sundance-communications.com/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Mitel Telephones & Systems DID --> DTMF tone converstion for routing

We are researching a new fax solution and are contemplating possible routing methods. One method that is appealing to us would be to use a few analog lines with many DIDs pointing at those few. The software supports this through the use of DTMF tones (post answer) to distinguish which DID the call is coming in on.

Is it possible to program an SX2000 to play a DTMF tone once a line has answered and to set a specific frequency based on the DID the call originated on?

Here is an excerpt from a FAQ article explaining what we're looking at:

It sounds like your Fax mechanism wants DID trunks between itself and the PBX. Is this correct?

If so, then the DID/DTMF conversion will work.

_____________ . . . . . _________ . . . . __________
|............| ....... |.......| ...... |........|
|... PSTN..| =POTS=> |.FAX.| =DID=> |. PBX .|
|............| ....... |.......| ...... |........|

A DID trunk in the PBX watches for a Wink from the PSTN (or, in this cse, from the Fax mechanism). On seeing the wink, it gives Dial Tone and waits for DTMF. When it receives DTMF, it routes the call to the appropriate extension, where there is presumably an HTG fax machine. But you could achieve this just by assigning the Fax extension a DID in programming, so you don't need the box ahead of the PBX.

But that's probably not what you're asking. Usually, the Fax mechanism sends the Fax to the user's inbox over TCP/IP. You generally give the Fax Mechanism a DID extension from the PBX, and it routes the fax over TCP/IP to the user's inbox.

It can if your SX2000 has the optional Advanced Analog Networking feature purchased . I will have to check but you may need additional optional features . Check your fea/dim display in the SX2000 cde forms . Hope this helps

Have you looked into some thing like Captaris RightFax ? They are right there in Bellevue,WA . We use it and the ROI benefits far outweigh the initial setup cost .

How many did's are you planning on using? How many digits are you looking to receive for routing? You could probably set the server up like an ons voice mail and reroute some station numbers always to the hunt group. Alot of newer fax machines don't have handsets, and how many people will actually wait for an answer and add the extra dtmf digits? It would be easier to setup a range of did station numbers that would be dedicated for fax users. As to being able to set a specific frequency, you got me there.

Thanks for the replies. We are looking to initially replace 10-15 fax machines with a centralized service, so around 10-15 DIDs at this point.

The way the product is setup and without any PBX programming a sender would call one of our DIDs and get routed to one of the acutal lines on the system. The system would answer and playback a tone as a prompt, then the sender could enter a DTMF tone and send the fax. With the PBX programming we'd be hoping to get past that manual DTMF tone and have the PBX play a tone to distinguish which DID the call was being received from. (Again, those 10-15 DIDs will be routed to 3 ONS lines)

I'll have to check further into our options- thanks for the ideas. If anyone has thoughts on products (will check Captaris) or methods to accomplish this, all are welcome.

Nathan, If the ratio of fax machines to DIDs is 1-to-1, I don't see why you need the additional DTMF tone.

The DID trunk will send the info needed to route the call to the fax extension, just in the PBX.

The tone is needed to distinguish what DID the call is on. We'll basically have 5 DIDs coming in to each physical fax port, and we need each to route differently inside the fax server based on which line was called.

The whole point of this question is to not have to provision seperate hardware for each DID.

Oh. I think you may have a direct in line (DIL) confused with a DID.

You can have a hundred (or more) DID numbers (software) pointed onto five or six hardware trunks. So the entire block of 555-0100 through 555-0199 might be sent by the TelCo onto the five or six hardware trunks (1 card in an SX-200, for example). Then the DID card interprets the DID info and sends it to one of the hundred hardware extensions served by the DID numbers.

It can be a bit confusing because each manufacturer uses a different vocabulary.

I understand what a DID is. I was intentionally trying to oversimplify my post as it seemed like the point was being missed. For one last attempt (again, simplified)- say I have two numbers, 555-1234 and 555-4321, that both route into my PBX. I want both numbers to ring the same analog line on the PBX, then once answered I'd like the PBX to send a DTMF tone to distinguish which outside number (DID) was dialed to access that line.

OBTW - we do have the Advanced Analog Networking feature. I haven't found any documentation yet for the setup we're looking for, but I'm pursuing that option. I've contacted Captaris for information, but haven't heard back yet. Wouldn't the setup be similar or do they have an outstanding OCR or something to handle the routing?

Like I said before, program your server extensions as ons voicemail ports i.e. give them a class of service with this option enabled, put the ports in a hunt group with access code of XXXX. create a call reroute always entry to XXXX. create extensions,non prime broadcast keys or hunt groups 1234 and 4321, assign the reroute always from above to these numbers. When call comes in to 555-1234 or 555-4321 it will go to the server extension ring the port after answer 1234 or 4321 will tone out.