Re: [hylafax-users] Hardware suggestions to get Hylafax running?

["Joshua Kinard" <jkinard@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Lee,

Well, a friend pointed me to a site holding a Rhino R1T1-EC card, which does T1 plus echo cancellation (I guess that's a good thing).  Think that's a usable card?  It's a bit more than an OpenVox D110P T1 ($659 versus $379), or is EC extra stuff that I don't need?

Looking at IAXmodem, since it's software, I just run as many instances as I need fax lines, correct?  This seems like it'd be quite flexible, and may even allow me to run >8 ports (I'm assuming my maximum limit is 24, the same as T1 channels).  I can do pretty much anything I want through the Rolm system w/r to DIDs and such -- it may be old, but that thing gives us a good amount of functionality.

I guess that means looking at Asterisk a little.  I doubt it'll be too hard to configure for such a basic setup as this -- I've done much worse (like setup a wiki on NetWare/Apache; now that's called "fun").  Plus I have friends to call upon for that if I need any help.


Regarding the FXS stuff -- yes, that's what the Castelle guide stated.  After the line goes off-hook, loopstart signaling is used to pass over the DID digits.  Why my carrier said they don't support that wasn't entirely clear, but he indicated it'd involve fighting their NOC division to implement.


Thanks!,

--Josh


-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Howard [mailto:faxguy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 4:09 PM
To: Joshua Kinard
Cc: hylafax-users@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [hylafax-users] Hardware suggestions to get Hylafax
running?


Joshua Kinard wrote:
> Yeah, this is close to what our phone guy who supports the Rolm suggested from the Rolm-side of things.  He says if we can link the two systems together via T1 or ISDN, then the Rolm can pass DID/DNIS digits, which I need for internal routing to get inbound faxes to the correct e-mail box.
>   

HylaFAX supports most any AT-compatible fax modem.  So the T1 support 
isn't so much a factor of HylaFAX as it is a factor of the "modem" 
itself.  So your options for AT-compatible T1 modems are (as far as I'm 
aware): Patton 2977, Eicon Diva Server, or a Zaptel card.  Unless you 
can find a used Patton 2977 around (and even if you do, the price still 
may go for more than your $600 budget) the only option that suits your 
small budget would be the Zaptel option.

The OpenVOX T1 card should be well-within your budget.  Then it's a 
matter of getting Asterisk and IAXmodem installed and configured... and 
then HylaFAX.  I'd suggest taking the rest of your budget left-over 
after the T1 card purchase and hiring a consultant to log-in and perform 
the Asterisk+IAXmodem+HylaFAX install.  IAXmodem and HylaFAX are 
straight-forward enough that a newbie can get it rather easily.  
Asterisk, on the other hand, is quite a bit of a learning-curve... but 
if you're sharp you may not have a problem with it.

> The clincher is I'm relatively unfamiliar with the names, models, and prices of T1 or ISDN PCI hardware, let alone finding one that works under a modern Linux kernel (2.6.16.xx currently).  I've learned so far of the big fish eating small fish history w/r to Brooktree -- currently owned by Dialogic/Cantata --, but wasn't sure what else is out there.
>   

I'm not a fan of using BrookTrout... and I don't think that it performs 
any better than other less-expensive (and non-proprietary) solutions 
with HylaFAX.

> >From the Adtran 616 side, I can't use FXS ports and pass DID/DNIS digits that way, according to my phone carrier.  Their engineer said he's heard of setups like that, using Tandem E&M over FXS (Castelle's routing guide mentioned this), but he said their supported method involves using FXO ports instead, hence the equipment changeout we'd need.  In either case, I'm told there's little difference between FXS and FXO, with the latter lacking dial tone and capable of trunking to hand off digits.
>   

I don't know anything about the channel bank hardware you indicated, but 
normally it would work with the FXS ports by signalling DID as DTMF 
after the modem goes off-hook and before patching the call through.

> Asterisk+IAXModem...Asterisk I have heard of, but not IAXModem.  I take it this is software that would interface with the T1 card and hand off the DID/DNIS digits to Hylafax via emulated modems?

Yes.  See:  http://iaxmodem.sourceforge.net.

Thanks,

Lee.


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