Help with call forwarding to a fax machine
jimates:
Quote from: Rick on March 05, 2012, 09:37:51 am
I'm curious - am I the only one that is successfully using GV to fax? As I indicated, I slowed the baud rate and turned off error correction on my HP3330 and it works just fine to send and receive. I have no need to receive the faxes on anything but paper, but I also have no reason to believe that if I setup a PC the same way it would also work fine with GV. I guess my point is - are people that are assuming they can no longer fax when they switch to GV trying some of the documented solutions?
No, you are not the only one. Many have reported success faxing with GV. But hundreds times more have reported being unsuccessful.
And there is no guarantee that every baud rate modem is going to work the same. I have ReplayTV with modems that dial in for programming and I tried for days trying to get it to work.
I did get it to work with NetTalk but even then I had to find the right combination of baud rate and destination number. It won't connect to just every number in the list, I had to find the right one.
dlsmith:
@pc44 -- that's a good suggestion. I'll find out from ATT if they offer a cheaper service with call forwarding only. I don't really need to fax out anymore since I'll receive faxes online and the few times I have a hardcopy form to fax I can just scan it then fax as an attachment with the online fax service. If not the trial of a Line2 account set to forward to HelloFax seems to be working consistently and that only costs $10/mo with free number porting. Doubt ATT will be cheaper than that.
@Rick -- I was using my fax with GV and it would work about 70% of the time. My fax was (still is at the moment) connected to the ATT landline with local service only. For long distance faxes I would call my GV number, press #2 and then dial the number I was faxing. Again did not always work. I never tested receiving faxes to GV then forwarded to the landline. When I tried faxing through GV with the fax connected to the obi110 it never worked. Also could not get it to work connected to the NetTalk duo not using GV, so it may be an issue with my ISP rather than the devices (since it was more successful with GV through the POTS line). I did try ECM off and lowest baud rate setting on the fax.
I guess the summary is that ditching a landline for online faxing requires some careful thought depending on your requirements and needs with faxing! I'll keep the NetTalk even though I'm basically using it just for e911 -- I can stick with one obi110 that way. If I went with Callcentric it's a little cheaper but I'd need a second obi and handset since I have two GV #s already assigned to the obi - the cost ends up being overall better in my situation with the NetTalk device. And it looks like Line@ for $10 month to port and CF my fax phone # to HelloFax is reasonable until I can port the number directly to HelloFax.
Stewart:
My choices would be different. Instead of Line2, I'd use Anveo for the fax forwarding. Assuming a Value DID and 200 min./mo. of forwarding, it's only $3 per month. IMO, quality is better (based on my trial of Line2 for voice -- I did not test fax). Like Line2, you can receive faxes directly if needed.
Instead of NetTalk, I'd again choose Anveo. If both GV numbers have high outbound usage (let's say >300 min./mo. for the less-used number), then IMO it's well worth it to buy a second OBi, so you could make or receive calls while the wife or kids are on the phone. Having done that, you can configure SP2 for Anveo on both devices and have reliable 911 service for only $0.80/mo. Or, use Callcentric instead ($1.50/mo for 911; they have provided reliable VoIP service for more than 10 years).
If one GV line is not heavily used, I'd put Anveo on SP2 and get a DID to which the second GV number can forward. Outbound calls on SP2 would go via Anveo (but send the GV caller ID) and cost $0.01/min., though you would only have to use this path when the outbound caller ID was important.
By having a SIP provider on SP2, you gain the ability to have additional providers, e.g. for lower cost international calls, or to receive calls from other areas and countries via SIPBroker, iNum, Localphone and Rebtel gateways.
dlsmith:
Quote from: Stewart on March 06, 2012, 10:38:33 am
My choices would be different. Instead of Line2, I'd use Anveo for the fax forwarding. Assuming a Value DID and 200 min./mo. of forwarding, it's only $3 per month. IMO, quality is better (based on my trial of Line2 for voice -- I did not test fax). Like Line2, you can receive faxes directly if needed.
Instead of NetTalk, I'd again choose Anveo. If both GV numbers have high outbound usage (let's say >300 min./mo. for the less-used number), then IMO it's well worth it to buy a second OBi, so you could make or receive calls while the wife or kids are on the phone. Having done that, you can configure SP2 for Anveo on both devices and have reliable 911 service for only $0.80/mo. Or, use Callcentric instead ($1.50/mo for 911; they have provided reliable VoIP service for more than 10 years).
If one GV line is not heavily used, I'd put Anveo on SP2 and get a DID to which the second GV number can forward. Outbound calls on SP2 would go via Anveo (but send the GV caller ID) and cost $0.01/min., though you would only have to use this path when the outbound caller ID was important.
By having a SIP provider on SP2, you gain the ability to have additional providers, e.g. for lower cost international calls, or to receive calls from other areas and countries via SIPBroker, iNum, Localphone and Rebtel gateways.
Thanks for the advice Stewart. I did try Anveo -- $10 was worth a look. They sure have a lot of features although the website and dashboard are not the easiest to follow -- unfortunately fax forwarding was not successful, even when sent from a landline and forwarded through Anveo. For whatever reason Line2 has been consistently able to forward faxes so I'm going to port my number to them for now. I could see Anveo being a good and inexpensive service for e911, but the Value plan is limited to 40 minutes a day which is probably too low to use instead of GV. Two Obis would fix that problem, but then there's the expense of the 2nd Obi and I'd need to buy an additional handset.
Anyway thanks for all the tips from the community! Although I can't really cut the cost of faxing as low as I'd like, it's still 1/2 of what it is with ATT even with HelloFax+Line2 (and I don't have to keep buying paper and ink to feed the fax).
--David
jimates:
Just for reference, you can plug a second Obi's phone port into the line port of a Obi110, and all configured services will ring the phones connect to the Obi110.
To place calls on the services on the second Obi you would press # on the phone and that would connect you to the dial tone on the second Obi. From there you would dial as normal.
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