Free FAX

FreePBX Installation / Upgrade
1

Hello All

DO anybody know how to setup the FAX (free)on Freepbx distro (2.11 X 11)
I used pbxinaflash with incrdebelfax11 and move to freepbx distro for this install

Thanks
Himala

2

Inbound or Outbound?

3

Like to have both Inbound and Outbound.
same like pbxinaflash
thanks
Himala

4

Inbound faxing is already installed with the Distro, you can enable extensions to be “fax recipients” and if you point a DID at them with an inbound route, the build in fax engine will capture the fax and deliver it as a pdf to the email specified.

If you need outbound faxing from the USER Panel you can purchase a license of Fax Pro, which gives you the ability to send pdf and .tif attachments as faxes directly from a web browser.

See full details in the FreePBX Wiki http://wiki.freepbx.org/display/FCM/Fax+Pro

5

can I get basic outbound fax without going expensive Fax Pro route . my client don’t send much faxes ( 5 to 10 faxes per month )so $250 is too much .

6

The PIAF incredifax is basically a script that will install iaxmodem,hylafax and avantfax, the script should work on any Centos Based system, but you might need to change some of the rpm’s downloaded by the script to reflect the centos version you are using, presumably 6 and el6 and not 5 and el5.

http://nerdvittles.com/?p=738

particularly

wget http://incrediblepbx.com/incrediblefax.sh

and modify for example
ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/epel/5/i386/php-pear-Net-Socket-1.0.10-1.el5.noarch.rpm

wget ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/epel/6/i386/php-pear-Net-Socket-1.0.10-1.el6.noarch.rpm

So just read the script and flavor to suit passwords and versions.

7

I’m playing heck getting inbound faxing to work. I don’t have a dedicated fax line; I want asterisk to detect incoming faxes on three x100p analog cards. I have the following setup:

  • Fax detection is set to YES in the dahdi global settings.

  • Single inbound route, with fax detection enabled, dahdi detection, 4s detection time, destination set to “fax recipient” extension 9. Route destination is an IVR.

  • Extension 9 is a virtual extension with fax enabled, and a valid email address.

When I send a fax to the system, I get one of two log entries.

[2013-09-19 17:48:34] VERBOSE[3627][C-00000024] chan_dahdi.c: – Redirecting DAHDI/2-1 to fax extension
[2013-09-19 17:48:34] VERBOSE[3627][C-00000024] pbx.c: == Spawn extension (from-pstn, fax, 1) exited non-zero on ‘DAHDI/2-1’
[2013-09-19 17:48:34] VERBOSE[3627][C-00000024] pbx.c: – Executing [fax@from-pstn:1] NoOp(“DAHDI/2-1”, “Catch-All DID Match - Found fax - You probably want a DID for this.”) in new stack
[2013-09-19 17:48:34] VERBOSE[3627][C-00000024] pbx.c: – Executing [fax@from-pstn:2] Goto(“DAHDI/2-1”, “ext-did,s,1”) in new stack

(and then it goes on to the IVR)

or it says:

[2013-09-19 17:18:58] NOTICE[3449][C-00000021] chan_dahdi.c: Fax detected, but no fax extension

8

Apparently one must slog through the convoluted process of obtaining a license for “Free Fax for Asterisk” as described here:

http://downloads.digium.com/pub/telephony/fax/README

After enduring that craziness, AsteriskNOW actually received and emailed a fax. Wonder of wonders.

If any developer types are paying attention, can I suggest a couple of things? First, the AsteriskNOW/FreePBX interface offers exactly zero indication that this licensing process is necessary. Nothing useful in the logs or anywhere else I could find. Maybe I missed something in the documentation, but for crying out loud…how about a useful log message if inbound fax detection is enabled but there’s no licensed fax module available to handle faxes? Second, omigosh PLEASE come up with an easier method of licensing and installation. I’m a CLI gearhead, but nobody else around here is. That’s the reason I snagged AsteriskNOW–because it incorporated this great UI that (mostly) eliminated any need to muck around on the command line. If it were just the free version of Fax for Asterisk that required the insanity, well OK, it’s free, whattaya want. But apparently even the “real” version requires the same insanity. Yowza.

9

The Digium addon module will manage the licenses.

Is it really that hard to create a user ID on the Digium web site and get a license?

AsteriskNow is not that great of a distro of FreePBX. You would be better off loading up real FreePBX from this site.

10

I’m not trying to complain, just pointing out some areas where Asterisk and FreePBX might need some polish. I’m glad to know that the Digium addon module will manage the licenses, but I doubt that it will also do all of the other steps listed in that readme–and none of it should be necessary to get inbound faxing to work. AsteriskNOW installs CentOS, Asterisk, and FreePBX, and the management GUI says “FreePBX” all over it. If it’s “not that great of a distro” as you say, then maybe the FreePBX devs and the Asterisk devs should consider putting their heads together to fix it.

11

FreePBX has our own Distro that does work.

I would suggest you explore the ecosystem before jumping to conclusions.