Re: [hylafax-users] Faxmail implementation question

[Lee Howard <faxguy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2004.08.31 10:36 Charles Marcus wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> OK, I've finally defined for myself exactly how I want our fax server 
> to work. Now, before I start playing with Hylafax, I just want to 
> make sure I'm not wasting my time. I would appreciate it if some kind 
> soul would take the time to tell me if Hylafax will do the job, and 
> do it reliably. It isn't long or complex...
>
> 1. Incoming faxes.
> All incoming faxes should be converted to PDF attachments, forwarded 
> to a specified email address.

Okay.  Easily done.  You can find instructions on the website (HOWTO).

> All incoming faxes will forwarded to one, central email address which 
> will be on an IMAP server that everyone has read-only access to.
>
> I am satisfied that Hylafax can do this already with no problems 
> whatsoever, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct, although my advice would be to have that mailbox only 
be accessible by one individual (or position, like "receptionist"), and 
that individual then forwards them.  It causes a lag in delivery 
sometimes, perhaps, but it helps protect sensitive information, keeps 
the users from deleting faxes that were intended for others, and saves 
in duplication of fax handling by more than one person.

> 2. Outgoing Faxes.
> This is going to be the tricky part.
>
> Can Hylafax accept emails with PDF and/or TIFF attachments and 
> perform the fax of the attachments?

HylaFAX is a fax server, not a mail server.  So your SMTP will be what 
accepts e-mails.  You can make your SMTP server pass them on towards 
HylaFAX, and given how you do that, yes, HylaFAX can send faxes that 
originated as PDF or TIFF attachments.

> I found and read the page on the Hylafax website Titled 'Mail to Fax 
> Gateway' (www.hylafax.org/faxgateway.html), but it doesn't say 
> anything about working with PDF attachments.

faxmail doesn't natively work with PDF attachments.

> And the manpage on Faxmail shows as last being updated in 1996.

No developer has actively worked on faxmail for a very long time.  I'm 
not sure any developers actually even *use* faxmail.

I do all of my email-to-fax gateways with a shell or procmail script.

That said, I think that email-to-fax gateways are a less-than-ideal way 
to do the job.  I've found that web application pages (e.g. in PHP) are 
better for security and for post-submission handling (e.g. altering or 
cancelling the fax, or checking up on the status).

> A search on the Hylafax site doesn't reveal anything else I can find 
> that is meaningful.
>
> We have some Multifunction printer/scan/fax machines that are capable 
> of scanning to an email. What I would like to do is disable the fax 
> ability of these machines, configure them to use Hylafax as the SMTP 
> server, and then when we 'Send as email attachment', the fax number 
> is delivered to Hylafax in the following format:
>
> faxnum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Can be done.

> Hylafax should then send the fax to the first part of the email 
> address (destination fax number).
>
> Lastly, I want Hylafax to always forward a copy of the email to a 
> specified email address (this will be our 'Fax Sent'. This should be 
> done invisibly, and independantly of the user.
>
> If this functionality is not already available with Hylafax proper, 
> we may be willing to spend some money on getting it working, but if 
> we need to do that, it would be best to do this in such a manner that 
> the code gets integrated with the main Hylafax code so everyone can 
> benefit from it.

I've written so many different email-to-fax scripts in procmail and 
shell that I would have incorporated something already into HylaFAX 
proper if I felt that it was worthy of it.  However, for all effects 
and purposes, these scripts are mere customizations.  Every person 
seems to want the e-mail handled slightly differently, and it's much, 
much easier to just rewrite the script to handle the customizations 
than it is to make the script "customizable" with some configuration 
file of some kind.

> Lastly, I am willing to buy modems that will work 100% reliably with 
> all other fax modems and fax machines - so, which ones are best 
> supported by Hylafax?

Good luck on getting anyone to guarantee 100% reliability.  Look to the 
HOWTO for recommendations on good modems to use.

Lee.

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