From: TSHAPIN@biivax.dp.BECKMAN.COM (Ted Shapin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Fax Back From DTMF - Summary
Date: 10 Nov 92 19:00:44 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 839, Message 4 of 4

Here is a summary of what I found from my inquiry on a fax back system
that will use audio response and DTMF tones to select a stored fax
document that will then be transmitted to the caller's fax machine.
This is called "fax on demand".
 
Systems can be either "one call" or "call back." With one call you
dial from your fax machine and everything is completed in one call.
With call back you call from any phone and give the phone number of
your fax machine which will then be called back.  The latter method is
covered by a Brooktrout patent. Some systems will let you leave a
voice mail message after you have made your selections.  Some systems
are expandable to hundreds of phone lines.  Some systems allow private
fax mailboxes so users can dial in and receive any faxes that have
been sent to them and stored in their fax mailbox.
 
Mike Bray says: "Here's something to consider (or not) ...

> All the ones I've tried will NOT work with an older group-II
> FAX machine. Yes, group-II machines are slow and lame, but 
> that's no excuse for these services not working with them.
 
> So... if you have a choice, I'd avoid the ones that don't 
> support group-II (and be sure to tell them why)."

Here are the companies I found together with demonstration numbers so
you can try them yourself.
 
Mfr: AudioFAX, 2000 Powers Ferry Rd., Marietta, GA 30067
Voice: 404-933-7600 or 800-283-4632
FAX: 404-933-7600
Description: Series 100 -- 2 to 8 ports, Series 300 -- 24 ports, 
    Series 300I rack nounted. Fax on demand, fax store and 
    forward, fax mail. 
Demo number: 404-618-4555 

Mfr: Brooktrout Technology, 144 Gould St., Needham, MA  02192 
Voice: 617-449-4100 
FAX: 617-449-9009
Description: Product is the FlashFAX automated document delivery 
    system. A small two voice two line system sells for $10,000 
    and is built into a small PC compatible. Hardware and 
    software for larger systems and other operating systems 
    including Unix, OS/2 and QNX is available. Software 
    toolkit for custom applications. Company supplies OEM 
    systems. This company owns U.S. patent 4,918,722. See the 
    discussion at the end regarding this. 

Mfr: The Complete PC, 1983 Concourse Dr., San Jose, CA 95131
Voice: 408-434-0145 or 800-229-1753
FAX: 408-434-9701.  BBS: 408-434-9703
Description: The Complete Communicator is an add-in board for
    an IBM compatible PC. Their demo system is for retrieving
    application notes and must be called from your fax 
    machine. I thought this was the poorest system that I
    tried.  I heard bursts of modem noise and CNG tones mixed
    in with the voice response.
Demo number: 408-434-9749

Mfr: FaxBack, Inc., 15250 N.W. Greenbrier Pkwy., Beaverton, OR  
    97006-5674
Voice: 800-873-8753 or 503-690-6360
FAX: 503-690-6399
Decription: A FaxBack IV system hardware and software which 
    goes into your own PC and supports two incoming voice lines 
    and two fax lines costs $8400.  A multi-language support 
    option which will support up to ten languages is $1500. 
    Intel fax boards and Dialogic voice boards are used.
    A rack model handles 24 incoming voice and 24 outgoing 
    fax lines simlutaneously. An Intel spin-off.
Demo number: 800-329-2225 

Mfr: Ibex Technolgies, Inc., 550 Main St., 
Placerville, CA 95667
Voice: 916-621-4342
FAX: 916-621-2004
Description: Uses GammaLink fax boards and Dialogic voice 
    boards. The boards and software are used with your own
    386 PC. A kit for two incoming voice lines and one
    outgoing fax line is $5600. Multi-language support 
    option. Allows call transfer to a voice system. Each
    incoming line may start a specific application.
    An interactive forms option allows a user to mark on a 
    form and fax it. The system does both mark sensing and 
    OCR which can do whatever custom software wants to do 
    with the data.
Demo number: 800-289-9998

Mfr: SpectraFAX Corp., 209 S. Airport Rd., Naples, FL.
Voice: 813-643-5060
FAX: 813-653-5070
Description: Product name is Special Request. Private and 
    public fax mailboxes. Fax forwarding. Can connect to data 
    on host main frames and LANS. Will work with phone systems 
    such as Rolm. Used by Hewlett Packard. Uses Intel 
    connection coprocessor boards. About $5000 per line.
Demo number: 800-289-1329 or 813-643-8720.    

Mfr: Technology Partners AB, Bjornnasvagen 12, S-113 47 Stockholm 
     Sweden
Voice: +46-8 166 600  Fax:  +46-8 167 786
Description: - Uses GammaLink Faxboards and NMS voice boards. Up 
     to 16 lines in a chassis. Based on a Basic like script 
     language, which makes it easy to change the voice response 
     tree. For info, send postal address to Lennart Regebro 
     <regebro@stacken.kth.se> 

Mfr: Telephone Response Technolgies
Voice: 916-784-7777
Description: ProVIDE is an integrated package of application
    development tools for producing sophisticated multi-line 
    interactive voice response systems.  Used and sold by 
    Programmer's Connection.  Uses Intel SatisFAXtion board
    and Dialogic speech card. Two-line system about $1600. 
Demo number: 216-494-7727 (Programmer's Connection) Ask for 
    documents 5283, 5284. 

Mfr: Unknown. Distributed by Hello Direct, 5884 Eden Park Pl., 
    San Jose, CA  95138
Voice: 800-444-3556 or 408-972-1990.
Description: Robofax $1000.  Software and two hardware boards 
    for use with a dedicated IBM compatible PC. Single line 
    only.

Mfr: PaperWorks Supplies, P.O. Box 5014, Fremont, CA 94537-9979.
    (A subsidiary of Xerox.)
Voice: 800-962-5343 or 510-651-7199
Description: This is a completely different catagory of product.
    Voice response and DTMF is not used.  Instead, documents are
    requested by marking boxes on a form which is faxed to the 
    host PC.  That PC then faxes the requested documents. The
    initial form can be received on a fax machine by sending
    just a blank piece of paper. Introductory price of $250 
    includes a Complete PC fax card and software. Works with 
    a single phone line.

Mfr: Rhetorex, CA
Voice: 408-370-0881
Description: Manufacturer of voice boards.  Their VARS 
    usually use their voice boards together with Intel fax
    boards to supply fax on demand systems.

Here are quotes from the discussion of U.S. patent 4,918,722 in the
comp.patents newsgroup:
 
Abstract:
 
Delivery of binary encoded character data and facsimile encoded data
to a specified recipient is controlled rapidly, simply and with
versatility, by, e.g., DTMF commands sent by a user.

"It looks from the text as if they want to patent any remote retrieval
of faxes which can definitely hurt anyone doing software for FaxBack
type services or business people trying to retrieve faxes while on the
road etc.
 
This patent is being fought by a group called the 'Fax Response
Industry Asoociation (FRIA)'
 
Dialogic Corp in Parsippany NJ
GammaLink Inc
Ibex Technologies Inc.
AudioFax
FaxBack Inc.
 
Michael A. Shiels                     mshiels@masnet.uucp
MaS Network Software and Consulting   mshiels@tmsoftware.ca "


"Not quite.  Only remote retrieval which is directed at a third phone
number.  Retrievals done within a single phone call are not covered,
and were patented in non-US countries earlier than 1988...
 
/* eli@spdcc.com */
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA"
 
                       === end ===
 

Ted Shapin                 Internet:  tshapin@beckman.com
Beckman Instruments, Inc.     Phone:     714/961-3393
2500 Harbor, M/S X-11           FAX:     714/961-3351
Fullerton, CA  92634-3100