A local company has developed an appliance for connecting standard fax machines to the GSM cellular network.
The Sandton-based IT solutions developer claims it is the first reliable device for connecting conventional fax machines to the GSM cellular network for use in remote locations and underserviced areas in emerging economies in Africa and elsewhere.
The Faxim device from Embedded Laboratories (E-lab) is aimed at providing mobile and flexible fax capabilities to the still strongly paper-based healthcare and building industries, says David Herson, E-lab MD.
"The need often arises to fax documents from building site offices or rural clinics where there is no Telkom infrastructure, and now it can be done with a standard fax machine," he says.
According to UK-based Motorola GSM expert Andy McKinnon, the routing of fax over GSM networks has so far been extremely limited because of the complexity of the GSM fax protocol and the fact that it is not widely understood.
Herson says the E-lab team of developers worked closely with MTN and Vodacom to perfect Faxim`s fax-to-GSM conversion capabilities.
"Faxim presents for the first time the opportunity for standard fax machine users to tap into the flexibility of the GSM wireless network in Africa, Europe, Australia and increasingly in the US," says Herson.
Recently released from a 15-month development programme, the Faxim device has attracted attention from the local farming community, which is often faced with the problem of needing to send original documents to suppliers and business partners by fax.
Although Faxim facilitates access to the GSM network without the need of a cellphone, separate GSM modem, PCMCIA card, additional software or a notebook computer, it also provides voice and data transmission capability, distinguishing it from custom-built GSM-capable fax machines, says Herson.
He explains that the Faxim unit is supplied with a preloaded GSM SIM card that supports three different numbers for fax, data and voice, providing a separate GSM number for each. Faxim uses cellular airtime that is billed at standard contract or prepaid rates.
"Any fax machine with a handset can be used for voice communications and any PC can connect to the Internet including e-mail over the GSM network by plugging in to Faxim`s data port," says Herson.
E-lab, which has been working on embedded GSM products for the past 10 years, is preparing to go to market with its Faxim product locally and internationally following endorsement from Siemens.
"Vodacom submitted Faxim to Siemens in Germany for evaluation and we were notified this week that Siemens intends to use this product as a benchmark for all future fax-related products, which gives us confidence that this product is ready for market," says Herson.
Share