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Re: [hylafax-users] Fw: use fax machine as scanner



On 2004.07.23 02:36 David Evans wrote:

I'd ideally like to be able to connect a scanner directly to the lan and for a user to be able to pop a document in it and send it to his/her desktop. From here it could be sent as a fax or used in other ways.

I've a couple of clients that have a networked scanner that they access from their browser. The scanner (anything would work, I guess, but ones with ADFs seem to work better for them) is directly connected to a Linux server running, among other things, SANE, Apache, and PHP. The user drops the paper into the scanner. Then the user enters "scanner" into the URL box of their browser. A PHP-produced page on the Linux server connected to the scanner comes up with as many options as you can conceive of (scan, copy, fax to numbers, etc.). They then complete the HTML form, and press a button, and then the action occurs. In most cases they simply have a copy of the scan pop-up in a new browser window (in PDF, in Acrobat Reader), and then they do with it what they will from there.


Sadly, if they had wanted to fax it they normally would have gone over to the fax machine first, and thus they almost never use the networked scanner device as an outbound fax client. In my experience, the only way to convince offices of heterogeneous computer skills to actually use the fax server for most of their outbound faxing is to actually take the fax machine away. It's either a learning curve thing, or there must be a certain feeling of accomplishment to see the paper go through the machine, dial, and complete in that fashion. Maybe taking that away from them is like taking the pacifier from a child. I haven't ever yet been so brave because I have concerns about how much productivity will be lost over the where-is-the-fax-machine squabble and the coping with the new arrangement.

Lee.

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