> Hello.  So I've got this web page written in ASP, which has some text and
> graphics, and I need to add a feature to the page whereby a user could select
> from among a list of fax numbers, and send a fax of the page to the chosen
> number (and what would then get faxed, would be the page as if it were
> printed out, i.e. including all the text and graphics.)
>
> I have seen pages from other sites that had buttons for sending a fax, so I
> am inclined to believe that something (at least vaguely) along these lines
> ought to be possible (however, every time I have seen such a page, it would
> also seem as though the code for transmitting the fax was in something other
> than straight HTML, because it was not evident when I viewed the source code
> of the page in my browser.)
>
> There is a fundamental question that is nagging me about this, and that is
> how a page from a website can communicate with a fax machine.  Web pages can
> send e-mails, because they're both on the Internet, and web pages can get
> printed out- if a printer is hooked up to your computer.  But fax machines
> are on the telephone lines, not the Internet lines, no?  Like, I also don't
> think a web page can be programmed to ring someone's phone (or turn on your
> vacuum cleaner.)  So, I'm wondering if having this faxing capability would
> also require a fax machine to be physically connected to the server on which
> the site is hosted???
>
> Well, I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm floundering here, so please, any
> help with this that anyone could provide, would be most appreciated.
> Thanks!!  :)

"Mike Brind" wrote:

>
> Caryn Graves wrote:
> > Hello.  So I've got this web page written in ASP, which has some text and
> > graphics, and I need to add a feature to the page whereby a user could select
> > from among a list of fax numbers, and send a fax of the page to the chosen
> > number (and what would then get faxed, would be the page as if it were
> > printed out, i.e. including all the text and graphics.)
> >
> > I have seen pages from other sites that had buttons for sending a fax, so I
> > am inclined to believe that something (at least vaguely) along these lines
> > ought to be possible (however, every time I have seen such a page, it would
> > also seem as though the code for transmitting the fax was in something other
> > than straight HTML, because it was not evident when I viewed the source code
> > of the page in my browser.)
> >
> > There is a fundamental question that is nagging me about this, and that is
> > how a page from a website can communicate with a fax machine.  Web pages can
> > send e-mails, because they're both on the Internet, and web pages can get
> > printed out- if a printer is hooked up to your computer.  But fax machines
> > are on the telephone lines, not the Internet lines, no?  Like, I also don't
> > think a web page can be programmed to ring someone's phone (or turn on your
> > vacuum cleaner.)  So, I'm wondering if having this faxing capability would
> > also require a fax machine to be physically connected to the server on which
> > the site is hosted???
> >
> > Well, I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm floundering here, so please, any
> > help with this that anyone could provide, would be most appreciated.
> > Thanks!!  :)
>
> You would need a component on the web server that generates and
> transmits faxes.  Code in the ASP page would call this component which
> would then do its thing and send the fax.  Something like this:
> http://www.interfax.net/en/dev/asp.html
>
> The same broad principal is true for emails.  Code calls a component
> which generates the email message and sends it through a mail server
> connected to, or installed on the web server.
>
> Printing a page is a totally different concept, and relies on the user
> making a proactive decision to print the page.  You can't do any
> programming for this.
>
> --
> Mike Brind
>
>

> Thank you so much for replying to my question, Mike.  I've decided to give
> this InterFAX product a try, and hopefully it will do the trick. Thanks again,
>
>                                         -Caryn
>
> "Mike Brind" wrote:
>
> >
> > Caryn Graves wrote:
> > > Hello.  So I've got this web page written in ASP, which has some text and
> > > graphics, and I need to add a feature to the page whereby a user could select
> > > from among a list of fax numbers, and send a fax of the page to the chosen
> > > number (and what would then get faxed, would be the page as if it were
> > > printed out, i.e. including all the text and graphics.)
> > >
> > > I have seen pages from other sites that had buttons for sending a fax, so I
> > > am inclined to believe that something (at least vaguely) along these lines
> > > ought to be possible (however, every time I have seen such a page, it would
> > > also seem as though the code for transmitting the fax was in something other
> > > than straight HTML, because it was not evident when I viewed the source code
> > > of the page in my browser.)
> > >
> > > There is a fundamental question that is nagging me about this, and that is
> > > how a page from a website can communicate with a fax machine.  Web pages can
> > > send e-mails, because they're both on the Internet, and web pages can get
> > > printed out- if a printer is hooked up to your computer.  But fax machines
> > > are on the telephone lines, not the Internet lines, no?  Like, I also don't
> > > think a web page can be programmed to ring someone's phone (or turn on your
> > > vacuum cleaner.)  So, I'm wondering if having this faxing capability would
> > > also require a fax machine to be physically connected to the server on which
> > > the site is hosted???
> > >
> > > Well, I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm floundering here, so please, any
> > > help with this that anyone could provide, would be most appreciated.
> > > Thanks!!  :)
> >
> > You would need a component on the web server that generates and
> > transmits faxes.  Code in the ASP page would call this component which
> > would then do its thing and send the fax.  Something like this:
> > http://www.interfax.net/en/dev/asp.html
> >
> > The same broad principal is true for emails.  Code calls a component
> > which generates the email message and sends it through a mail server
> > connected to, or installed on the web server.
> >
> > Printing a page is a totally different concept, and relies on the user
> > making a proactive decision to print the page.  You can't do any
> > programming for this.
> >
> > --
> > Mike Brind
> >
> >