Faxing

Sangoma Fax Sync Cable

The major hurdle with Fax + an IP PBX until now has been proper timing for the fax machine.  Without precise timing, the actual facsimile will become corrupt during transmission and the resulting page that prints will become unreadable. 

Sangoma has provided a solution which allows an analog card to pull timing from a T1 card.  This feature allows faxing over a T1 line through an FXS port to a Fax Machine.

There are 2 timing pins on the top back corner of all Sangoma Cards (T1, Analog, BRI). These pins transfer timing information from a T1 card, where timing is provided by the Telco, to an Analog and/or BRI card.  The pins must be connected 1-1 and 2-2; therefore, Fonality used a straight 2 pin cable often used as a CDROM Audio cable.  A T1 card can can actually provide timing for multiple cards; however, Fonality currently only supports a single analog card used for Fax machines.

In the image below, the fax sync cable connects to the back of the analog card (towards the back) and the back of the PRI card:

You will need the following (and you can order the parts from Fonality directly)

• Timing Line (2pin straight)
• T1 card with timing from Telco
• Analog card with FXS ports
• If you need to send faxes, you will also need 1 FXO module (a total of 1 FXS and 1 FXO module in your analog card)

Please be aware of certain limitations to the hardware list above

• Only supported on Analog and T1 cards shipped by Sangoma after 6/1/07
• The PRI card must have Hardware Echo Cancellation (HWEC)
• Configuration changes must be applied to your wanpipeX.conf files (where X is the actual PCI slot of the card)

To configure your system for Faxing

1. Power down your PBXtra
2. Open your server
3. Connect the Sangoma Fax Sync Cable to your PRI card
4. Connect the other end of the Sangoma Fax Sync Cable to your Analog card.  Please be especially careful to connect pins 1-1 and 2-2
5. Close your server
6. Power on your server
7. Once you can login to the Admin Panel, please click on Options --> cards
8. Click on [ Advanced Mode ] in blue at the top of the page
9. Click on the + symbol next to the word 'Wanpipe'
10. Scroll to the 'Interfaces' section
11. Add the following line at the bottom of the Interfaces section: RM_NETWORK_SYNC = YES
12. Click Apply All Changes

If you have problems with this configuration

If "RM_NETWORK_SYNC" is set to yes, there must be a timing line present.  The wanpipe drivers will not load if the cable is missing.

If the carrier does not provide precise timing on the PRI card, the analog card will not properly send or receive facsimiles.  Please double-check the T1 configuration before escalating any issues.

For full details please refer to Sangoma's Wiki Page:
Sangoma Wiki Article