OTF, Commetrex’ S.100 middleware, is licensed without media-processing resources. PowerFax® for OTF adds Group 3 fax send and receive capability to an OTF system. The PowerFax OTF SDK provides the necessary development environment; runtime licenses add a specific number of runtime resources to an OTF system. These runtime resources can be for any MSP-series resource hardware or for PowerFax TerminatingT38, which supports fax send-receive in real time over IP networks.
The PowerFax for OTF SDK includes an ECTF S.100 Fax Sender-Receiver API. It is used with the System Call Router (place call/accept call) and other OTF Services APIs to develop digital-media fax applications. The SDK includes Commetrex’ acclaimed T.30 fax protocol engine. The call-specific send-receive resource—analog modems or terminating T.38—is determined on a per-call basis without direct involvement by the application. The resource may be TerminatingT38 if the call stream terminates on an IP network, or the MSP product family, if it terminates on the PSTN. This means the fax application can be developed without regard to the type of network or resource board to be used on a given call.
OTF is an ECTF S.100 R2-conforming telephony middleware product that supports both third-party and Commetrex-provided media and switching resources. These vendor- specific resources are isolated from the OTF system by Resource Service Managers (RSMs). The resource-specific RSM determines the number of concurrent media- technology resources that have been licensed. The RSM then launches the appropriate Resource Controllers. Licensing the PowerFax SDK adds the Fax Sender-Receiver Resource Controller to an OTF system. The RSM will then vend the licensed runtime resources to the OTF Group Manager, which can then allocate them to client applications.
The PowerFax API provides the following send functions:
The API provides the following receive-related functions:
PowerFax offers three options for placement of a header or footer on a fax page:
The contents of an extended header or footer can be specified by using the fax parameters FaxSender_ECTF_HeaderField and FaxSender_ECTF_FooterField. These extended headers and footers may be customized by setting values for replaceable parameters within the Headerfield or Footerfield string. The replaceable parameters are specified using Unicode characters and escape sequences, consisting of the Unicode character ‘%’, followed by a format code. The resource substitutes a character string for the escape sequence as specified in table below.
| Parameter Codes | Display Length | Name | Range |
| %d | 2 | date | 01-31 |
| %m | 2 | month | 01-12 |
| %y | 2 | year | 00-99 |
| %Y | 4 | year | 0000-9999 |
| %I | 2 | 12 hour | 01-12 |
| %H | 2 | 24 hour | 00-23 |
| %M | 2 | minute | 00-59 |
| %S | 2 | Second | 00-59 |
| %p | 2 | AM/PM | AM or PM |
| %P | 3 | page number | 01-999 |
| %l | 20 | Local ID | 0-9, + or SPACES |
| %r | 20 | Remote ID | 0-9, + or SPACES |
| %% | 1 | percent display | % in header |
MultiFax Fax Description Language (FDL) macros support the creation of fax-image files (SM files) from dynamically assembled elements. For example, a personalized fax letter including information obtained from a centralized database, a pre-scanned signature, the date, time, and even a per-call personalized paragraph, can be created and transmitted in seconds. Examples of FDL macros are:
@CONVERT:END @CCONVERT:PADTOEND @CONVERT:FILE @CONVERT:PAGEBREAK @CONVERT:FONT @CONVERT:PAGESIZE @CONVERT:MARGIN @CONVERT:TEXT
These macros are inserted into a text file and converted using the MultiFax file- and format- conversion functions. The resulting file is then placed in the appropriate SM container.
The files produced by word processing, page layout, and graphics packages are generally not in the file format a fax transmits and receives. PowerFax supports conversions from FDL, PCX, Bi-Level TIFF, TIFF-F, and text (including Windows NT outline fonts).
PowerFax includes unlimited technical support. And, at Commetrex, this is top-level support. Our support engineers are development engineers themselves, experienced in developing in-house applications using the same Commetrex products our customers use. They are experts in not only the specifics of PowerFax, but with digital-media telephony, and fax environments as well.
HOST REQUIREMENTS: Win32, Linux
FAX ENCODING: MH, MR and MMR. Error Correction Mode (ECM)
SEND-RECEIVE RESOURCES: Terminating T.38, V.21 (300bps) for T.30 negotiation, V.27ter (2400/4800bps), V.29 fax (7200/9600bps), V.17 fax (14400/12000/9600/7200bps)
FORMAT CONVERSIONS: ASCII, PCX, TIFF- F, TIFF, Windows NT System Fonts, FDL
PowerVox adds terminating voice to an OTF-based system. All members of the MSP line of DSP-resource boards are supported, as is the all-IP BladeWare IP media server.
OTF for MSP SDK, PN 20070
OTF PowerFax SDK, PN 20030
OTF PowerCall SDK, PN 20050
OTF PowerVox SDK, PN 20060
PowerVox Runtime License, PN 50006
Mike Morris, Director, Platform Development, is responsible for all system-level product development, including BladWare and SIPfaxEngine. Mike’s 32-year software-engineering career ideally prepares him for this position as the scope of his experience spans driver development to the API and to user-level applications.
Former VP, Corporate Development; General Counsel at Voxeo Corporation, is an advisor to Commetrex. Mr. Ivey has founded four startups, and his business plans/pitches have raised more than $71 million during the last ten years from VCs like Crosspoint and Mayfield.
VP & GM, Premiere Global Services is an advisor to Commetrex. He was previously President of Vocalocity LLC, a technology leader in the open systems speech technology market.
Bob Cooke is President of R.W. Cooke & Associates, an international petrochemical brokerage. Prior to this, he spent 29 years with E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, holding senior positions in manufacturing and international marketing. Mr. Cooke holds a degree in mathematics from Florida State University.
Bruce Adams, Director, Signal Processing Technologies, brings an 18-year career in signal-processing and telephony-systems development to Commetrex. During his 8-year Principal Engineer assignment at Hayes Microcomputer, he completed his PhD EE coursework at Georgia Tech. Subsequently, he was Chief Executive Officer and GM at Signals+Software prior to joining Commetrex. He has also served as rapporteur on numerous ITU committees.
Cliff Schornak, CTO, Commetrex’ co-founder, was president of Systems By Design, a telecommunications design consultancy firm. Prior to this he was a senior researcher at Digital Communications Associates and the VP, Engineering at Innovative Technology, Inc. (ITI). Schornak holds master’s degrees in computer science from Georgia Tech, business and finance from George Washington, and undergraduate degrees in math and physics from Marycrest College.
Mike Coffee, President & CEO, prior to founding Commetrex, was VP, Marketing & Sales, with Natural MicroSystems, where he brought NMS into the computer-telephony market and introduced the idea for MVIP, the industry standard that propelled NMS into the market’s technology-leadership position. Prior to NMS, he served as VP and chief marketing executive at Innovative Technology, a digital-media technology developer, and Autodynamics, a worldwide marketer of process-plant simulators. Mr. Coffee holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.
