mingo@cup.portal.com (03/07/91)
A friend of mine will be spending the next year at Clark AFB in the Phillipines and would like to use a fax to keep in touch with the US. He was wondering... (i) If a fax machine purchased in the US would be compatible with the Phillipine phone system, and (ii) If there are any voice/fax switches which do not make the caller wait ten seconds while the switch decides whether it's a fax or voice call? (Any brand recommendations would be greatly appreciated as well.) Charlie Mingo mingo@cup.portal.com
tnixon@uunet.uu.net (Toby Nixon) (03/10/91)
In article <telecom11.184.8@eecs.nwu.edu>, mingo@cup.portal.com writes: > (i) If a fax machine purchased in the US would be compatible with > the Phillipine phone system, and I don't know the answer to this question. Group 3 fax should certainly be able to transmit on the Phillipine phone system. Any incompatibilities are likely to be in the type of connectors used for both the phone line and the power (but they probably have adaptors) and the AC voltage (but he can probably get a dual voltage machine). I haven't heard any horror stories about the Phillipine phone system and modem/fax approval processes, but he should be concerned about government regulations regarding connection of unapproved equipment. > (ii) If there are any voice/fax switches which do not make the > caller wait ten seconds while the switch decides whether it's a fax > or voice call? (Any brand recommendations would be greatly > appreciated as well.) The only systems that do not require waiting to listen for fax calling tone or DTMF signals are those that are based on "distinctive ringing patterns" -- separate phone numbers on the line that each ring differently. This service is widely available in the US, but I don't know about in the Phillipines [or are you intending to use it on the USA side?], and costs a couple of dollars a month for the second number. The device listens to the ring pattern, and only passes the signal through to the appropriate device (e.g., fax machine if two short rings, answering machine if a single long ring). One such device is the "RingDirector" from Lynx Automation, Inc., 2100 196th St SW #144, Lynnwood, WA 98036; +1 206 744 1582. The "RingDirector/2", for $89, supports two-number distinctive ringing, and the "RingDirector/4", for $149, supports four-number distinctive ringing. I don't have one myself, but reports from others who do have been glowing -- they're much more satisfied with the distinctive ringing service and RingDirector than they were with the other types of devices that answer first and then try to guess what is calling. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net