Systems, methods and computer program products for fax delivery and maintenance
This disclosure is directed to systems and methods for the delivery and maintenance of faxes where the faxes may remain at a faxing system for a minimal amount of time. The faxing system may send a queued fax to a connector responsive to a request from the connector to pull or retrieve a fax. The connector is configured to send a release notification to the faxing system after the fax is received. The faxing system is configured to delete the queued fax as soon as confirmation of the delivery of the fax can be determined or when an expiration time has elapsed.
1. A method for delivery and maintenance of faxes, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computer, a fax from a sender system over a network;
placing, by the computer, a job item associated with the fax in a job queue;
responsive to the job item being placed on the job queue, generating, by the computer, a pull item corresponding to the job item and a hold item corresponding to the job item;
placing, by the computer, the pull item corresponding to the job item on a pull queue and the hold item corresponding to the job item on a hold queue;
receiving, by the computer from a fax connector, a request to retrieve the fax, the fax connector associated with a faxing system remote from the sender system, the fax connector having a processor and an interface for receiving faxes;
marking, by the computer, the fax as under retrieval;
retrieving and providing, by the computer to the fax connector, a document associated with the fax requested by the fax connector, the fax connector generating a release notification once the document is received by the fax connector;
receiving, by the computer from the fax connector, the release notification;
updating, by the computer, a status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax; and
responsive to the status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax being updated, deleting, by the computer, the pull item corresponding to the fax from the pull queue, the hold item corresponding to the fax from the hold queue. and the document associated with the fax from the computer.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to the job item being placed in the job queue, accessing the job item, determining an expiration time associated with the job item, and associating the hold item with the expiration time.
3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, updating the job item in the job queue to indicate that the job item had expired.
4. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, determining whether the fax is marked as under retrieval, and, if the fax is not marked as under retrieval, deleting the job item from the job queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the pull item from the pull queue.
5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request to cancel the fax from the sender system, wherein the request to cancel the fax is received from the sender system prior to the request to retrieve the fax or the release notification is received by the computer from the fax connector; and
updating the job item to indicate that the job item had been cancelled.
6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
responsive to the request to cancel the fax, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer if the fax is not marked as under retrieval.
7. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
responsive to the request to cancel the fax, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer after the release notification is received from the fax connector if the fax is marked as under retrieval.
8. A system for delivery and maintenance of faxes, comprising:
at least one processor;
at least one non-transitory computer readable medium; and
stored instructions translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
receiving a fax from a sender system over a network;
placing a job item associated with the fax in a job queue;
responsive to the job item being placed on the job queue, generating a pull item corresponding to the job item and a hold item corresponding to the job item;
placing the pull item corresponding to the job item on a pull queue and the hold item corresponding to the job item on a hold queue;
receiving, from a fax connector, a request to retrieve the fax, the fax connector associated with a faxing system remote from the sender system, the fax connector having a processor and an interface for receiving faxes;
marking the fax as under retrieval;
retrieving and providing, to the fax connector, a document associated with the fax requested by the fax connector, the fax connector generating a release notification once the document is received by the fax connector;
receiving, from the fax connector, the release notification;
updating a status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax; and
responsive to the status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax being updated, deleting the pull item corresponding to the fax from the pull queue, the hold item corresponding to the fax from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
responsive to the job item being placed in the job queue, accessing the job item, determining an expiration time associated with the job item, and associating the hold item with the expiration time.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, updating the job item in the job queue to indicate that the job item had expired.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, determining whether the fax is marked as under retrieval, and, if the fax is not marked as under retrieval, deleting the job item from the job queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the pull item from the pull queue.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
receiving a request to cancel the fax from the sender system, wherein the request to cancel the fax is received from the sender system prior to the request to retrieve the fax or the release notification is received from the fax connector; and
updating the job item to indicate that the job item had been cancelled.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
responsive to the request to cancel the fax, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer if the fax is not marked as under retrieval.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor to perform:
responsive to the request to cancel the fax, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer after the release notification is received from the fax connector if the fax is marked as under retrieval.
15. A computer program product for delivery and maintenance of faxes, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by at least one processor for:
receiving a fax from a sender system over a network;
placing a job item associated with the fax in a job queue;
responsive to the job item being placed on the job queue, generating a pull item corresponding to the job item and a hold item corresponding to the job item;
placing the pull item corresponding to the job item on a pull queue and the hold item corresponding to the job item on a hold queue;
receiving, from a fax connector, a request to retrieve the fax, the fax connector associated with a faxing system remote from the sender system, the fax connector having a processor and an interface for receiving faxes;
marking the fax as under retrieval;
retrieving and providing, to the fax connector, a document associated with the fax requested by the fax connector, the fax connector generating a release notification once the document is received by the fax connector;
receiving, from the fax connector, the release notification;
updating a status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax; and
responsive to the status associated with the pull item corresponding to the fax being updated, deleting the pull item corresponding to the fax from the pull queue, the hold item corresponding to the fax from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor for:
responsive to the job item being placed in the job queue, accessing the job item, determining an expiration time associated with the job item, and associating the hold item with the expiration time.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor for:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, updating the job item in the job queue to indicate that the job item had expired.
18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor for:
when the expiration time associated with the hold item in the hold queue elapses, determining whether the fax is marked as under retrieval, and, if the fax is not marked as under retrieval, deleting the job item from the job queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the pull item from the pull queue.
19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor for:
receiving a request to cancel the fax from the sender system, wherein the request to cancel the fax is received from the sender system prior to the request to retrieve the fax or the release notification is received from the fax connector; and
updating the job item to indicate that the job item had been cancelled.
20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the at least one processor for, responsive to the request to cancel the fax:
if the fax is not marked as under retrieval, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer; or if the fax is marked as under retrieval, deleting the pull item from the pull queue, the hold item from the hold queue, and the document associated with the fax from the computer after the release notification is received from the fax connector.