High-definition facsimile routing
A high-definition (HD) fax system routes outbound fax job requests including a high-resolution component to appropriate destinations, including among HD-enabled receiving devices and conventional fax devices. If it is determined that a fax destination is not HD-enabled, such as a conventional fax device, the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request may be rendered as a low-resolution fax. The low resolution fax may be transmitted via a public switched telephone network (PSTN). On the other hand, if it is determined that a fax destination is HD-enabled, a determination may be made whether the HD-enabled fax destination is color enabled, and the high-resolution component may be rendered as either a high-resolution monochrome fax or a high-resolution color fax.
1. A method performed by at least one computer processor of a high-definition (HD) fax system, the method comprising:
(A) receiving an outbound fax job request, the outbound fax job request including a fax destination identifier and a high-resolution component;
(B) determining whether the fax destination identifier corresponds with an HD-enabled receiving device;
(C) if it is determined that the fax destination identifier does not correspond with the HD-enabled receiving device, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a low-resolution fax, and transmitting the low-resolution fax via a public switched telephone network (PSTN);
(D) if it is determined that the fax destination identifier does correspond with the HD-enabled receiving device, determining whether the HD-enabled receiving device is HD color-enabled;
(E) if it is determined that the HD-enabled receiving device is not HD color-enabled, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a high-resolution monochrome fax, and transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax via a packet-switched network; and
(F) if it is determined that the HD-enabled receiving device is HD color-enabled, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a high-resolution color fax, and transmitting the high-resolution color fax via the packet-switched network.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein (A) further comprises receiving the outbound fax job request from a HD-enabled transmitting device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-resolution fax is of a resolution of 200 dots-per-inch (DPI) or lower, and wherein the high-resolution monochrome fax or the high-resolution color fax is of a resolution of 300 DPI or higher.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request is received as an electronic file attachment associated with an electronic message.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the electronic file attachment is a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format file.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the electronic file attachment is a Tagged Image File (TIF) format file.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the electronic attachment is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request is received via direct file transfer.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein (B) comprises determining that the fax destination identifier is a unique identifier of an account in the HD fax system.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein (B) comprises comparing the fax destination identifier against a lookup table comprising a plurality of fax destination identifiers associated with the HD fax system.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein (B) comprises reviewing configuration data corresponding to the fax destination identifier.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises comparing the fax destination identifier against a lookup table comprising a plurality of fax destination identifiers.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises reviewing configuration data associated with the fax destination identifier.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein (D) comprises reviewing configuration settings associated with the HD-enabled receiving device.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein (E) further comprises transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax to the HD-enabled receiving device.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein (E) does not include transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax via the PSTN.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in an electronic file format.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the electronic file format is one or more of the group consisting of a TIF file and a PDF file.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in multiple electronic files.
23. The method of claim 1 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering a non-high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as the low-resolution fax.
24. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) further comprises transmitting the high-resolution color fax to the HD-enabled receiving device.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein (F) does not include transmitting the high-resolution color fax via the PSTN.
26. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in an electronic file format.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the electronic file format is one or more of the group consisting of a TIF file and a PDF file.
28. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in multiple electronic files.
29. The method of claim 1 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering a non-high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as the low-resolution fax.
30. A high-definition (HD) fax system comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions are executable by at least one computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
(A) receiving an outbound fax job request, the outbound fax job request including a fax destination identifier and a high-resolution component;
(B) determining whether the fax destination identifier corresponds with an HD-enabled receiving device;
(C) if it is determined that the fax destination identifier does not correspond with the HD-enabled receiving device, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a low-resolution fax, and transmitting the low-resolution fax via a public switched telephone network (PSTN);
(D) if it is determined that the fax destination identifier does correspond with the HD-enabled receiving device, determining whether the HD-enabled receiving device is HD color-enabled;
(E) if it is determined that the HD-enabled receiving device is not HD color-enabled, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a high-resolution monochrome fax, and transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax via a packet-switched network; and
(F) if it is determined that the HD-enabled receiving device is HD color-enabled, rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as a high-resolution color fax, and transmitting the high-resolution color fax via the packet-switched network.
31. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (A) further comprises receiving the outbound fax job request from a HD-enabled transmitting device.
32. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein the low-resolution fax is of a resolution of 200 dots-per-inch (DPI) or lower, and wherein the high-resolution monochrome fax or the high-resolution color fax is of a resolution of 300 DPI or higher.
33. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request is received as an electronic file attachment associated with an electronic message.
34. The HD fax system of claim 33 , wherein the electronic file attachment is a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format file.
35. The HD fax system of claim 34 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
36. The HD fax system of claim 33 , wherein the electronic file attachment is a Tagged Image File (TIF) format file.
37. The HD fax system of claim 36 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
38. The HD fax system of claim 33 , wherein the electronic file attachment is a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.
39. The HD fax system of claim 38 , wherein (A) further comprises determining that the electronic file attachment is of a high-resolution format.
40. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request is received via direct file transfer.
41. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (B) comprises determining that the fax destination identifier is a unique identifier of an account in the HD fax system.
42. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (B) comprises comparing the fax destination identifier against a lookup table comprising a plurality of fax destination identifiers associated with the HD fax system.
43. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (B) comprises reviewing configuration data corresponding to the fax destination identifier.
44. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (D) comprises comparing the fax destination identifier against a lookup table comprising a plurality of fax destination identifiers.
45. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (D) comprises reviewing configuration data associated with the fax destination identifier.
46. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (D) comprises reviewing configuration settings associated with the HD-enabled receiving device.
47. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (E) further comprises transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax to the HD-enabled receiving device.
48. The HD fax system of claim 47 , wherein (E) does not include transmitting the high-resolution monochrome fax via the PSTN.
49. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in an electronic file format.
50. The HD fax system of claim 49 , wherein the electronic file format is one or more of the group consisting of a TIF file and a PDF file.
51. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in multiple electronic files.
52. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (E) further comprises rendering a non-high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as the low-resolution fax.
53. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (F) further comprises transmitting the high-resolution color fax to the HD-enabled receiving device.
54. The HD fax system of claim 53 , wherein (F) does not include transmitting the high-resolution color fax via the PSTN.
55. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in an electronic file format.
56. The HD fax system of claim 55 , wherein the electronic file format is one or more of the group consisting of a TIF file and a PDF file.
57. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering at least the high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request in multiple electronic files.
58. The HD fax system of claim 30 , wherein (F) further comprises rendering a non-high-resolution component of the outbound fax job request as the low-resolution fax.