Systems and methods for transmitting device, network path, transmittal option and/or receiving device protocol selection

1. A method comprising:

consulting a database for information relating to the performance history of one or more facsimile transmitting devices, said database including a performance score for one or more said facsimile transmitting devices, said performance score reflecting the success or failure of a transmission of a data communication for an individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices;

using said performance score to select an individual facsimile transmitting device from the one or more facsimile transmitting devices; and,

attempting to transmit the data communication using said selected individual facsimile transmitting device.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising updating said performance score in said database for the selected individual facsimile transmitting device on said attempted transmission.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein updating said performance score in said database comprises decrementing the performance score for the selected individual facsimile transmitting device in response to said attempted transmission of the data communication failing.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said selected individual facsimile transmitting device is a fax card installed on a computer server utilizing a T.38 protocol.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the performance score for one or more of said facsimile transmitting devices is set to a minimum value that has failed to transmit the data communication a maximum number of times.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein using said performance score to select the individual facsimile transmitting device from the one or more facsimile transmitting devices comprises sorting in a list according to said performance score for one or more of said facsimile transmitting devices and selecting as the selected individual facsimile transmitting device the individual facsimile transmitting device in the list with a highest score.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said performance score reflects a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices in isolation, a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices with a communication network path, a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices configured with a set of transmittal options, a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices with an individual one of one or more facsimile receiving devices, a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices within a geographic area, a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices during a time period, and a performance of the individual one of one or more said facsimile transmitting devices with a transmitting system.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein updating said performance score in said database for the selected individual facsimile transmitting device on said attempted transmission further comprises incrementing the performance score for the selected individual facsimile transmitting device in response to said attempted transmission of the data communication succeeding.