eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (07/19/90)
sam@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Sam Leffler) writes: >Are there any standards (ad hoc or otherwise) for the protocols that >vendors use to implement relaying? By relaying, I mean the ability >to transmit a fax to a machine that then resends it to one or more >destinations. This is done to cut down on phone costs; i.e. make one >long distance phone call to a machine that then relays the document >with local calls. standards seem to be very rare in the computerfax arena. i'm not even sure which parts of fax gatewaying or fax "repeating" would warrant standardization. perhaps IETF ought to discuss this issue... please followup if you have opinions about or needs for specific fax relay functionality. -- /eli eli@spdcc.com
rothstein@NUTMEG.Enet.DEC.com (Lee Rothstein, 603-884-0039) (07/23/90)
In article <3410@ursa-major.SPDCC.COM>, eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes... > sam@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Sam Leffler) writes: >>Are there any standards (ad hoc or otherwise) for the protocols that >>vendors use to implement relaying? By relaying, I mean the ability >>to transmit a fax to a machine that then resends it to one or more >>destinations. This is done to cut down on phone costs; i.e. make one >>long distance phone call to a machine that then relays the document >>with local calls. .. >i'm not even sure which parts of fax gatewaying or fax "repeating" >would warrant standardization. perhaps IETF ought to discuss this issue... At the risk of revealing that I haven't understood much prior discussion both in alt.fax and elsewhere in the industry, I believe that the entire point of Group IV facsimile is to allow the use of store and forward computer networks. Now, this may not be exactly what Sam Leffler had in mind, but it's a starting point. Recently there has been another copntribution to store and forward facsimile. The X.400 Application Programming Interface Association (XAPIA) has issued standards for gateway interfaces for both Group III and Group IV facsimile devices. A gateway interface spec implies interfacing facsimile devices to the MTA (message transport agent). XAPIA is supported by most of the major email vendors: Digital, Retix, AT&T, Telemail ... X/OPEN has also agreed to mutually support the XAPIA standards. More recently, I read a paper by a Japanese company (Fujitsu?) in which they deal with facsimile devices as yet another type of desktop device requiring interface to the UA (user agent) of an X.400 MHS (message handling system). The TCP/IP folk, as evidenced by recent disdcussion in alt.fax, are also working on a standrad for interface of fax to email. +---------------------------------------------------------+ | Lee Rothstein * UUCP: {purdue,ucbvax,hplabs,labrea,sun, | | pyramid,gryphon,angelo}!decwrl!nutmeg.dec.com!rothstein| | * Arpa/Domain Address: rothstein@nutmeg.enet.dec.com | +---------------------------------------------------------+