ActFax and VoIP (Voice over IP)

ActFax can not only be used with traditional analog and ISDN (T1/E1) phone lines, it is also possible to run ActFax directly through VoIP (Voice over IP) and FoIP (Fax over IP). When using ActFax with VoIP, no additional hardware (modem, ISDN board, fax board) is required, because the VoIP implementation is a pure software solution that communicates directly through the network interface of the fax server computer.

VoIP Interface Software

To run ActFax with a VoIP connection, we recommend using the interface software XCAPI from TE-Systems. XCAPI acts as an interface between the fax server and the VoIP gateway and covers all operations that are normally done by the modem, ISDN board or fax board on an installation with traditional phone lines. XCAPI supports all important industry standards (SIP, H.323) and fax protocols (Softfax/G.711, T.38). The configuration of XCAPI on the fax server is identical with the configuration of a normal ISDN board, since ISDN boards and XCAPI are both based on the CAPI standard.

When sending fax documents through VoIP, the quality of the VoIP connection has great unfluence on the success rate of a fax transmission. It is recommended, that the VoIP connection supports the T.38 protocol (Fax over IP), to guarantee a failure-free data exchange with the VoIP gateway. If the T.38 protocol is not supported by the VoIP gateway, a speech channel (G.711 protocol) is used for the fax transmission. In such a case, the success rate of a fax transmission mainly depends on the quality of the VoIP connection; this is because the run-time of data packets submitted in IP networks is not continuous. We recommend to contact your provider to verify that your VoIP connection is compatible with fax transmissions in that case.

Installation on Virtual Machines

Since XCAPI is a pure software solution, there are no restrictions for the installation of the fax server on a virtual machine (i.e. VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer, Hyper-V). The installation is therefore completely hardware independent.

XCAPI Licensing

To run ActFax with VoIP, you also need a license for the XCAPI software. This license can be purchased directly from TE-Systems. More information about system requirements, compatibility and licensing of XCAPI can be found on the XCAPI website.