TIPS Trying to get FAX working

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So I decided to try to get FAX working. I got the basics setup using the Incredible Fax tutorial ( http://nerdvittles.com/?p=738 ) but have run into one issue (so far, I'm only testing incoming right now).
When I send the DID (I have a toll free voip.ms DID I'm playing with this on right now) straight to the fax destination, it works fine.
However, when I turn on the fax detection like shown in the article (and I also set faxdetect=yes in Asterisk SIP settings), I get this error:
[2014-07-10 18:12:28] NOTICE[8957][C-00000000] chan_sip.c: FAX CNG detected but no fax extension
[2014-07-10 18:12:28] NOTICE[8957][C-00000000] res_fax.c: FAX CNG detected but no fax extension in context (ext-group)
PIAF 2.0.64, FreePBX 2.11.0.38, Asterisk 11.5.1.

Is this simply not working yet, or is there something else I need to configure?

Thanks!
 

rossiv

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Which fax detect method are you using? Should be a dropdown in FreePBX. Don't use fax detect myself (dedicated DID), so that's IIRC.
 
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SIP with detection time of 5, just like the article. I figured DAHDI was if you are doing detection on a DAHDI device (which might not be a bad idea to try at some point...)
 

krzykat

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Who's your upstream carrier? I encountered this same problem with one of my DIDs. Another DID on same carrier that had different upstream did NOT have the problem. So I assumed it was an issue with the upstream carrier.
 

tm1000

Schmoozecom INC/FreePBX
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Edit: I had to reread that article a few times.

You are referencing a three year old article about AvantFax. Skip using AvantFax. Your whole fax detection is completely fine and it's not an upstream issue its a configuration issue, Asterisk discovered the fax but has no idea where to route it because of a misconfiguration with AvantFax. PIAF provides support for spandsp so use that instead, I think even wardmundy would agree.
 
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Interesting. How do I set that up? I don't see a module for it loaded and nothing obvious in the configurations.
 
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So from what I've read and seen so far I get the following impressions (and feel free to correct me):
1. Hylafax generally works fine when a DID goes directly to it.
2. Fax detection partially works, but won't pass to Hylafax because of the extension error.
3. Fax detection with spandsp may work (I haven't delved into that much to figure out how to set that up and test it).

So based on my situation I'm trying to decide the best course of action.

Incoming Fax Issues:
Most (or all) Incoming Faxes would be things that need to be printed, and our current MFP is finicky..to say the least..when trying to print from cups, so printing would often entail opening the Fax from a Windows machine and printing from there if I can't get Avantfax/Hylafax reliably printing to the printer.

Outgoing Fax Issues:
I want our faxes to go out digitally instead of going out the POTS line like now - Scan and use desktop fax client would require adding at least 2 scanners to machines (and requires training)

Both: Those possible FAX over VOIP issues could be problematic at times, especially since we are often faxing multiple pages.

Possible Solutions (if Fax detection and reliable printing can't be resolved):
1. Get a dedicated FAX DID (seems to be the most reliable way to do things anyway) and send it to Avantfax/Hylafax (or spandsp) and just deal with having to manually print things
- Outgoing would still be going out POTS unless done from desktop client
- Possible incoming/outgoing issues due to faxing over VOIP

2. Get a dedicated FAX DID and put the MFP on my Obi device and send the line directly to that extension
- Lose the archiving features and email and such from Avantfax/Hylafax
- Possible incoming/outgoing issues due to faxing over VOIP

3. Some hybrid of the above

4. Get vFax and Fax Enable from Vitelity and just plug it in and forget it
- Can't have multiple user logins to the standalone fax portal, but that's a minor thing
- Initial device cost, but $110 isn't all that much in the world of VOIP equipment.

Thoughts?
 
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Well, I decided to go ahead and grab a vFac number and Fax Enable for the house MFP. I'll likely still play with doing things through PIAF as well when I have time to play with it (and with the printer).
 
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I got my fax enable box in yesterday afternoon. Once I let it through the firewall (hehe) it provisioned itself and works fine. I tested it using Avant to make sure incoming and outgoing are working. Once my new printer comes, I may try to get Avant printing to it. If I can get that working I may point one of my unpublished DIDs there (or pick up another one Voip.ms since from what I've read around the forum they seem to be a bit more stable than Vitelity for faxing).
 

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