(NOTE: I posted this to tempt some of you to duplicate
and test this same setup. If we find that it works widely,
then we'll be more confident in it.)
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I have some small business clients who are uninclined
to use online faxing (aka efaxing or virtual faxing). They want
to use their fax machine, connected to an analog phone line, for
both outbound and inbound faxing, on paper. (And they deserve
to have this option over VOIP.)
Some fax providers have succeeded at this. They tend to be
pricey and cater to larger businesses.
Over the years, I've worked on and off to find a reliable, cheap
solution, using an analog telephone adapter and a fax machine.
And I think that I've stumbled onto on reliable, cheap fax setup.
I've succeeded with an Obi202 (firmware 3.1.1) and Telnyx SIP
trunks: faxes now come and go without a hitch. My standard
test is to fax a 20-page paper document outbound 5 times, and
to send the same document inbound 5 times. That's 200 pages
total.
Telnyx is apparently an 8-year-old Chicago company, which is
comforting. I was hesitant to embrace a brand-new company that
might disappear quickly. Their pricing is concealed until you sign
up (free trial accounts are available). Their rates in brief:
OUTBOUND CALLING (US48 & CANADA)
--- Voice and Fax $0.009 / minute (10-second increment)
--- Forwarded Calls $0.0075 / minute (10-second increment)
INBOUND CALLING
--- Non-Toll-Free $0.0075 / minute
--- Toll-Free $0.012 / minute
PHONE NUMBERS
--- DID $1.00 / month
--- DID Setup $1.00
I also tried the Obi202 with VOIP.MS, FlowRoute, and CallCentric.
I found those 3 unreliable. I tried all 4 providers on a Grandstream
HT802, but it wasn't reliable. For me, the only successful setup was
an Obi202 & Telnyx. (I suspect that the cheaper Obi200 would work,
too, but I haven't tested it.)
(I also succeeded with T38fax.com and a Grandstream HT502, but
they're $9.00 per month plus usage.)
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The Obi202 has a thick forest of settings, so you might find these
notes useful. I can flesh them out with feedback from other
people.
(Note: Often, an Obi 202 reboot is needed for changes to the
following settings to take effect fully. This includes changing the
provider used on the physical phone ports.)
Obi202 settings:
(1) Under SERVICE PROVIDERS, create an ITSP profile (A, B, C, or D). Under GENERAL, name it. Under SIP, enter:
ProxyServer sip.telnyx.com
ProxyServerPort 5060
RegistrarServer sip.telnyx.com
RegistrarServerPort 5060
Click the SUBMIT button.
(2) Under VOICE SERVICES, choose SP1, SP2, SP3, or SP4 and under SP3 SERVICE set X_ServProvProfile to the letter (A, B, C, or D) that corresponds to the ITSP profile created above. Put a checkmark under X_KeepAliveEnable. Under SIP CREDENTIALS, enter the SIP username and password in the obvious places. Click the SUBMIT button.
(3) Under PHYSICAL INTERFACES, choose PHONE1 PORT or PHONE2 PORT (depending on which of the Obi202’s physical phone ports you want to fax with). Under PHONE PORT > PRIMARY LINE, choose the voice service (SP1, SP2, SP3, or SP4) that you configured in step (2) above. Click the SUBMIT button.
(4) Under CODECS > CODEC PROFILE A > FAX EVENT, check the ENABLE box. Scroll down to CODEC SETTINGS and check the T38ECM box. Click the SUBMIT box.
(5) Under STATUS > SYSTEM STATUS, make sure that the SIP account shows as registered under SP1, SP2, SP3, or SP4 SERVICE STATUS.
(6) On the fax machine, implement the recommendations below, taken from:
http://support.t38fax.com/support/solutions/articles/19000026933-recommended-fax-machine-settings
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Recommended fax machine settings
Modified on: Fri, 11 Nov, 2016 at 5:33 PM
Forget everything you learned on the Internet!
Most online 'experts' recommend the following (wrong) settings:
1. Reduce speed to 9600bps
2. Turn off ECM error correction
Some fax machines call it 'basic' mode, others call it 'low' compatibility.
Whatever it's called, you don't want it.
Instead we recommend:
1. Set speed to 14,400
2. Make sure ECM error correction is enabled
Sometimes these parameters are controlled together in a single option. On Brother fax machines, for example, you would need to select 'normal' compatibility at:
MENU -> 2. Fax -> 0. Miscellaneous -> 1. Compatibility -> 'normal'
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