare for SCO Unix (could be Xenix). Our users would like to queue up faxes in a manner similar to printing on the printer. Incomming should be printable on an HP LaserJet-II. Any ideas on how to notify the user that the fax was [not] sent? Mail? We are migrating to X / Motif so X support would be very nice. I know SCO does this already so it seems feasible doesn't it? As usual if there is enough interest I'll summarize. Many thanks in advance. Larry Pajakowski ..!ddsw1!tapa!larry 1-708-937-1153
eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (03/08/90)
hardware and software available from brooktrout technology. twin channel fax board, DID fax, SCO and other unix support. 617 235 3026. V-systems recently announced their product, which uses an external fax modem made by fujitsu. see this week's infoworld for more info. v systems, brad playford, 714 545 6442. both PC Research and UNIFAX make SCO UNIX fax software which uses the Hayes internal 9600 faxmodem. the hayes faxmodem is vapor, however. also, there's an outfit called NIFTE, which i'm still trying to track down. i've probably left a few vendors out... "hope this helps!" -- /* eli@spdcc.com ; 617-932-5598 */ /* Aye sir! And a weeeeeeeee bit more. */
rick@pcrat.uucp (Rick Richardson) (03/10/90)
In article <2000@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> eli@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes: >hardware and software available from brooktrout technology (BT). >twin channel fax board, DID fax, SCO and other unix support. 617 235 3026. I'll point out that the BT supplied application software is really just a sample to show you how to interface to their device driver. It isn't close to being something you could call complete. BT support is in our package, but the device driver hasn't passed our QA yet. When it does, we will provide full support for the board, including the DID capability on one or both of the channels. DID is direct inward dialing and is receive-only. What this means is that you can rent a DID trunk from the phone company with a block of, say, 100 telephone numbers assigned to the trunk. The trunk is terminated at the BT FAX board, which is capable of receiving the DTMF tones from the telco which identify the telephone number that was dialed. By mapping the telephone number to a specific person, incoming FAXes can then be delivered to the correct person automatically. As far as I know, BT is unique in providing this capability in their hardware. >V-systems recently announced their product, which uses an external >fax modem made by fujitsu. see this week's infoworld for more info. >v systems, brad playford, 714 545 6442. The Fujitsu dexNET-200 is a serial interface device with some nice features such as "EIA/TIA-578 Service Class 2" style (just style, since there is no standard, yet) session management using "AT" commands, and Epson printer emulation (good for DOS folks, I don't think its a big win for UNIX types). I consider Service Class 2 type serial FAX modems to be the absolute minimum intelligence that a UNIX based FAX package would want to support. Unfortunately, the current Fujitsu product has a big drawback in that it can only receive FAXes at 4800 bps (though it can send them at 9600). In practice, I think that limits you to send only applications. Note that to send 9600 (synchronous) bps FAX you need to be able to deliver 12000 bps asynchronous to the modem. This implies operating the interface at 19.2kbps. For some computers, the additional implication is that the serial port be an intelligent one. >both PC Research and UNIFAX make SCO UNIX fax software which uses >the Hayes internal 9600 faxmodem. the hayes faxmodem is vapor, however. Yes, its true that Hayes has had some trouble bringing the Hayes branded JT FAX 9600B to market (it used to be a Quadram product). Hayes says the product had to be delayed to meet their quality standards. They *are* shipping the product now, although it will take a few more weeks for all of the backorders to be filled and for the normal distribution pipe to get filled. In my opinion, the JT FAX 9600 has the best hardware interface for UNIX of any FAX board currently available. It does session management, has a heavily buffered dual port memory interface (like the highly regarded Equinox multiport serial card), and does not use interrupts or DMA. Not using interrupts is important because many systems just don't have any to spare. Avoiding DMA is important because many clone system boards have botched it. Although the bus based FAX boards do not use AT style commands, they can be *loosely* categorized according to the EIA/TIA definitions of service class. Service Class 1 boards are those really cheap boards that you see advertised. These boards require that the software do all of the CCITT T.30 handshaking and the boards typically have no buffering (or intelligence) and interrupt on a per character basis. These are obviously bad news for UNIX. Service Class 2 boards handle the CCITT T.30 protocols for you. The current Brooktrout TR111/112 boards are examples of this type of board. Since you need a CPU on the board to do Service Class 2, the interface is usually more advanced, such as using DMA or dual port memory. Service Class 3 boards add file conversion, such as ASCII to FAX or TIFF to FAX. The Hayes JT FAX 9600B does ASCII conversion, so you would classify it as having Class 3 features. I think BT may upgrade their firmware to do file conversions. Obviously, the more complex the file conversion, the more CPU horsepower which is required. I think that HP PCL and PostScript emulation will eventually be done by the boards. Those conversions are currently done on the host in software. BTW, Steve Elias's list of vendors are all backed by some very experienced UNIX talent. Once you determine the features and environment you need, I don't think you could go wrong in selecting any one of those vendors. One vendor that didn't make Steve's list, because they cater to the Sun market, is the Bristol Group. They have probably the most advanced user interface which is totally based on and requires X windows (ours, for example, retains a character oriented interface but can view and display under X windows). The Bristol Group uses a Service Class 1 external serial FAX modem. I believe they are at the hairy edge of reliable operation and require some SPARC kernel tuning to get good receive performance. -Rick -- Rick Richardson | Looking for FAX software for UNIX/386 ??? Ask About: |Mention PC Research,Inc.| FaxiX - UNIX Facsimile System (tm) |FAX# for uunet!pcrat!rick| FaxJet - HP LJ PCL to FAX (Send WP,Word,Pagemaker...)|Sample (201) 389-8963 | JetRoff - troff postprocessor for HP LaserJet and FAX|Output
eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (03/10/90)
thanks, Rick, for a definitive and detailed explanation of whassup with unix and fax. i think we both neglected to mention another player in the unix fax software biz: Voxem, Inc. in Redbank, NJ. they have some very nifty X based fax control/conversion/display software which is "hardare independent". they are currently using Brooktrout hardware, because they were unable to get hardware from Hayes. their software runs on a variety of unix systems... their phone number is 201 576 1566. -- /* eli@spdcc.com ; 617-932-5598 */ /* eat, drink, and see jerry. */
asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket) (03/10/90)
In article <2000@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> eli@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes: >both PC Research and UNIFAX make SCO UNIX fax software which uses >the Hayes internal 9600 faxmodem. the hayes faxmodem is vapor, however. I'm looking at the empty HAYES JT Fax 9600 box right now! The internal modem is in this machine and is actuated by FaxiX by PC Research. Runs very well. (std. disclaimers apply) -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | - Stan Voket, asv@gaboon - OR - ...uunet!hsi!stpstn!gaboon!asv - | | -Voice: (203) 746-4489 - FAX 746-9761 0800-1200 EST - TELEX 4996516- | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (03/12/90)
In article <5781@gaboon.UUCP> asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket) writes: > eli@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes: >>both PC Research and UNIFAX make SCO UNIX fax software which uses >>the Hayes internal 9600 faxmodem. the hayes faxmodem is vapor, however. > >I'm looking at the empty HAYES JT Fax 9600 box right now! The internal modem is >in this machine and is actuated by FaxiX by PC Research. Runs very well. point me at a dealer or rep who can get ME a Hayes 9600 fax board. until you can, i'll keep considering Hayes fax to be VAPOR. -- /* eli@spdcc.com ; 617-932-5598 */ /* eat, drink, and see jerry. */
sl@van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne) (03/13/90)
In article <2056@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM> eli@ursa-major.spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes: }point me at a dealer or rep who can get ME a Hayes 9600 fax board. }until you can, i'll keep considering Hayes fax to be VAPOR. That's ok, it's a free world. -- Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca ubc-cs!van-bc!sl 604-937-7532(voice) 604-939-4768(fax)
friedl@mtndew.UUCP (Steve Friedl) (03/15/90)
Rick Richardson writes: > The Fujitsu dexNET-200 is a serial interface device with some nice > features such as "EIA/TIA-578 Service Class 2" style (just style, > since there is no standard, yet) session management using "AT" commands, > and Epson printer emulation (good for DOS folks, I don't think its a > big win for UNIX types). I can add quite a bit to the discussion on the Fujitsu; we use this in our Interfax product (we call it the sx-200). Please keep in mind that I'm definitely on the technical side of the house but you never know if some of the marketing BS has rubbed off on me. --shudder-- This modem does use AT commands for the Hayes emulation in 2400bps mode, but for the fax part they use control-code sequences that resemble nothing else. Epson emulation has been working out well for us, and it makes it easy to build a driver for (say) WordPerfect under UNIX. It is certainly not as nice as HPLJ, but a Z80 can only do so much :-). > Note that to send > 9600 (synchronous) bps FAX you need to be able to deliver 12000 bps > asynchronous to the modem. This implies operating the interface > at 19.2kbps. For some computers, the additional implication is > that the serial port be an intelligent one. Rick is right about part of this: when sending image data, there are indeed quite onerous bandwidth requirements to the modem (12000bps looks about right). Serial I/O cards with puny 256-byte buffers make this (ahem) a challenge. For text-only applications, however, the modem's character generator kicks in to do ASCII to G3 conversion, and this is a *phenomenal* reduction in bandwidth. The modem has a 16kbyte buffer (or so), and it doesn't initiate the call until it has filled. Most of *my* outbound faxes fit into the buffer completely so even a 2400bps interface would have been plenty. Steve P.S. - I do contract Interfax work but I *do not* speak for V-Systems. -- Stephen J. Friedl, KA8CMY / Software Consultant / Tustin, CA / 3B2-kind-of-guy +1 714 544 6561 voice / friedl@vsi.com / {uunet,attmail}!mtndew!friedl "How could anybody look at Miss April and *not* believe in a God?" - me