Any experience with fax servers?

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • ! twitty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    May 1, 2011
    4,234
    38
    NE Indy
    I am curious if anyone has any experience with fax servers and could answer some questions for me? I have been researching them for a couple of days but information is hit and miss and very vague.
     

    fullmetaljesus

    Probably smoking a cigar.
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Jan 12, 2012
    5,849
    149
    Indy
    Fax you say.

    Well I guess the first thing you will want to look for is a server that can operate in the year 1990, while being in present times. I would think that once you got past that bit it would be a fairly simple.
     

    sharkey

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 13, 2009
    6,003
    113
    Hognuts' Liberal ****hole
    Not much choice out there. For Windows; RightFax and FACSys are the market leaders, both are expensive (we use Rightfax). On *NIX; Hylafax has been around quite awhile.

    Most, if not all modern PBX systems will support faxing as well.
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    Take it from someone who has battled fax servers for twenty years: Run. Run fast and far. There are no decent solutions out there that aren't going to eventually cost you a mint. You want my advice? Farm it out. Instead of building out your own infrastructure to do it, contract with a company that does fax blasting. You know, you e-mail them the document and they fax it to all 10,000 clients for you? Or they'll provide you with a bunch of DID numbers and fax routing and just e-mail your users a digital copy of whatever was faxed to them. It will end up being way cheaper and way easier to maintain in the long run.

    ETA: It's 2012. Convince your money people to move into the 21st century and give up faxing. It's a ridiculously-obsolete technology. It's time to move on.
     
    Last edited:

    Netranger

    Plinker
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Dec 17, 2010
    33
    6
    Lawrenceburg / SE Indiana
    Recent experience with Fujitsu GFI Faxmaker within a physician's practice using Allscripts EHR software. They use it to send RX info to local pharmacies and to recieve faxes into the system without having to scan. It is NOT a 100% working solution...very buggy. If I had to do it again, I would try to engineer an outside hosted option.
     

    Mr Evilwrench

    Quantum Mechanic
    Emeritus
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Aug 18, 2011
    11,560
    63
    Carmel
    FAX machines, at least other peoples', used to be hella fun; send them a mobius fax with enough black on it to ruin the paper, that kind of thing. Who has one still receiving? I sure don't.
     

    ! twitty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    May 1, 2011
    4,234
    38
    NE Indy
    I know, it is such a thing in the past but we use it a lot for medical records. It does seem like it might be a waste considering that everyone is supposed to move to EMR by 2014. I guess I am just looking for a short term solution. I Have looked into GFI Faxmaker and a few others.
     

    Ryninger

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    12   0   0
    Sep 5, 2008
    841
    18
    Newburgh
    I know, it is such a thing in the past but we use it a lot for medical records. It does seem like it might be a waste considering that everyone is supposed to move to EMR by 2014. I guess I am just looking for a short term solution. I Have looked into GFI Faxmaker and a few others.

    Carrier Pigeons!!!
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    I know, it is such a thing in the past but we use it a lot for medical records. It does seem like it might be a waste considering that everyone is supposed to move to EMR by 2014. I guess I am just looking for a short term solution. I Have looked into GFI Faxmaker and a few others.

    If you need a short-term solution, then just go buy a fax machine at Office Max. Heck, your copy machine probably has a fax built into it. Or farm it out, as I mentioned before. Seriously, any server-type solution you buy is going to be so not worth assembling and maintaining just for a couple of years.

    Yes, I'm trying to talk you out of a fax server. Trust me on this.
     

    ! twitty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    May 1, 2011
    4,234
    38
    NE Indy
    If you need a short-term solution, then just go buy a fax machine at Office Max. Heck, your copy machine probably has a fax built into it. Or farm it out, as I mentioned before. Seriously, any server-type solution you buy is going to be so not worth assembling and maintaining just for a couple of years.

    Yes, I'm trying to talk you out of a fax server. Trust me on this.

    I believe you but how do I go about talking the boss out of it? We have 3 different copiers but he has been asked into checking out a fax machine, as users can supposedly save time (money) by not have to walk to a physical machine.
     

    tv1217

    N6OTB
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Mar 11, 2009
    10,195
    77
    Kouts
    When I got my C&R a bunch of places didn't want it in email and would only take a fax or snail mail copy. Stupid.
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    I believe you but how do I go about talking the boss out of it? We have 3 different copiers but he has been asked into checking out a fax machine, as users can supposedly save time (money) by not have to walk to a physical machine.

    A fax machine is not a fax server. You asked about a fax server. A simple ROI calculation will show him how stupid the premise is of investing in a fax server infrastructure so that his lazy employees don't have to walk ten feet to get to the fax machine. Or, like I said, find out if the copier does faxing. I bet it's got a fax-to-email function so that the little delicate flowers can just open their e-mail client to get their faxes. The "money saving" aspect of it is utter hogwash. You're going to blow all of that savings just in labor to get the thing up and running and get everyone trained on how to use it, and then you're going to dump it in 2014 for your EMR.

    When I got my C&R a bunch of places didn't want it in email and would only take a fax or snail mail copy. Stupid.

    A lot of court houses and law firms are the same way. Most of the government is still under the mistaken impression that faxing is somehow more "real"; that it's harder to forge. It's complete crap, of course. Besides, you can buy a fax machine for less than a hundred bucks for those times when you have to deal with the technologically-stunted.
     

    ! twitty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    May 1, 2011
    4,234
    38
    NE Indy
    Sorry, I still meant fax server. Yeah our Konica Bizhub c451 does fax to email but he wants teh users to be able to email to fax (I guess).
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    Sorry, I still meant fax server. Yeah our Konica Bizhub c451 does fax to email but he wants teh users to be able to email to fax (I guess).

    A Konica Bizhub c451 will do print-to-fax. You even use the same print driver. You just print the document like you normally would, but instead of sending it to the "print" tray, you send it to the "fax" tray and add a phone number.

    Again, this is just a fax machine. A fax server will allow you to aggregate a dozen or more inbound/outbound lines, along with direct-inward-dialing so that each assigned person can have their own fax number, and it will sort incoming faxes into the correct mailboxes. They're a giant colossal PITA.
     

    ! twitty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    36   0   0
    May 1, 2011
    4,234
    38
    NE Indy
    Ok, we have a lot of charts for medical purposes. The question essentially is how can teh user fax them from their personal pc? Sorry Scutter I am a noob in this aspect and am not sure what to do. I greatly appreciate your help though.
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    Ok, we have a lot of charts for medical purposes. The question essentially is how can teh user fax them from their personal pc? Sorry Scutter I am a noob in this aspect and am not sure what to do. I greatly appreciate your help though.

    Is it a physical chart or an electronic chart?
     
    Top Bottom