PMDF System Manager's Guide

PMDF-FAX supports the DTMF and DID FAX routing capabilities of the ZyXEL series of modems and the DCE Fax/Box 30. DTMF support is standard in those modems; DID support requires the purchase of a DID to DTMF converter such as the FaxBox/DID from DCE. Many PBX systems may also be configured to automatically do DID to DTMF conversions.

A quick explanation of DTMF and DID is given below; for those already familiar with DTMF and DID, please skip to the next paragraph.

DTMF (Dual Tone, Multiple Frequency)

With DTMF routing, the sender of a FAX first dials the FAX telephone number, waits for the phone connection to be made, and then dials an additional number which will be heard as "touch tones" by the receiving FAX modem. At the receiving end, this additional number is used to identify for whom the FAX is intended; it may be thought of as a telephone extension number. You assign these extensions based upon whatever scheme makes sense for your site (e.g., allocate one number per department and print received FAXes on departmental printers; allocate one per employee and route the FAX to their e-mail mailbox; etc.). The obvious drawback to DTMF routing is that it only works when the sender supplies the extra number. Many people will either omit it, not know how to use it when they send a FAX, or not be able to specify it owing to limitations of their FAX machine or modem.

DID (Directed Inward Dial)

With DID routing, you purchase from your phone company a block of telephone numbers and one or more DID lines. If you are using a PBX, then you will probably also need to obtain a DID line card. The phone company maps this block of numbers to your DID lines. For instance, you may have 100 telephone numbers which, when any are dialed, all come in on one DID phone line to which your FAX modem is connected. When the call comes in, the actual phone number dialed is reported. The DID to DTMF converter converts this information to DTMF tones which are sent to the FAX modem prior to handing the phone call off to the modem. You allocate these phone numbers using whatever scheme makes sense for your site. The outside world itself only sees regular telephone numbers. DID works all of the time and is thus more reliable than DTMF for automating the process of routing FAXes. The drawback to using DID is that it can be quite expensive depending upon how much your phone company charges for DID lines and it requires setting up a DID to DTMF converter. It is sometimes cheaper to just buy one phone line and FAX modem per department and put all of the modems onto a terminal server.

The choice of routing, DTMF or DID, is transparent to PMDF-FAX. All PMDF-FAX needs to know is the routing number (i.e., the extra number dialed using DTMF, or, in the case of DID, the phone number which mapped to the DID line). When a FAX is received and routing information is present, PMDF-FAX will look the routing number up in the FAX_ROUTING mapping table. If a corresponding entry is found in that table, then it should specify how to route the FAX. This specification works by supplying DATA_TO_BITMAP channel options and can include such information as how to dispose of the FAX (print it, send it as e-mail, leave it in a file on disk) and what image format to use. If no entry is found in the mapping table, then the defaults established for the DATA_TO_BITMAP channel via the channel's option file are used instead.

The specifics of the FAX_ROUTING mapping are discussed in Section 37.3.3.1; an example is presented in Section 37.3.3.2.

37.3.3.1 The FAX_ROUTING Mapping Table

Each enty in the FAX_ROUTING table is of the form (note the use of the forward slash, /):

routing-number /option1=value1/option2=value2/.../

where routing-number is a routing number which you have assigned. In the case of DTMF, this will be the extra telephone number which is dialed after the FAX telephone number has been dialed. In the case of DID, this will usually be the last four digits of the FAX telephone number as dialed by the sender of the FAX (i.e., the last four digits of one of the telephone numbers associated with your DID line). However, the actual number of digits supplied depends upon how your DID to DTMF converter is configured.

The list of options and values, /option1=value1/option2=value2 /.../ specifies how to process a FAX for the corresponding routing-number. The options and their values are DATA_TO_BITMAP channel options and are documented in Section 37.3.7.1. Complete processing information must be specified for each routing number; that is, all mandatory options must be specified. FAXes to numbers with no match in the mapping table are handled using the channel's defaults as specified in the option file for that channel.

The TEST/FAX_ROUTING utility may be used to test FAX_ROUTING mapping tables.

37.3.3.2 Example FAX_ROUTING Mapping Tables

Example 37-6 Sample FAX_ROUTING Mapping Table

FAX_ROUTING 1200 /QUEUE=PS_LASER/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ 1201 /TO=cs-staff@example.com/OUTPUT_AS=EMAIL/OUTPUT_FORMAT=DDIF/ 1202 /TO=jane.doe@example.com/OUTPUT_AS=EMAIL/OUTPUT_FORMAT=TIFF/ 1203 /TO=john.doe@example.com/OUTPUT_AS=EMAIL/OUTPUT_FORMAT=DDIF/ * /QUEUE=PS_LASER/TO=postmaster/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/

In a large routing table, there may be several commonly used "dispositions". For example, a large number of the specifications may call for printing the FAXes on a few departmental printers. In such cases, the mapping table's ability to iterate mappings may be used to simplify the routing table. For instance, suppose that FAXes to 1200 go to the print queue PS_LASER; FAXes to 1201 --- 1209, with the exception of 1207, go to the print queue PS_MATH; FAXes to 1210 --- 1219, with the exception of 1213, go to the print queue PS_CHEM; and FAXes to 1220 --- 1239 all go to the print queue PS_ENG. FAXes to 1207 should go to the print queue PHYS_DEPT while FAXes to 1213 should go to the e-mail address jane.doe@example.com. These routings are implemented by the table shown in Example 37-7.

Example 37-7 A Complex FAX_ROUTING Mapping Table

FAX_ROUTING CHEM_DEPT /QUEUE=PS_CHEM/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ ENGI_DEPT /QUEUE=PS_ENG/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ MATH_DEPT /QUEUE=PS_MATH/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ PHYS_DEPT /QUEUE=PS_PHYSICS/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ ! 1200 /QUEUE=PS_LASER/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/ 1213 /TO=jane.doe@example.com/OUTPUT_AS=EMAIL/OUTPUT_FORMAT=TIFF/ ! 1207 PHYS_DEPT$R 120% MATH_DEPT$R 121% CHEM_DEPT$R 122% ENGI_DEPT$R 123% ENGI_DEPT$R

In Example 37-7, the percent signs, %, in the routing numbers act as wild cards which match a single digit; the $R's cause the mapping to be reapplied. For example, when "1202" is looked up in the table, the result is "MATH_DEPT$R". The $R causes "MATH_DEPT" to then be looked up. That lookup results in
/QUEUE=PS_MATH/OUTPUT_AS=PRINTJOB/OUTPUT_FORMAT=PS/

The TEST/FAX_ROUTING utility may be used to test a routing. If there is a syntax error or a missing mandatory item in the specification then it will be detected and reported by the utility. Below is shown an example; the routing table being tested is that shown in Example 37-7.

$ PMDF TEST/FAX_ROUTING Routing: 1202 Processing options: OUTPUT_FORMAT = PostScript Level 1 PAGE_MAGNIFICATION = 0.93 PAGE_MARGIN = 0.25 PAGE_HEIGHT = 11.0 OUTPUT_AS = PRINTJOB QUEUE = PS_MATH FLAG = 0 TRAILER = 0 BURST = 0 PAGINATE = 1 SAVE_INPUT = FALSE Routing: ^Z $

The TEST/FAX_ROUTING utility is described in Chapter 30.