comp.dcom.fax FAQ
I. - Sources of Information on Fax
I.1 Standards Related to Facsimile Communication
- CCITT (now renamed ITU-T)
- The Blue Book, Volume VII - Fascicle VII.3 Recommendation T.0 - T.63
- EIA/TIA/ANSI
- EIA/TIA-602 Data Transmission Systems and Equipment-Serial Asynchronous
Automatic Dialing and Control
(This is the standard for the basic Hayes command set.)
- TIA PN-2388
- Asynchronous Facsimile DCE Control Standard (DRAFT), Service
Class 2, (also known as Document TR-29/89-21R8, March 21, 1990)
(The first draft of the Class 2 standard, voted down, but the basis for
all current (93Q1) Class 2 modems.)
- EIA/TIA-578
- Asynchronous Facsimile DCE Control Standard, Service Class 1
- EIA/TIA-592
- Asynchronous Facsimile DCE Control Standard, Service Class 2
I.2 Where to Obtain Standards Documents and Related
Information
Vendors of Printed Standards
- Bellcore (Bell Communications Research)
- 1 800 521 CORE
Source of telephony standards (i.e. detailed information on how the
telephone system works included DID, Caller ID, etc. Does not provide
information on facsimile equipment and standards.)
- EIA/TIA
- (202) 457-4942 (Yvette Bottoms)
Source of draft EIA/TIA standards (final stds available from Global)
- Global Engineering Documents
- (800) 854-7179 fax: (202) 331-0960
Distributor for published EIA/TIA standards, as well as ITU-T (CCITT) and
standards docs from 400 other organisations and institutions.
EIA catalog of standard available at no charge
- National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
- (703) 487-4650
- Philips Business Information Inc. (has acquired assets of OMNICOM)
- (301) 424-3338 or 1 (800) 777-5006, FAX: (301) 309-3847
Source of ITU-T (CCITT) and ISO publications
- UN Bookstore
- ITU-T (CCITT) Publications
+1 (212) 963-7680 or +1 (800) 553-3210
- Action Consulting
- Source of draft communications standards
- Human Communications
- (203) 746-4367 FAX: (203) 746-4367
Source of draft communications standards
- International Telecommunications Union electronic document
distribution service (ITUDOC)
- For more information, send a message with the line HELP in the body to:
itudoc@itu.ch.
Or telnet to info.itu.ch and type gopher as
username (no password needed).
Or connect to their gopher server directly:
- gopher://info.itu.ch/.
Commonly Referenced Fax Standards
- [E.451] Recommendation E.451 - Facsimile call cut-off performance
- [E.450] Recommendation E.450 - Facsimile quality of service on PSTN - General aspects
- [E.452] Recommendation E.452 - Facsimile modem speed reductions and transaction time
- [F.162] Recommendation F.162 - Service and operational requirements of store-and-forward facsimile service
- [F.163] Recommendation F.163 - Operational requirements of the interconnection of facsimile store-and-forward units
- [F.190] Recommendation F.190 - Operational provisions for the international facsimile service between public bureaux and subscriber stations and vice versa (bureaufax-telefax and vice versa)
- [F.180] Recommendation F.180 - General operational provisions for the international public facsimile service between subscriber stations (telefax)
- [F.182] Recommendation F.182 - Operational provisions for the international public facsimile service between subscribers' stations with Group 3 facsimile machines (Telefax 3)
- [F.87] Recommendation F.87 - Operational principles for the transfer of messages from terminals on the telex network to Group 3 facsimile terminals connected to the public switched telephone network
- [F.160] Recommendation F.160 - General operational provisions for the international public facsimile services
- [T.611] Recommendation T.611 - Programmable communication interface (PCI) APPLI-COM for facsimile group 3, facsimile group 4, teletex and telex services
- [T.4] Recommendation T.4 - Standardization of Group 3 facsimile apparatus for document transmission
- [T.30] Recommendation T.30 - Procedures for document facsimile transmission in the general switched telephone network
- [T.22] Recommendation T.22 - Standardized test charts for document facsimile transmissions
- [U.207] Recommendation U.207 - Technical requirements to be met for the transfer of messages between terminals of the international telex service and Group 3 facsimile terminals connected to PSTN
- [V.17 SUMMARY] Summary of Recommendation V.17 - A 2-wire modem for facsimile applications with rates up to 14 400 bit-s
- [V.17] Recommendation V.17 - A 2-wire modem for facsimile applications with rates up to 14 400 bit-s
I.3 Magazine Reviews of UNIX Fax Software
- UNIX WORLD, August 1991, pp. 52-60, "Four Fitting Fax Packages", Rick Farris
- Reviews DigiFax, Faximum, TruFax, and VSI-Fax
- UNIX REVIEW, V10n11, Nov 1992, pp. 63-76, "Just the Fax, Ma'am", Tim Parker
- Reviews ArnetFAX, DigiFax, Faximum, FaxLink, FaxTrax, VSI-Fax
I.4 Magazine Reviews of DOS/Windows Fax Software
- PC Magazine, 8 Dec 1992, v11n21, p275-342, "The Fax Solution", by Joel Dreyfus
- Reviews BitFax, DosFax Pro, Eclipse FAX, FAXability Plus, Faxit for DOS
Faxit for Windows, FaxMaster, Fax Talk Plus, The Fax Window, Mirror III Fax,
MTEZ Standard with ExpressFax, PaperWorks, and SuperFax for Windows.
- PC World, Feb 1993 v11n2, "Windows Fax Software", by Bryan Hastings
- The article discusses: Bit Software Bit Fax/OCR for windows v2.05;
Caere Fax Master 1.01; Delrina WinFax Pro 3.0; Ellipse Fax 1.2; Intel
Faxability plus/OCR 1.0; Softnet Faxit 2,.15e; and Zsoft Ultrafax for
Windows 1.0.
- BYTE, Jan 1993, v18n1, p62-64, "First Impressions", by David Andres
- Discusses Delrina's WinFax Pro 3.0
- BYTE, Jan 1993, v18n1, p68, "First Impressions", by Dick Pountain
- Discusses Trio's Datafax
I.5 Magazine Reviews of Mac Fax Software
- MacWorld, Feb 1994 v11n2, "Delrina FaxPro for Macintosh 1.0", by Gene Steinberg
-
- MacWorld, Nov 1993 v10n11, "SupraFaxModem 144PB", by Gene Steinberg
- Discusses SupraFaxModem for the Powerbook
Information courtesy of wilbe007@gold.tc.umn.edu.
I.6 Magazine Reviews of Fax Modems (see also O/S specific
reviews)
- MacWorld, Oct 1993 v10n10, "High-Speed Fax Modems", by Matthew Clark
- Discussion and review of 30 modems that run at 9600 bps or faster
- NeXTWorld Magazine, Winter 1992, v2n4, p59-60, "Just the Fax"
by Simson L. Garfinkel
- Reviews Dove, HSD, and ZyXEL.
- PC Magazine, 8 Dec 1992, v11n21, p343-361, "Negotiating the Fax Modem Jungle"
by Rick Ayre
- Reviews Computer Peripherals, Hayes, Intel, Practical Modem, Supra,
U.S. Robotics, and Zoom.
I.7 Magazine Reviews of Fax Machines
- Consumer Reports, Nov. 1993, v58n11, p722-728, "Fax machines"
- A general consumer product review of various fax machines. The article
reviews in detail 13 lower-end (i.e thermal paper) fax machines and comments
on a couple of higher-end (i.e. plain paper) machines. The Panasonic KX-F230
and the Brother 600 were rated "Best Buys". Get the article to see where the
rest ended up and why (reprinting the entire list of ratings would exceed my
interpretation of "fair use" w.r.t. copyright).
I.8 Publications Devoted to Fax and Telecommunications
- Communications Standards Review
[10-12/year, $695/year in N.A.; partial or shorter subs avail., contact
publisher]
- 757 Greer Road,
Palo Alto,
CA 94303-3024 USA
Phone: +1-415-856-9018 Fax: +1-415-856-6591
e-mail: 72540.113@Compuserve.Com
Communications Standards Review is a journal providing current technical
information on work in progress on communications standards (including
fax) in US and international standards forums.
- EMMS [Bi-weekly, $595 per year]
- published by Telecommunications Reports
1333 H Street, 11th Floor
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 842-0520 Fax: (202) 842-3047
- Human Communications Digest
[Quarterly, $225 per year within US, $235 Canada and International]
- published by Human Communications
12 Kevin Drive, Danbury CT, 06811-2901
Phone: (203) 746-4367 FAX: (203) 746-4367
e-mail: 71043.1114@compuserve.com
"HCD in depth coverage of fax and related standards
trends in the US and International standards bodies.
Most issues also feature analysis on key
standards trends." (description provided by publisher)
Also offers regular courses on Group 3 Fax Technology
in conjunction with Genoa Technology.
- FAX Integrator (formerly NetFax News)
[Monthly, $contact publisher]
- published by Davidson Consulting
530 N. Lamer Street, Burbank, CA, 91506
Phone: (818) 842-5117 FAX: (818) 842-5488
Also publishes Scouting Reports and Buyers' Guides
- Fax Focus
[weekly, $250, free with membership in the AFA)
- published by the American Facsimile Association
Phone: (215) 963-9110 Fax: (215) 451-1156
I.9 Books on Fax
- "FAX: Digital Facsimile Technology & Applications", 2nd Ed. 338pp.
- by Kenneth R. McConnell, Dennis Bodson, Richard Schaphorst
1992, Artech House, Norwood, MA. ISBN: 0-89006-495-5
(Order Book No. H04495, $78, Phone: 1 800 225 9977 or 1 617 769-9750)
- "C Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications.", 2nd Ed.
- by Joe Campbell; SAMS Publishing; 1994; ISBN: 0-672-30286-1
(The main addition of the second edition was a monster chapter on facsimile
including redrawn T.30 flow charts and narratives to walk the reader
through various scenarios (e.g., EOP, EOM, MPS). It's got good source
code for T.4 encoding and decoding. In general, I believe it's the only
intelligible discussion of the subject available to programmers.)
Information supplied by the author, Joe Campbell (joec@calon.com).
- "C++ Communications Utilities"
- by Michael Holmes and Bob Flanders; Ziff-Davis
(Contains a good description of fax software and includes C++ source and
exe code for Class 1 fax sending and receiving. Courtesy Bruce Seiler,
Bruce.Seiler%porch@cjbbs.com)
I.10 Other Sources of Information on Fax
More detailed information on image file formats and compression may be
obtained from the comp.graphics FAQ. The latest version of this FAQ is
available as
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/faq
.
Information on the Microsoft Windows Telephony API spec is kept in the
following FTP directory:
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/developr/TAPI
Information on the Internet/fax gateway project may be obtained by sending
e-mail to:
tpc-faq@town.hall.org
A mailing list related to the Internet/fax gateway project may be reached
through:
tpc-rp-request@aarnet.edu.au
The full text of the
DCA/Intel Communicating Applications Specification (CAS)
may be obtained from
ftp://ftp.faximum.com/pub/documents/cas.txt.
If you want comprehensive information on fax-on-demand and/or broadcast
fax suppliers, contact
Sarah Stambler at Techprose, 370 Central Park West,
#210, New York, NY, 10025, (212) 222 1765, Fax: (212) 678-6357.
(http://www.interport.net/~sarahs/).
She sells a number of newsletters and reports on FoD and fax broadcast
technology.
See also the section on related FAQs and
URLs (below).
Vendors BBSs
ZyXEL BBS: (714) 693-0762
Supra BBS: (503) 967-2444
Intel BBS: (503) 645-6275
I.11 Conferences on Fax
BIS Strategic Decisions
BIS Strategic Decisions runs several conferences on fax and related
technologies. Historically they ran the "Facsimile and Image Communications
Conference" every spring and every fall they held the "Annual Computer Fax
Conference. In 1995, however, BIS is planning to merge these two conferences
into a single "FAXWORLD'95" conference December 4-6, 1995, in San Francisco.
EUROFAX'95 is scheduled for Amsterdam, October 25-27'95.
For more information on BIS conferences, call:
(800) 874-9980 ext 178 or (617) 982-9500 ext 178,
(Fax: 617 982-1724)
I.12 Associations Related to Fax Technology
- American Facsimile Association
- Phone: (215) 963-9110 Fax: (215) 451-1156
- International Computer Fax Association
- Phone (617) 982-9500
I.13 Fax-on-Demand Phone Numbers
This is a list of collected fax-on-demand numbers for various major computer
companies. Please email any additions or corrections to:
faxfaq@faximum.com
- Hewlett-Packard 1 800 333 1917 All Products (?)
- Intel 1 800 525 3019 All Products (?)
- WordPerfect 1 801 228-9923 WordPerfect Solutions
Guide
- Frame Technology 1 408-428-6153 FrameFacts
I.14 Related FAQs
FAQs Related to FAX
- FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet?
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq
- HylaFax (formerly FlexFax) Frequently Asked Questions
- http://www.vix.com/hylafax/FAQ
- GammaLink intelligent fax boards, Frequently Asked Questions.
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/fax-faq/GammaLink
- Mgetty+Sendfax with Vgetty Extensions (FAQ)
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/fax-faq/mgetty+sendfax+vgetty
- Object-Fax Frequently Asked Questions
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/fax-faq/Object-Fax
- Windows NT Fax Solutions Frequently Asked Questions
- http://www.mcs.net:80/~sculptor/NTFAX-FAQ.HTML
FAQs Related to Modems
- Digicom Frequently Asked Questions
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/Digicom-faq
- NetComm Frequently Asked Questions List
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/NetComm-faq
- Practical Peripherals Frequently Asked Questions
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/practical-peripherals-FAQ
- Configuring the Telebit Trailblazer for Use with UNIX
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/trailblazer-faq
- ZyXEL Modems Frequently Asked Questions List
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/FAQ/part1
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/FAQ/part2
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/FAQ/part3
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/FAQ/part4
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/FAQ/part5
- ZyXEL U1496 series modems resellers FAQ
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/modems/ZyXEL/resalers-FAQ
Other FAQs of Related Interest
- comp.graphics Frequently Asked Questions
(Information on compression algorithms)
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/faq
I.15 Fax-Related URLs
For the URLs of vendors, please see the
Product Information
section of this FAQ.
Standards and Related Information
- ITU (The standards setting body for fax, modems, and telephony.)
- Coies of many ITU (formerly CCITT)
standards can be obtained through their gopher server
- gopher://info.itu.ch/.
Standards are in the ITU section.
Those related to fax are in the T Series, modem standards are in the
V Series.
Gray Associates (manufacturers of fax protocol testing equipment) also
have an in-depth discussion of fax protocols at
http://www.grayfax.com/FAXSMNAR.html.
Supra Corporation has put draft versions of the Class 1 and Class 2
specs up on FTP (the final, official versions are copyright and cannot
legally be made available over the net). Download
ftp://ftp.supra.com/gen_info/class_1.txt
and
ftp://ftp.supra.com/gen_info/class_2.txt.
WWW Virtual Library
Communications Section
http://www.analysys.co.uk/commslib.htm
Facsimile Communications Sub-Section
http://www.faximum.com/w3vlib/fax
-EOM-
Please mail comments to
webmaster@www.faximum.com
Last updated:
Fri May 12 17:54:56 PDT 1995
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