[asterisk-dev] State of FAX (primarily T.38) in Asterisk trunk (planning for 1.8 release)

[Kevin P. Fleming]

Steve Underwood wrote:

> 1) What does a res_fax_spandsp give you that the current app_fax does 
> not? app_fax is little more than a shim to plug spandsp into asterisk, 
> anyway.

It allows us keep the non-stack specific parts in a single module, so we
can share them among multiple implementations. At some point, when relay
support has been added, I suspect we'll see additional relay module
providers as well since there are a number of companies that make PSTN
interface cards that can handle the relay functionality (at least up to
the point of producing/consuming T.38 IFPs) using on-card hardware.
Essentially, it's just following the model we've used in other parts of
Asterisk, where the generic and non-generic parts of the solution are
separated.

> 2) Digium's FAX product is really undifferentiated, and yet Commetrex 
> appear to have a V,34 offering that would give the product a real place 
> in life. Does Digium intend to offer that at some point? A lot of 
> business people use V.34 heavily, and its something a free offering 
> can't even attempt for a number of years.

We do, in fact we've had plans to support V.34 for quite some time, but
at this point we haven't received a version of the Commetrex product
that would allow us to do so. We're still working with them on it, and
it will get done.

-- 
Kevin P. Fleming
Digium, Inc. | Director of Software Technologies
445 Jan Davis Drive NW - Huntsville, AL 35806 - USA
skype: kpfleming | jabber: kpfleming at digium.com
Check us out at www.digium.com & www.asterisk.org