Ian wrote:

> A customer has WinFax Pro 10.03, which he's trying to configure on the PC I've just built for him.
>
> He accesses the internet via an ADSL connection through a 4-port router which I also supplied.
>
> Here's my (well, his) question: Can he use his router to send and receive faxes with WinFax?  (I told you it was a dumb question :--))
>
> He tells me that the WinFax blurb says he needs a 'modem'.  Well, as far as I'm concerned, he already has a modem, in the form of the broadband router.
>
> Anyone able to comment?
>
> TX
>
> Ian Porter
> Computer Guys Inc.
> Arrowtown
> New Zealand
> [log in to unmask]
>
> The NOSPIN Group
> http://freepctech.com
>
>       "Hold No Punches.." Rode brings you great shareware/freeware
>         programs with his honest opinions in this weekly column.
>                        http://freepctech.com/rode
>
>
Fax machines are tied to a phone number. Phones are tied to Central
offices. The internet is a system of servers tied together by means of
special interconnects (T1, LAN, WAN, and what he knows as an ISP) to
allow his system to connect to the internet. In order to jump from
Internet to a landline, you need to have some type of system that allows
that feature. Remember, a fax machine is designed in a way such that it
'answers' an incoming call (like when you answer a telephone because it
is ringing (Pavlov's training???  ;>)  ) and then 'negotiates' with the
sending fax machine to allow receipt of the fax. Several things must
happen: A regular fax machine cannot be hooked into the internet because
the internet uses IP's and not telephone numbers. However, he could use
the internet to transmit a fax if he subscribed to a service that would
allow the transmission to 'jump' from internet to landline. This is what
VoIP is doing. I believe Vonage is one such service that allows you to
make a phone call over the internet to another landline telephone. But
when you look at this methodology, you readily understand that his
Winfax Pro software would not be able to receive faxes over the internet
because it is not associated with a telephone number. How will the
software determine that a fax transmission is coming in?

So the reality is that fax transmission/reception is a function of
landlines, which use telephone numbers. Fax software (whether in fax
machines or computers) are designed to work with landlines, which
involve modems. While ADSL 'uses' a landline, it is not associated with
a phone number, but it is associated with a DNS (IP address). The two
are not the same. If he wants to use the internet to send and receive
faxes, eFax will allow that function, but again, it provides the
crossover from the internet to landlines and vice versa -- something
that his home system does not perform.

Jean Bourvic

             PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml