Help with call forwarding to a fax machine
jimates:
Where did you get the Nettalk for $40?
I do recall one problem I had with the Nettalk and forwarding my google voice to it.
The Nettalk actually answers every call and then either forwards it or delivers it to the phone port. With google voice that meant all my forwarding phones range once then the Nettalk answered and continued to ring. And the call could not be answered on any of my other phones.
Perhaps the fact that Nettalk answers the call before forwarding has something to do with the failing fax.
Stewart:
A problem with a silent ring is that ringing is needed to trigger the display of caller ID. For the SPx Service you would like to be silent, try setting X_RingProfile to A and X_DefaultRing to 10. This is a ring with 1/4 second on and 9 3/4 seconds off. With luck, you'll still see caller ID, but the phone will make so little sound that the kids won't notice, or can be told to ignore it. You can further tune the ring by editing Ring Profile A -> Ring Pattern 10 -> RingPattern.
To have incoming calls on the Line port not be processed by the OBi at all, set LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute to {}
For your fax dilemma, I have two suggestions. The first is to give up on HelloFax -- you can easily port your number to Anveo, Callcentric, Vitelity or many others, and have reliable incoming fax service at lower cost. There are many ways to sign a document on your own computer, ranging from free software such as IrfanView (simply paste your signature image into the fax image) to high-end packages such as Adobe Acrobat. If you get lots of forms by fax to fill out and sign, the latter may be a worthwile investment, because it is pretty good at identifying the location of form fields -- you just click each box and type.
If you are really wedded to HelloFax, IMO you should spend $10 on an experiment. Get a temporary local number (in your rate center) from a quality provider such as Anveo or Callcentric. Forward it to your HelloFax number and test. If it works reliably, you can be quite confident that when you port your landline, it will also work well. If it doesn't perform to your expectations, you can at least evaluate their incoming fax function, to see whether you can live with that.
How have you been sending your test faxes? I hope that you were using your fax machine and landline, connected directly, not through the OBi. Otherwise, you may have been using a degraded source and were not doing a fair test.
dlsmith:
Thanks again guys !
@jlmates -- I got the Nettalk at a local Frys electronics. They have it online too for $40 -- http://www.frys.com/product/6792695
@Stewart -- thanks for the ideas. Caller ID isn't that important -- my wife's cell will ring. She just likes to answer it on the home phone when she's there to save on minutes. I don't really understand the system for coding the ringtones, but I set Ring #10 to "60;(0+0)" and that makes no sound or lights on the handset but the call is still there if the handset is answered.
Also the reason I am so big on HelloFax is that it is perfect for my workflow -- I'm a physician and I get 8-10 faxes for refill requests that need to be quickly written on and signed. With HelloFax I get an email alert, click on the link and am taken right to the edit system (in a browser window) where I can add a quick text box and signature, hit send and be done. Whole thing takes less than a minute. I tried Ringcentral to compare and I'd need to individually download each file, edit it locally, then reupload to send. I'm on a Mac which does make some things more limited (Ringcetral has an edit and sign program but it's not Mac compatible for instance). If only HelloFax would get it together for number porting!
I've tested NetTalk and various other forwarding options by sending faxes from my landline fax, a friend's fax, and from various online fax services (like Ringcentral and FaxZero). Forwarding reliably works if I call forward to HelloFax from my ATT landline or from my cell phone. It also seems to work reliably when sent to Line2 and forwarded to HF (I need to test it a few more times in various ways to feel confident in it).
Anyway I know this has gotten off topic for Obi110 discussion, but I thought it would helpful if other folks have similar situations with faxing.
pc44:
I, too, am tied to my landline for only one reason: faxing.
So I do relate to your desire for a better solution. You could probably check with ATT to see if they would change your fax landline to a forward-only service at a reduced monthly rate. Then have all calls forwarded to the HelloFax DID number. But I don't think that's quite what you are wanting... it's just a thought.
Thanks for the heads up on Hello Fax... I was completely unfamiliar with it until you mentioned it.
Rick:
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?
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