There is an issue in the industry whereby it has been difficult to transmit faxes from an analogue fax machine, over an IP network that contains a wireless link.
The protocol in question is T.38, the fax relay standard that was devised in 1998 as a way to permit faxes to be transported across IP networks between existing Group 3 fax terminals. In the late 90's, VOIP began to gain ground as an alternative to the conventional public switched telephone network. However, because most VOIP systems are optimised, e.g. through their use of bandwidth-saving compression, for voice rather than data calls, conventional fax machines worked poorly or not at all on them due to the network impairments such as delay, jitter, packet loss, and so on. Thus, some way of transmitting fax over IP was needed
Songimali Communications and their partner ECN have now overcome the above issue and incorporated the solutions within their various gateway products and have already started installing them in several of their clients' networks.
"We believe we are the first in South Africa, and maybe globally, to not only recognise this issue but to provide a complete solution to it for our clients," commented John Holdsworth CEO of ECN.
"This solution is the last piece of the jigsaw and thus allows us to provide a complete communication solution for clients without the involvement of Telkom," added Rolf Schurink, Technical Director at Songimali Communications. "Last year we were the first to implement a fully fledged converged wireless IP Telephony network without the need for the involvement of Telkom; and now, we have succeeded in overcoming the T.38 problem."
For further information, please contact Ronald Gill at tel: 082 856 9324; fax: (012) 665 2918; e-mail ronald@itwise.co.za
Share
Songimali Communications is a South African company that implements technological advanced solutions to save its customers money on data and voice communication costs. It was established because current communication solutions in South Africa are very expensive and also feature limited. The company is owned and managed by young technology enthusiasts who believe in open source communication technology.
Songimali is able to design and deliver communication solutions ranging from standard Open Source driven PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems to a fully fledged VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) platform that is reliable, very flexible, feature rich and above all cost effective.
Its products are customised to fit every customer's individual needs, from the smallest home office business right up to enterprise level.
They believe that Open Source technology can be implemented at an affordable price and if supported efficiently by the correct hardware, network infrastructure and end-user support, can make a huge difference in the way communication technology is exploited in South Africa.
The term 'songimali' is Zulu for 'saving money'.
Editorial contacts