JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU (11/13/90)
Telecom readers: I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that-use- the-phone. This week I invested in a FAX modem (Dove FAX if any of you care; works incredibly well for $280). But now I need some way to receive FAX transmissions at home. I think that there are four distinct options, which I will rank from most to least expensive. My query to you all is simple: what advice and information do you have to offer? Please send your feedback to me at jms@carat.arizona.edu, and I do promise to organize a summary for distribution through the Digest. Here are the options (are there any more?) 1. Get an extra telephone line. This is clearly the most desirable, but is also the most expensive. A $50 to $100 fee, plus a monthly fixed expense of $10 to $20 per month (note: all rates are given with a midpoint of the cost quoted me by US West or local merchants). 2. Get distinctive ringing. With this option, you have two telephone numbers, but only one line -- calls to number A ring differently from number B. The key here is that you can get a box (any suggestions which one?) for around $100 which will route calls to one jack or another (that is, voice phone or FAX machine) based on the ringing. Downsides: the $100 box; you can't use both devices at once; a monthly fee of $2 to $7 (plus possible installation fees of about $10 to $20, although U S West has a "special" until December 5). 3. No telco change, but get FAX/voice box. It seems that some FAX machines send a tone called CNG when they are calling. Note that this is different from modems, where the originating modem is silent until the answering modem says something. What this FAX feature means is that one could build a box to distinguish between the two. Several people already have (any suggestions as to which one?) for $60 to $100 which picks up the phone and listens for CNG tones, passing the call to the FAX if it detects CNG and to the phone/answering machine if not. Downsides: similar to (2), although there is no recurring charge. My big question on this option is, "how many FAX machines present CNG tones?" Is this something which all FAX machines built in the last two or three years have, or is this a feature which some FAX machines built even today don't have? Anyone know any more about this? 4. Null hypothesis. No changes. Downsides: you have to pre-arrange whenever you expect to receive a FAX. But, it's CHEAP! Again, please don't send replies to the list. Send them to me, and I will collect and summarize! If you just want a copy of the answers, look for it in TELECOM Digest late next week. Thanks in advance for any help and advice! Joel M Snyder, The Mosaic Group, 627 E Speedway, 85705 Phone: 602.626.8680 (University of Arizona, Dep't of MIS, Eller Graduate School of Management) BITNET: jms@arizmis Internet: jms@carat.arizona.edu SPAN: 47541::uamis::jms
b460nom@utarlg.uta.edu (S. Nomura) (11/16/90)
In article <14682@accuvax.nwu.edu>, JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU writes: >Telecom readers: >I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already >faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that-use- >the-phone. My configuration: At office: a 386 PC with Complete Communicator (PC fax, answering machine, modem all in one board). At home: a 386 SX PC with a 2400 baud modem. Software: pcANYWHERE, GWS (Grahpics Workshop, shareware) Scenario: 1) People can send faxes and leave messages to the 386 at my office day and night. 2) In the evening at my home, I use pcANYWHERE to connect to the 386 at my office and check to see if there are any faxes received. If there are, I use the software that came with the board to convert the fax file to PCX format. I then transfer the PCX file to my machine at home and can do whatever I want. 3) If I need to send a fax, I call the 386 at my office by PC *ANYWHERE* and configure the fax software so that it sends fax automatically in three minutes. I then hang up. I don't have a fax machine at home yet I can retrieve and send faxes from home. S. Nomura Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, Texas 76019-023 internet: b460nom@utarlg.utarl.edu bitnet:b460nom@utarlg +1 817 273 2012 (press 2 for fax)
dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) (11/16/90)
In article <14682@accuvax.nwu.edu>, JMS@mis.Arizona.EDU writes: [ regarding voice/fax switching boxes ] > charge. My big question on this option is, "how many FAX machines > present CNG tones?" Is this something which all FAX machines built in > the last two or three years have, or is this a feature which some FAX > machines built even today don't have? Anyone know any more about > this? All current-production fax machines are capable of producing CNG tones. The problem is that some operators of these machines don't use them that way. My fax machine is equipped with a handset, and may be used as an expensive replacement for a standard single-line telephone. If I lift the handset and dial your number, my machine thinks I'm placing a voice call, and sends no CNG tones. If your fax machine answers, I can then drop a document into my machine and press the SEND key. But if your switch answered while I was on the handset, and listened for my CNG tone, it would decide that I'm placing a voice call, and direct it to your telephone set. If I insert the document, and dial your number, and press the send key, my machine will know in advance that I'm trying to send a fax, and it will then generate the tones. The question is, how many fax users understand these details well enough to send a fax to your fax machine? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857
JMS@carat.arizona.edu (11/22/90)
Telecom readers: A week ago, I posted a query about FAX machines at home, and options for incoming transmissions. Many thanks to those of you who responded. The following is my original message, with substantial comments from the responses. Thanks to: Tad Cook (tad@ssc.uucp) Dave Burke (dburke%vaxb.decnet@nusc-npt.navy.mil) Brian G. Gordon (briang@Sun.COM) David Cornutt (cornutt@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov) Jeff Sicherman (sichermn@beach.csulb.edu) Brent Chapman (chapman@alc.com) Rahul Dhesi (dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com) Nathan Engle (nengle@copper.ucs.indiana.edu) (fleming@cup.portal.com) I am facing a problem which I believe that several of you have already faced, and many of you will soon: the proliferation of things-that- use-the-phone. Having invested in a FAX modem, I now need some way to receive FAX transmissions at home. There are five distinct options. 1. Get an extra telephone line. This is clearly the most desirable, but is also the most expensive. A $50 to $100 fee, plus a monthly fixed expense of $10 to $20 per month (note: all rates are given with a midpoint of the cost quoted me by US West or local merchants). A number of readers wrote in to say that this was, in fact, the only way to go. 2. Get distinctive ringing. This has multiple names: Custom Ringing, RingMate, Smart Ring, RingMaster, and Identa Ring all came up. The service is simple: you have two telephone numbers (let's call them A and B), but only one line. Calls to number A ring differently from number B. (some readers noted that this service is not yet universally available.) The key here is that you can get a box which will route calls to one jack or another (that is, voice phone or FAX machine) based on the ringing. Downsides: the $100 box; you can't use both devices at once; a monthly fee of $2 to $7 (plus possible installation fees of about $10 to $20, although US West has a "special" until December 5). Several boxes were suggested. The Autoline Plus from ITS Communications (800-333-0802) is available for $150, and supports three devices. The Ring Director is available from Hello Direct (800-444-3556) and does the same thing for $100, but only supports two devices. It has been suggested that the Autoline Plus can be had for about $80, via some astute negotiation with the manufacturer. 3. No telco change, but get FAX/voice box. It seems that some FAX machines send a tone called CNG when they are calling. Note that this is different from modems, where the originating modem is silent until the answering modem says something. What this FAX feature means is that one could build a box to distinguish between the two. Several people already have (any suggestions as to which one?) for $60 to $100 which picks up the phone and listens for CNG tones, passing the call to the FAX if it detects CNG and to the phone/answering machine if not. Downsides: similar to (2), although there is no recurring charge. This option was most often labelled as A Bad Thing. The way these boxes work is that they pick up the phone immediately (thus completing the call, and starting charges to the calling party), and then simulate a ringing noise while listening for the CNG tone. Actually, the cheapest of the boxes don't even simulate ringing; they just pick up and listen. The problem is, as always, that not all FAX machines generate CNG. First, there are a set of machines that don't generate CNG tones. Second, it seems that CNG tones are only generated on AUTODIAL calls. I tested our department's FAX, and this seems to be true: if I load the number into the auto-dialer, it makes noise after dialing. If I dial the number in the way which we dial 99.9% of our calls, no CNG tones come out. I didn't collect vendor names for these; there seem to be several dozen out there. 4. Call Directors. This is actually a variation on (3). Some boxes immediately answer the phone, and begin talking "If you are sending a FAX, press 1 now..." Then, the box listens for either CNG or DTMF "1," switching to the FAX box if either comes out. This seems to be somewhat better than (3), since for manual dial calls, if the caller has the presence of mind to press "1," it works fine. These boxes seem to be substantially more expensive than the CNG detecting boxes. CNG boxes are available for about $80 (I found one at our local Office Club); the talking flavor seem to be about $150 to $200 5. Null hypothesis. No changes. Downsides: you have to pre-arrange whenever you expect to receive a FAX. But, it's CHEAP! No one liked this idea. My answer? I will be getting distinctive ringing and a detector box. A second line, if it had no installation fee, would really be price competitive (16 month payback is a LONG time in this game). There were too many unhappy answers about CNG detector boxes. I also wasn't happy about the extra money for a talking CNG detector, plus having a machine answer my home phone didn't thrill me. Thanks again for all your help with this! Joel M Snyder, The Mosaic Group, 627 E Speedway, 85705 Phone: 602.626.8680 (University of Arizona, Dep't of MIS, Eller Graduate School of Management) BITNET: jms@arizmis Internet: jms@mis.arizona.edu SPAN: 47541::uamis::jms