Method and system for delivering and receiving fax transmissions over a data connection owned by a service provider - Patents.com

Abstract

A method and system for delivering and receiving fax transmissions over a data connection owned by a service provider is described. In one embodiment, a fax server receives a signaling protocol invitation from a telephone service provider in response to the telephone service provider receiving an incoming call signal from a source device over a circuit-switched network to the service provider's fax telephone number. The server responds to the invitation by establishing a data connection with the telephone service provider based on the signaling protocol, the data connection being owned by the service provider. The server receives incoming fax messages that are in a fax format and routed by the telephone service provider when a source device sends an incoming fax message. The server sends the fax message to a destination address.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] cross reference This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 473,854, filed September 13, 2021, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

[0002] Field SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a fax system that delivers and receives fax transmissions over a data connection owned by a (e.g., cloud-based) service provider.Other embodiments are also described. [Background technology]

[0003] Despite the proliferation of message passing services using the Internet, fax messaging remains an important means for secure message passing between individuals around the world. Traditional fax messaging services require both a dedicated fax machine and a dedicated fax number to receive fax transmissions. Modern fax messaging services eliminate the need for a dedicated fax machine and use the Internet to provide subscribers of these services with increased flexibility in sending and receiving fax messages. For example, subscribers of modern fax messaging services are assigned a direct internal dial (DID) telephone number, which the subscriber distributes to others who wish to send fax messages to the subscriber. The DID telephone number is essentially the subscriber's individual fax number. When an incoming fax transmission is received at a particular DID telephone number, the fax messaging service generates a fax message from the fax transmission in a format suitable for transmission over a data network such as the Internet, and sends the fax message to the subscriber (e.g., to the subscriber's email address). Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Voice and data communication systems such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) are currently used to transport image and text data sent by facsimile ("fax") machines in addition to the voice traffic that is typically transmitted. For example, a fax machine converts a physical document into data that is then transmitted over the PSTN to a dedicated fax telephone number. This data is typically received at a destination fax machine or computer to print or store the images and text for use by the recipient. When setting up a telephone and fax service, the consumer and the telephone company (i.e., telephone service provider) may enter into a contract that specifies the number of available or "free" minutes that can be used on one or more dedicated voice and fax lines (or numbers) for a particular period of time (e.g., one month). However, these same customers may wish to switch to a more modern fax service to receive incoming faxes, multiple faxes, over the Internet. In this case, an incoming fax transmission (or fax message) is forwarded (or routed) by a fax service provider over a data (e.g., computer) network to one or more recipients, thus avoiding sending the fax over the PSTN to a dedicated fax phone number. Utilizing modern fax methods is more reliable than traditional methods and is also more cost-effective because it eliminates the need for a dedicated fax phone number to which the fax transmission is sent.

[0005] However, in some cases, a customer may not be able to quickly and easily migrate from traditional fax transmissions to more modern fax services. For example, a telephone contract between a customer and a telephone company may be a long-term contract (e.g., several years) for the use of the telephone company's telecommunications services to route fax transmissions (e.g., via the PSTN). Thus, there is a need to provide electronic fax services to a user (e.g., a cloud-based service provider) while allowing the user to maintain their contractual obligations with the telephone company. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure is directed to a method and system for delivering (or routing) and receiving fax transmissions over a data connection owned by a (cloud-based) service provider (e.g., a fax service subscriber or user who has a contractual obligation to maintain telecommunications services with a telephone company). Specifically, the fax service provider's fax server (e.g., fax processing software running thereon) may receive a signaling protocol invitation from the telephone service provider (or telephone company) in response to the service provider receiving an incoming call signal to the service provider's fax telephone number over a circuit-switched network (e.g., PSTN). The server may respond to this invitation by establishing a data connection over the data network based on a signaling protocol with the telephone service provider, the data connection being owned by the cloud-based service provider. For example, the data connection may be made over a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk owned by the cloud-based service provider (e.g., part of its customer account) with the telephone company. The fax server can receive the incoming fax message, which is in fax format and routed by the telephone service provider, over the data connection when the source device sends the incoming fax message via an incoming ring signal over the PSTN. In one embodiment, to receive the fax message, the cloud-based service provider can instruct the telephone company to redirect (or terminate) the fax telephone number to a specific location associated with the fax server (e.g., the fax server's Internet Protocol (IP) address). The fax server can send the fax message to a destination address (e.g., an IP address or domain name) over the data connection.As a result, fax messages that were traditionally sent by a source device to a user over the PSTN can be redirected to a fax server for transmission of the message electronically, while the user maintains their contractual obligations to the telephone company.

[0007] In another embodiment, the fax server may also send the fax transmission over a SIP trunk owned by the cloud-based service provider. For example, the server receives a fax transmission sent (e.g., using the PSTN) from the cloud-based service provider over a data network to a fax phone number of a destination device. The server converts the fax transmission into a fax format (e.g., Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or the like). The server establishes a data connection with the destination device over the data network over the SIP trunk of the cloud-based service provider using the fax phone number and sends the fax transmission to the destination device. In particular, the fax server may receive authentication information (e.g., username and password) for a telephone service provider account owned by the cloud-based service provider (e.g., as part of its contractual obligations). In this case, when establishing the data connection, the fax server may send a signaling protocol invitation to the telephone service provider that includes 1) the fax phone number and 2) authentication information to authorize (or authenticate) the fax service provider to send the fax transmission over the SIP trunk of the cloud-based service provider. Thus, the fax server can receive fax transmissions over a SIP trunk owned by the cloud-based service provider and can also send fax transmissions over a data connection over the SIP trunk. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The above summary is not exhaustive of all aspects of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is intended to include all systems and methods that may be implemented from any suitable combination of the various aspects summarized above, as well as all systems and methods disclosed in the Detailed Description below and as specifically claimed in the claims filed with this application. Such combinations have certain advantages not specifically described in the above summary.

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements. It should be noted that references to "an" or "one" embodiment of the disclosure in this disclosure do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean at least one. Also, a given figure may be used to illustrate features of multiple embodiments of the present disclosure, and not all elements in the figure are required for a given embodiment. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fax system 1 for sending fax transmissions over a service provider's Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk, according to some embodiments. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a fax system for receiving fax transmissions via a user's SIP trunk according to some embodiments. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a fax service provider server according to some embodiments. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure containing audit data associated with the processing of a fax transmission according to some embodiments. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process for sending a fax transmission to a destination device over a SIP trunk owned by a user. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process for receiving a fax transmission from a source device over a SIP trunk owned by a user. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Next, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whenever aspects of the embodiments described herein are not explicitly defined, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to only the illustrated parts, which are intended for illustrative purposes only. Also, although many details are described, it is understood that some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented without these details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques are not illustrated in detail in order to clearly understand this description.

[0012] References herein to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment, but not all embodiments necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0013] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fax system 1 for sending fax transmissions over a user's (or a cloud-based service provider's) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks, according to some embodiments. Specifically, the figure illustrates a system architecture in which a cloud-based service provider's fax transmissions (e.g., fax transmissions sent by the provider) are forwarded (or routed) by a fax service provider server 6 to a destination device over the cloud-based service provider's SIP trunks 8.

[0014] Fax system 1 includes a cloud-based service provider (which may hereinafter be referred to as a “service provider”) source device 2, a fax service provider server (which may hereinafter be referred to as a “fax server”) 6, a voice / data (e.g., computer) network (e.g., the Internet) 5, a telephone service provider server (which may hereinafter be referred to as a “telephone server”) 3, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 4, and a destination device 7. In one embodiment, the system may include more or fewer elements (or devices), such as having one or more source devices and / or one or more destination devices.

[0015] In one embodiment, the voice / data network 5 may include infrastructure such as routers, access points, one or more servers, etc., that enable one or more devices to send and receive fax transmissions (e.g., as electronic messages). In some embodiments, the network may also include one or more cell towers, all of which may be part of a communications network that supports data transmissions (and / or voice calls) for mobile devices (e.g., 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks). In some embodiments, the PSTN 4 may be a combination of circuit-switched (telephone) networks (e.g., a combination having a circuit-switched (telephone) network) that may be operated by one or more telephone operators to enable telephones and / or fax machines to communicate with each other.

[0016] The telephone server 3 is configured to communicatively couple the fax server 6 to one or more destination devices, such as device 7, for routing fax transmissions from the fax server to the destination devices. In one aspect, the server 3 may be (owned and) operated by a telephone service provider (or telephone company), which may provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, such as an Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP). Specifically, the server 3 is configured to establish telecommunications (e.g., VoIP) connections between the fax server 6, one or more destination devices (e.g., device 7), and / or one or more source devices, such as source device 20 in FIG. 2, using any type of signaling (e.g., VoIP) protocol, such as the H.323 protocol, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), or SIP.

[0017] In one embodiment, the telephony server 3 may be (or may include) a SIP trunk gateway configured to utilize a SIP trunk 8 of a cloud-based service provider, whereby a data connection is established between the gateway and the server 6 for exchanging data between the fax server 6 and the destination device (e.g., over the PSTN 4). In particular, the gateway receives digital data from the fax service provider server 6 via the SIP trunk 8 and converts the data into an analog signal, which is transmitted by the PSTN 4 to the destination device 7. A fax server using a SIP trunk will now be further described.

[0018] In one embodiment, the SIP trunk 8 may be "owned" by a cloud-based service provider (e.g., of source device 2). In particular, the cloud-based service provider may have purchased the trunk from a telephone provider, in which case the trunk is part of the service provider's telephone account (or contract with the telephone service provider). In this manner, the telephone provider may provide the cloud-based service provider with sole access (e.g., without authorizing or authenticating other customers by the telephone provider) to send and receive data via the SIP trunk 8. Thus, the service provider may pay (or charge) a monthly fee to utilize the VoIP service.

[0019] As described herein, a fax service provider may be authorized by a cloud-based service provider to use the provider's SIP trunk 8 to send (and / or receive) fax transmissions over a data network and the PSTN. Specifically, the cloud-based service provider may specify with a telephony provider that a VoIP session (or call) originating from the fax server will use the service provider's SIP trunk 8 to transmit data. For example, the service provider may provide authentication information (e.g., an IP address or domain name) associated with the fax server to the telephony provider (e.g., by adding authentication information with the telephony provider to a telephony account with the service provider). Upon receiving a VoIP session request (e.g., a signaling protocol invitation), the telephony server may determine whether the invitation includes authentication information associated with the service provider. If so, the telephony server may proceed with the signaling protocol process to establish a VoIP session using the service provider's SIP trunk 8. In addition to (or instead of) specifying that a VoIP session may be initiated by fax server 6, the service provider may specify a fax server (e.g., a device that connects via a SIP trunk to a source device that originated a voice (or VoIP) call) as the termination (or end) point of the VoIP session. In that case, the service provider may provide authentication information to the telephone provider to associate with one or more telephone (e.g., fax telephone) numbers associated with the service provider (e.g., associated with the provider's SIP trunks), and when a call is received at one of these numbers (e.g., by any source device such as a fax machine), fax server 6 becomes the termination point of the call for receiving the data for the call.In one embodiment, a service provider can specify (e.g., in preferences) in their account which telephone numbers terminate at the fax server. These operations are further described herein.

[0020] In one embodiment, the authentication information may include other authentication information to allow the fax server 6 to establish a data connection with the destination device over the service provider's SIP trunk. For example, the authentication information may include a username and password associated with the service provider (e.g., its telephone account). Thus, when initiating the signaling protocol process, the fax server may send these authentication information (e.g., in a signaling protocol invite) to the telephony server, which verifies the identity of the fax server 6 to grant access to the service provider's trunk 8.

[0021] As shown, destination device 7 is a fax machine coupled to a telephone service provider server 3 via the PSTN 4. In one embodiment, the destination device can be any electronic device capable of receiving a fax transmission via the PSTN. Receiving a fax transmission via the PSTN will now be further described.

[0022] In one embodiment, a cloud-based service provider source device 2 (e.g., an electronic device owned and / or operated by the cloud-based service provider) is (e.g., communicatively) coupled to a server 6 via a computer network 5 for sending fax transmissions to the server. As illustrated, the source device is a desktop computer. In another embodiment, the source device may be any type of device (e.g., a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a server, etc.) capable of sending fax transmissions (e.g., as electronic messages) to the fax service provider server 6 via a computer network. In particular, the source device may include fax software configured, when executed by the device, to send the fax transmission as an electronic message that includes a fax file (or fax message). Specifically, the software may be configured to receive (e.g., via a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on a display screen coupled to the desktop) an address of a fax service provider server to which a document is to be sent. The desktop can establish a connection with the server via the network 5 and send the document to the server. Sending a fax message to a server is further described herein.

[0023] In another embodiment, the source device may be a portable device (e.g., a tablet computer) configured to connect to a wireless network (e.g., a wireless local area network (WLAN)) of network 5, and when connected, the portable device may be configured to communicate with (e.g., send a fax transmission to) the fax service provider server 6. In another embodiment, as described herein, the source device may be a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone) configured to connect to a communication network (e.g., an LTE network) of the data network for transmitting fax data to the fax service provider server 6.

[0024] In one embodiment, the source device may send the fax transmission to the server 6 as an electronic message containing the fax file (message), for the server to deliver the fax file to one or more destination addresses, as described herein. In particular, the electronic message may be any type of message in any type of format that contains the fax file. For example, the electronic message may be an email (e.g., a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message) that the source device sends over the data network 5 to an email address associated with the fax server. In particular, the email may include the fax file (e.g., one or more electronic documents) as an email attachment or in the body of the email, which may be formatted according to the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol.

[0025] As another example, the source device can establish a communications data link or data connection with the fax server (e.g., via an application programming interface (API)) and can transmit an electronic message over the link. In particular, the source device can establish the data connection using the server's address, e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) address or domain name, over a computer network and via the API. Once established, the source device can transmit the electronic message (e.g., as one or more data packets, such as IP packets) containing the fax transmission (or, more specifically, the fax file) over the data connection. In another embodiment, the source device can establish the connection via a website hosted by (or on) the fax service provider server 6. In this case, the address of the server can be a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that indicates a domain name associated with the server. The source device may establish a data connection to a URL (e.g., using any communications protocol such as Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP)) according to any data transfer (application) protocol, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), etc. In another embodiment, the source device may establish a connection with the server and send data using any (e.g., application layer) protocol in the device's protocol stack. In some embodiments, the source device may use any method for sending an electronic message to the server.

[0026] In another embodiment, the electronic message may be sent to the fax service provider server 6 via a secure communication data connection. Specifically, the source device may establish a data connection with the fax server over a computer network using an encryption protocol, such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc., according to the server's address (e.g., IP address). For example, to access a website hosted by the fax server, the destination device may use the application layer protocol HTTP (e.g., HTTPS) over TLS or SSL. Once the secure communication data connection is established, the source device sends data (e.g., electronic message) to the server (encrypted) according to the encryption protocol. In some embodiments, the source device may establish a secure communication tunnel with the server. For example, the source device may establish a virtual personal network (VPN) connection with the fax server using the fax server's IP address or domain name. Once established, the source device may send the electronic message via the VPN connection. For example, the source device may establish a communication data connection with the VPN server, which (e.g., VPN connection is established) allows the source device to communicate with the server (e.g., using any communication protocol, such as HTTPS). As another example, once a secure communication tunnel has been established, the source device can send an email (SMTP message) with a fax message attached, as described herein. In some embodiments, the fax server 6 can establish a (e.g., secure) connection with the source device. In another embodiment, one or more electronic messages can be sent over one connection. For example, once a connection is established, the same connection can be used for data exchange between the device and the server.

[0027] In one embodiment, the fax message may be sent by the source device to the server 6 in any format, such as Portable Document Format (PDF), or in a fax file format, such as Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), (e.g., the format in which fax transmissions are sent over the PSTN). In another embodiment, the fax message may be a document containing text and / or images. In some embodiments, the fax message may be a searchable electronic document, such as a searchable PDF. In another embodiment, the fax message may be in a format executable by one or more applications that allow a user to search, add, delete, and / or edit data (e.g., text, images, etc.) in the message. For example, the message may be in a word processing format executable by a word processing software application, a spreadsheet format executable by a spreadsheet software application, a presentation format executable by a presentation application. In another embodiment, the fax file may be in any editable and / or searchable file format.

[0028] In some embodiments, the electronic message may include information regarding the fax file contained therein. For example, the message may include an outbound (recipient or destination) address, such as a fax phone number, to which the fax file contained in the message will be sent by the fax service provider server 6. Returning to the email example, the email address to which the electronic message is sent by the source device may include the fax phone number. For example, the fax phone number to which the service provider would like the fax file of the electronic message to be delivered by the fax server (e.g., via the PSTN) may be the username of the email address, and the domain name of the email address may be associated with the fax service provider. In another embodiment, the fax phone number may be included in the body or subject line of the email. In another embodiment, the fax phone number may be part of the electronic message, such as included as metadata in one or more headers of one or more IP data packets used to send the electronic message. In another embodiment, the fax phone number may be sent separately from the electronic message containing the fax file (e.g., the fax phone number may be sent in one or more data packets before or after the electronic message is sent by the source device).

[0029] In another embodiment, the message may include other information indicating where the fax file should be sent. For example, this information may include contact information for the recipient (or the recipient's electronic device) to which the service provider wishes to send the fax file. In this case, the fax service provider server 6 may use that information to determine a fax phone number associated with the user. Specifically, the fax server may perform a table lookup into a data structure (such as, for example, the subscriber data 15 illustrated in FIG. 3) that contains contact information (e.g., a list of contacts) for the service provider to identify the outbound address (e.g., a fax phone number) associated with the contact information in the message. Subscriber data will now be further described.

[0030] The fax service provider server 6 may be a standalone server computer or a cluster of server computers (e.g., as part of a cloud computing system) configured to perform one or more fax service provider operations as described herein. In one embodiment, the fax server is configured to deliver incoming fax transmissions from one or more service provider source devices to one or more destination devices, for example, by establishing a data connection with the destination device as illustrated in this figure. Specifically, the fax server 6 can receive incoming fax transmissions from the source device 2 along with additional information such as a fax telephone number to which the fax server will forward the fax transmission. The fax server can set up a VoIP session with the destination device 7 by the telephony server 3 (e.g., using the service provider's SIP trunk 8) to send the fax. For example, the fax server can send a signaling protocol invite (e.g., using any signaling protocol such as H.323, MGCP, and SIP) that includes the fax server's authentication information to the telephony server and other information such as the (e.g., fax) telephone number of the destination device 7 to which the fax server is attempting to send the fax. Upon verifying the authentication information (e.g., verifying the username and password), the telephony server may continue establishing the VoIP session by sending an incoming ringing signal (e.g., an incoming call departure alert) to the destination device 7 via the PSTN 4. Upon receiving a response signal from the destination device, the telephony server may send a confirmation message to the fax server 6, at which point a data connection (e.g., a Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) connection) is established between the telephony server and the fax server via the SIP trunk 8.Once established, the fax server 6 transmits the fax as digital data (e.g., using or according to any fax protocol, such as the T.38 protocol) to the telephony server, which converts the data to an analog signal. In particular, the telephony server may utilize dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling, in which the fax data is transmitted in the form of voice-frequency tones (e.g., fax tones according to the Group 3 protocol) over the PSTN to the destination device. Once the fax data has been transmitted, the fax server may terminate the VoIP session.

[0031] 2 is a block diagram illustrating a fax system 1 for receiving fax transmissions via a user's SIP trunk, according to some embodiments. In particular, this figure illustrates a system architecture in which fax transmissions destined for a cloud-based service provider (e.g., fax transmissions sent from one or more source devices to one or more fax phone numbers owned by the service provider) are routed by a telephony server to a fax server, which delivers the received fax transmissions to the service provider's destination devices 2 (e.g., desktop computers, servers, etc.). As described herein, the fax server 6 may be designated by the cloud-based service provider as the termination point for one or more fax phone numbers.

[0032] This diagram includes at least some of the elements illustrated in FIG. 1. Additionally, this diagram illustrates a source device 20, illustrated as a fax machine. In one embodiment, this device may be any electronic device capable of making outgoing calls and / or receiving incoming (e.g., fax) calls over the PSTN 4. For example, the fax machine 20 may send fax transmissions over the PSTN 4 using a fax protocol such as the Group 3 protocol defined by the International Telecommunications Union Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU-T) (e.g., as defined in ITU-T Recommendations T.30 and T.4). A user may operate the fax machine to send a fax transmission to a recipient, for example, by placing a paper document on the fax machine and entering the recipient's telephone number into the fax machine. The fax machine scans the paper document and converts the document contents into an electronic fax format. Alternatively, the fax machine may convert an electronic document into an electronic fax format. The fax machine makes outgoing calls by utilizing dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals. Upon answering the call, the fax machine transmits the contents of the document in the form of audio frequency tones over the PSTN, as described herein.

[0033] Also illustrated is a cloud-based service provider destination device 21, which is depicted as a server communicatively coupled to the fax server 6 via a data network. In one embodiment, the destination device may be any electronic device configured to receive incoming fax transmissions (e.g., as digital data) over a data network, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc.

[0034] As described herein, this figure illustrates a fax server receiving an incoming fax transmission via a SIP trunk 8 of a cloud-based service provider and delivering the incoming fax to one or more destination devices (e.g., at least a portion of which may be associated with or owed to the cloud-based service provider). Specifically, source device 20 can initiate a fax transmission by dialing a fax phone number associated with the cloud-based service provider. In one embodiment, the fax phone number may be a number provided by a telephone provider as part of a service provider agreement with a telephone company, as described herein. Once dialed, the source device sends an incoming call signal over the PSTN 4 to the telephony server 3. Upon receiving this signal, the server determines (e.g., based on a selection in the service provider's account with the telephony provider, as described herein) that the incoming call is to be routed as a VoIP call via the SIP trunk to the fax server 6. In response, the telephony server can establish a data connection with the fax server, as described herein. For example, the telephony server 3 can send a signaling protocol invite to the fax server. The fax server can respond to this invitation by establishing a data connection with the telephony service provider server over network 5 based on a signaling protocol, where the data connection (or rather, the SIP trunk over which the data connection is established) is owned by the cloud-based service provider. Once established, the telephony server 3 can send a message to source device 20 to initiate transmission of the incoming fax. In response, source device 20 initiates transmission of the fax (e.g., as a tone, as described herein). The telephony server routes the incoming fax from the source device to the fax server over SIP trunk 8.In one embodiment, to route the incoming fax, the telephony server can convert the incoming fax signal (e.g., according to the T.38 protocol) to digital data that is then transmitted as one or more data packets to the fax server. Once the fax is transmitted, the telephony server can terminate the call with source device 20 and disconnect the data connection with fax server 6.

[0035] In one embodiment, the fax server 6 routes received incoming faxes to one or more destination devices. In particular, the fax server can determine one or more destination addresses (e.g., IP addresses) to which the received fax transmission is to be sent. For example, the fax server can consult subscriber data (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3) associated with the service provider to determine a destination address to which the received fax transmission is to be forwarded. The use of subscriber data to determine how to forward the received fax transmission is further described herein. Once the destination address is determined, the fax server transmits the received fax transmission to the destination address (e.g., over a data network). In one embodiment, the fax server can electronically transmit the fax transmission to the destination device 21 using any method, such as one or more methods described herein. For example, once the fax server determines that the destination address is an email address, it can send an electronic message including the fax transmission as an email.

[0036] Although the fax server is illustrated as communicatively coupled to the destination device via a data network, in one embodiment it may be coupled to the device via the PSTN 4. In this case, the fax server may transmit a received fax as an analog signal to the fax number via the PSTN when forwarding the fax to a destination address that is a fax telephone number. For example, the fax server may include a dial-up model for transmitting faxes via the PSTN. Specifically, the fax server may include software (e.g., service provider software program 13, as illustrated in FIG. 3) that can be configured to convert a received fax into a fax file format (if not already in that format) and place an outgoing call to establish a dial-up connection with the destination device via the PSTN using the dial-up model. Once established, the fax server may transmit the fax as described herein.

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a fax service provider server 6, according to some embodiments. In one embodiment, the fax server is operated by one or more fax service providers and can process fax transmissions destined for one or more destination devices. In particular, the fax server can process fax transmissions by routing transmissions sent by and / or to subscribers of one or more fax services. For example, a cloud-based service provider (e.g., owning SIP trunk 8 and source device 2) may be a subscriber of one or more services. In one embodiment, the fax service (more specifically, the fax service provider) assigns each subscriber a different direct internal dial (DID) phone number (e.g., a fax phone number). The subscriber can distribute the DID number to other people who want to send fax messages (as inbound fax transmissions) to the subscriber). The DID number is effectively the subscriber's individual fax number. When a sender sends a fax transmission to a subscriber's DID number (e.g., via the PSTN as described herein), the server receives the fax transmission and generates a fax message from the fax transmission (or decodes message content within the fax transmission). The generated fax message may be in a format viewable by the subscriber on an electronic (e.g., destination) device, e.g., PDF, TIFF, etc., and is made available to the subscriber (e.g., for viewing). In this case, rather than (or in addition to) delivering the fax transmission received or sent via the subscriber's DID number, the fax transmission may be delivered using a fax telephone number that the subscriber received (or purchased) from a telephone service provider (e.g., at server 3).As described herein, this allows a fax service provider to provide electronic fax services for a subscriber while the subscriber continues to fulfill their contractual obligations with the telephone service provider (or ITSP) (e.g., using the telephone services provided by the telephone service provider), and these operations are described in detail herein.

[0038] The fax server 6 includes a communications interface 10, one or more processors 11, and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (or memory) 12. Examples of memory can include read-only memory, random access memory, CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic tape, optical data storage devices, flash memory devices, and phase change memory. Although illustrated as being contained within the server 6, one or more of the components may be part of a separate electronic device, such as the memory 12 being a separate data storage device communicatively coupled to the server 6 (e.g., via the network 5). As shown, the memory stores a fax service provider software program (or fax software) 13, subscriber data 15, and audit data 30. In one embodiment, the fax software is configured to perform one or more of the operations for processing (e.g., receiving and delivering) incoming fax transmissions as described herein.

[0039] 1 and 2, provides an interface for fax server 6 to receive incoming fax transmissions (e.g., from source device 2) and / or transmit (or deliver) fax transmissions (e.g., to destination device 7) over one or more networks, such as network 5 and PSTN 4. For example, the communications interface may establish a data connection (e.g., a VPN connection, etc.) with source device 2 to receive incoming fax messages.

[0040] Subscriber data 15 may include information of one or more fax service subscribers. Specifically, the data may be in the form of a data structure that includes a (e.g., look-up) table with subscriber (e.g., identification) information, such as the subscriber's name and the subscriber's personal phone number (which may be associated with a destination / source device), one or more fax phone numbers associated with the subscriber (e.g., fax phone numbers assigned by one or more telephone service providers), and the subscriber's DID phone number assigned (e.g., by the fax service provider).

[0041] In some embodiments, the subscriber data may include one or more destination addresses to which the fax service provider sends (e.g., routes, forwards, or delivers) incoming fax transmissions received for a particular subscriber. For example, the destination address may include an email address, a (e.g., voice) telephone number, a fax telephone number, an IP address, etc. In one embodiment, the subscriber data may include a subscriber's preferences or preferences, such as to which destination address the subscriber would like the fax server to deliver incoming fax transmissions. In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the preferences may indicate a destination address to which a received incoming fax is to be routed by the fax server. For example, the preferences may indicate one or more criteria that, if the criteria are met, indicate to which destination address the fax server will deliver the fax. The criteria may include source device information, such as the fax telephone number of the source device that sent the fax, or the fax telephone number to which the source device sent the fax, as described in FIG. 2. Using this information, the fax server may determine which destination address is associated with the information and send the fax using the identified destination address.

[0042] In addition, subscriber data 15 includes SIP trunk authentication information 17. For example, these authentication information may include information (e.g., username and password) for authenticating the fax server with telephony server 3, as described herein. In one embodiment, the fax server may include authentication information from one or more cloud-based service providers that are subscribers to one or more fax services, as described herein. In this case, the fax server may use one or more SIP trunks for receiving and / or delivering fax transmissions for one or more subscribers.

[0043] In some embodiments, audit data 30 may include information regarding fax transmissions received, processed, and / or sent (or routed) by fax server 6. For example, the audit data may be stored in a data structure that includes information such as timestamps and document information of incoming fax transmissions. Audit data is further described herein.

[0044] The processor 11 may include one or more data processing circuits, collectively referred to herein as a "processor." The processor may execute fax software 13, stored (at least in part) in memory 12, to perform some or all of the fax service provider operations and methods described herein for one or more of the embodiments associated with server 6. In particular, the fax software (e.g., when executed by processor 11) may process fax transmissions received from and / or destined for one or more fax service subscribers. For example, the fax software may be configured to receive incoming fax transmissions and deliver the fax transmissions to one or more destination devices, as described in Figures 1 and 2. The fax software may also be configured to determine how to deliver the received fax, for example, by using information received with the received fax to identify one or more destination addresses from subscriber data 15, as described herein. Operations performed by the fax software are further described herein.

[0045] As shown, the fax program 13 includes a document processing component 14 configured to process a received fax transmission. For example, the received fax transmission may be an electronic message (e.g., via email, a telecommunications data connection, etc.) that includes a (e.g., first) searchable electronic document in any format, such as a word processing format, a spreadsheet format, or a presentation format, as described herein. The component generates another (e.g., second) searchable electronic document (e.g., in another file format that is different from the file format of the first document) from the first searchable electronic document. For example, the second searchable electronic document may be a searchable PDF document generated from the word processing document. In one embodiment, the generated second searchable electronic document can maintain (or preserve) all the formatting (e.g., font, font size, font color, spacing, margins, alignment, etc.) of the first document. For example, the generated searchable PDF document can include embedded fonts from the first searchable electronic document (e.g., word processing document). This component can be configured to add a digital signature to authenticate the second document, which is then transmitted to the destination device. Thus, the routed fax transmission remains a searchable document and includes a digital signature that authenticates the transmission of the document. This is in contrast to traditional fax transmissions that are transmitted in a non-searchable fax format, such as TIFF.

[0046] In another embodiment, the document processing component 14 can process incoming faxes received as a non-searchable fax format. Specifically, the document processing component can process the received fax to generate a searchable document and route the document to one or more destination addresses, as illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, the component can perform an optical character recognition (OCR) operation for automatic text recognition of the received fax (e.g., document) to generate an OCRed document (e.g., an OCRed searchable PDF document). In another embodiment, the component can also perform natural language processing (NLP) operations to determine corresponding text (e.g., data such as metadata) of semi-structured data, such as tables, illustrations, symbols, images, etc., that may be included within the fax message. In some embodiments, the fax server can process the fax message according to one or both of the OCR and NLP operations to generate a searchable electronic document. In one embodiment, the searchable electronic document may be any file format designed to allow a user to search its contents, such as a searchable PDF.

[0047] 4 illustrates a data structure including audit data 30 associated with the processing of a fax transmission, according to some embodiments. Specifically, the data structure includes a table including data regarding an inbound fax transmission to the fax server 6. As shown, the table includes reception data, document processing data, and transmission data. The reception data includes information regarding the received inbound fax transmission, including a reception timestamp indicating the time the fax transmission was received, sender (i.e., source) information, such as the sender's phone number or email address, recipient information, including a fax phone number to which the inbound fax transmission is to be sent, and document information, including information regarding the inbound fax transmission, such as the number of pages, document type, etc. In one embodiment, the server 6 can determine and store the reception data upon receiving the inbound fax.

[0048] The document processing data may include information regarding how and when an incoming fax transmission is processed by a fax server. For example, the processing data may include a processing timestamp indicating when the document is processed, processing information indicating how the document is processed (e.g., indicating that a first searchable electronic document is converted to a second searchable electronic document, the source and destination formats of the document, etc.), and updated document information (e.g., indicating that the page size of the processed document has changed from 5 pages to 6 pages). The transmission data may include information regarding the transmission (or routing) of the fax transmission, which may include a transmission timestamp and a destination address to which the fax was routed. In an embodiment, more or less information may be stored in the data structure.

[0049] 5 and 6 are flowcharts of processes 50, 60 for receiving and delivering an inbound fax transmission, according to some embodiments. These processes may be performed by a fax service provider server 6 (e.g., fax service provider software program 13) of fax system 1, as described in Figures 1-4. For example, fax software 13 (e.g., its document processing component 14) being executed by one or more processors 11 of server 6 may perform at least some of the operations described herein.

[0050] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a process 50 for sending a fax transmission to a destination device via a SIP trunk owned by a user. Specifically, at least some of the operations may be performed by the fax server 6 as described in FIG. 1. The process 50 begins with the fax server receiving authentication information for a telephone service provider account owned by a cloud-based service provider (block 51). Specifically, the cloud-based service provider may send authentication information, such as a username and password associated with the provider's account (e.g., via an electronic message) to allow the fax server to access the provider's SIP trunk. The fax server receives a fax transmission sent (e.g., by the fax server) from the cloud-based service provider over a data network to a fax telephone number of the destination device (block 52). For example, the source device 2 may send an electronic message (e.g., email) that includes a fax file and additional information, such as the fax telephone number as a destination address. The fax server converts the fax transmission to a fax format, such as TIFF (block 53). For example, the fax file received by the source device may be a document in any document format, such as PDF. However, because the document is transmitted as an analog signal, the fax program converts the document into a format that can be faxed as a signal. In one embodiment, this operation is operable. For example, if the fax file is already in fax format, the fax program can skip this step.

[0051] The fax server establishes a data connection with the destination device over the data network 5 via a SIP trunk owned by the cloud-based service provider using the fax phone number (and the received authentication information) (block 54). In particular, the fax program can send a signaling protocol invitation over the data network to the telephone service provider that includes 1) the fax phone number to which the fax server is communicatively coupled to send the fax, and 2) authentication information to authorize (or authenticate) the fax service provider to send the fax transmission over the cloud-based service provider's SIP trunk. In one embodiment, the authentication information can be sent from the fax server to the telephone provider using any message. For example, the telephone provider may authenticate the fax server after the data connection is established. In another embodiment, the telephone provider may not have to authenticate the fax server every time a fax transmission is sent using the cloud-based service provider's SIP trunk. For example, the connection, once established, can remain open for a period of time. In that case, one or more (additional) fax transmissions are sent by the fax server to one or more destination devices (and / or received over the established connection) as described herein. The fax server sends the fax transmission in fax format over the data connection to the fax telephone number of the destination device (block 55). The fax may be sent as an analog signal (e.g., audio frequency tones) over the SIP trunk 8 and the PSTN 4 to the destination device.

[0052] As described herein, an established connection remains open (i.e., active) for a period of time, allowing future fax transmissions to be routed through that connection (e.g., for at least a period of time). Specifically, when the fax server receives another fax transmission to be routed to (e.g., a telephone number of) a destination device, it can determine whether the new fax transmission is to be sent through the established data connection. For example, the received fax transmission can include authentication information of a cloud-based service provider (e.g., a subscriber to a fax service), and the fax server can determine whether the authentication information is associated with the service provider (e.g., an account owned by the service provider) through which the original connection was established. In particular, the fax server may determine whether the newly received authentication information matches the authentication information used to establish the original connection. If a match is determined, the fax transmission can be routed through the established connection.

[0053] However, if it is determined that the fax transmission cannot be sent through the established data connection (e.g., if the authentication information does not match, meaning that the new fax transmission may be associated with a cloud-based service provider other than the one that owns the established data connection), the fax server may establish another data connection using another SIP trunk to send the fax transmission. For example, the fax server may determine whether the other (or second) service provider has the authentication information, and if so, may use those authentication information to establish a new connection. As a result, the fax server may route all future fax transmissions received from the first (or original) service provider through the first data connection and all future fax transmissions received from the second service provider through the new connection. This ensures that the fax transmission is routed according to the service provider.

[0054] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a process for receiving a fax transmission from a source device via a SIP trunk owned by a user. In particular, as described in FIG. 2, at least some of the operations may be performed by a fax server. Process 60 begins by receiving a signaling protocol invitation from a telephone service provider (e.g., provider server 3) in response to the telephone service provider receiving an incoming call signal from a source device via a circuit-switched network (e.g., PSTN 4) to a fax telephone number of the cloud-based service provider (block 61). For example, when the telephone server receives the incoming call signal, the server may determine (before or after answering the call) that the call is terminated (or routed) to the fax server. In one embodiment, this determination may be based on the fax telephone number to which the incoming call was made by the source device. In particular, the telephone server may make this determination based on the selection of a client (e.g., cloud-based service provider) that owns the telephone number. Once determined, the telephony server can send the invitation to an address (eg, IP address, domain name, etc.) associated with the fax server (which can be determined from the client selection).

[0055] The fax server responds to the invitation by establishing a data connection with the telephone service provider over the data network 5 based on a signaling protocol (associated with the invitation), the data connection being owned by the cloud-based service provider (block 62). Specifically, the data connection may be made by a SIP trunk of the cloud-based service provider provided by the telephone provider. The fax server receives an incoming fax transmission over the data connection, which is in a fax format and routed by the telephone service provider, when the source device sends an incoming fax message via an incoming ringing signal over the circuit-switched network (block 63). As described herein, once the data connection is established, the source device can send the fax message as an incoming ringing signal to the fax server over the SIP trunk as an audio frequency tone.

[0056] The fax server transmits the fax message to the destination address over the data network (block 64). For example, if the destination address is an IP address or a domain name, the fax server can establish another data connection with the destination device over network 5 using the IP address or domain name and transmit the fax message over the established connection. Further examples of how the fax server can transmit the fax message are described herein.

[0057] In one embodiment, the fax server can determine one or more destination addresses to which to send the fax message. As described herein, the fax server can make this determination based on information received with the fax, such as the (fax) phone number of the source device and the fax phone number to which the fax message was sent by the source device (e.g., a phone number associated with a SIP trunk). The fax server can then use that information to perform a table lookup into the subscriber data 15 to determine that one or more destination addresses are associated with it.

[0058] In another embodiment, rather than (or in addition to) sending the fax message to a destination address, the fax server can make the fax message available to the subscriber (e.g., a cloud-based service provider) by various means. In one embodiment, the fax server can send the fax message to the subscriber's email address (e.g., the destination address). In another embodiment, the fax server can store the fax message in data storage (e.g., memory 12) until accessed by the subscriber via computer network 5. For example, the fax message may remain stored on a web server accessible via the Internet. In another embodiment, a notification is sent (addressed) to the subscriber indicating that a new fax message is available, such as a Short Message Service (SMS) message. In one embodiment, the notification can include information on how to access the new fax message (e.g., an email notification may include a link, such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), to the storage location of the fax message). In another embodiment, the notification can be sent as any type of electronic message (e.g., an SMS message, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message, etc.) to a well-known telephone number associated with the subscriber. In this case, the electronic message may include the information described above, such as a URL. In another embodiment, the message (e.g., an MMS message) may include the generated fax message as an attachment.

[0059] In some embodiments, the fax server 6 can deliver the incoming fax transmission according to one or more (e.g., international) standards for data transfer. In particular, when delivering the incoming fax transmission to a healthcare service provider (or system), such as a physician, an electronic medical record (EMR) system (or electronic health care record (EHR) system), a medical insurance company, a physician, a medical technician, a pharmacist, etc., the fax server can generate and transmit an electronic message including at least a portion of the incoming fax transmission according to one or more international medical format messaging standards, such as the Health Level Seven (HL7) standard, the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard, etc. For example, when the fax software receives an incoming fax transmission including a fax file (e.g., a medical record or a patient record) to be routed to an EMR service provider (e.g., a server), it can generate an HL7 message including the fax file. In one embodiment, to generate the HL7 message, the fax server can embed the fax file in one or more segments of the HL7 message. For example, if the fax file is a PDF file containing medical data (e.g., text, images, etc.), the fax software can embed the file (e.g., the medical data) into an HL7 message. In one embodiment, the fax software can attach (or embed) any type of file format into the HL7 message to generate an electronic message. In some embodiments, patient information such as a fax phone number can also be added to the message along with the fax file. Once the electronic HL7 message is generated, the fax server can send the message to a destination device (or address) according to one or more (TCP / IP) protocols.

[0060] In one embodiment, the fax server can convert (or generate) the fax file into another document type (or format) in addition to (or instead of) sending the fax file as an HL7 message. In particular, the fax server can convert the fax file into an HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) document, which is the HL7 standard for representation and machine processing of clinical documents. For example, the fax server can encode (or embed) the fax file, which is any file format, such as PDF, TIFF, word processing format, etc., as the body of an HL7-CDA document. In one embodiment, sending an HL7-CDA document may be preferable over simply sending a fax file (e.g., a word processing document) because metadata, such as a fax phone number, may be added to the header of the HL7-CDA document.

[0061] In some embodiments, the fax server 6 can deliver (and / or receive) fax files as secure direct messages to protect confidential information. For example, the fax server can generate and send secure messages that comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). For example, the fax server can encrypt fax files in accordance with HIPAA requirements and send the encrypted files over a secure connection (e.g., via HTTPS) to the destination address. In one embodiment, the fax server can use any known method for encrypting (and / or decrypting) fax files to generate secure messages.

[0062] Some embodiments perform variations of process 50 and / or process 60. For example, at least some of the specific operations of these processes may not be performed in the exact order shown and described. Certain operations may not be performed in a consecutive sequence, some operations may be omitted, and different specific operations may be performed in different embodiments. For example, a fax server may perform audit operations during one or more steps of the process. As an example, upon receiving an incoming fax message, the server may determine and store a receipt timestamp indicating the time the message was received. During or after each step, the server may store information regarding the operations performed at that step as audit data 30.

[0063] An embodiment may be an article of manufacture in which a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium stores instructions that program one or more data processing components (collectively referred to herein as a "processor") to perform the described operations. For example, in one embodiment, the above-described processes 50, 60 of Figures 5 and 6, respectively, may be performed by a processor 11 executing instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium may be part of a fax server 6, as described herein. In other embodiments, some of these operations may be performed by specific hardware components that include hardwired logic. These operations may also be performed by any combination of programmed data processing components and fixed, hardwired circuitry components.

[0064] Although specific embodiments have been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely exemplary and do not limit the broad disclosure, and that the disclosure is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those skilled in the art.

[0065] In some embodiments, the disclosure may include, for example, the phrase "at least one of [element A] and [element B]." This phrase may refer to one or more of the elements. For example, "at least one of A and B" may refer to "A," "B," or "A and B." Specifically, "at least one of A and B" may refer to "at least one of A and at least one of B" or "at least one of either A or B." In some embodiments, the disclosure may include, for example, the phrase ""[element A], [element B], and / or [element C]." This phrase may refer to any of the elements or any combination thereof. For example, "A, B, and / or C" may refer to "A," "B," "C," "A and B," "A and C," "B and C," or "A, B, and C."

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a fax server of a fax service provider, the fax server executing fax processing software, the method comprising: receiving a signaling protocol invite from the telephone service provider in response to the telephone service provider receiving an incoming call signal from a source device over a circuit-switched network to a fax telephone number of a cloud-based service provider; responding to the signaling protocol invitation by establishing a data connection with the telephone service provider over a data network based on the signaling protocol, the data connection being owned by the cloud-based service provider; receiving, via the data connection, an incoming fax message in a fax format and routed by the telephone service provider when the source device sends the incoming fax message via the incoming call signal over the circuit-switched network; and transmitting the incoming fax message to a destination address over the data network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the destination address to which the incoming fax message is to be sent based on the fax telephone number.

3. the data connection is a first data connection, the destination address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address or a domain name, and sending the incoming fax message comprises: establishing a second data connection with a destination device over the data network using the IP address or the domain name; and transmitting the incoming fax message over the second data connection.

4. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the incoming fax message is transmitted according to an encryption protocol, the encryption protocol comprising one of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data connection is part of a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk purchased by the cloud-based service provider from the telephone service provider.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling protocol is one of an H.323 protocol, a Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

7. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the incoming fax message is transmitted according to the T.38 protocol.

8. 1. A fax system comprising: a processor; a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium; The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprises: When executed by the processor, the fax system: receiving a signaling protocol invite from the telephone service provider in response to the telephone service provider receiving, via a circuit-switched network, an incoming call signal from the source device to a fax telephone number of the cloud-based service provider; responding to the signaling protocol invitation by establishing a data connection with the telephone service provider over a data network based on the signaling protocol, the data connection being owned by the cloud-based service provider; receiving, via the data connection, an incoming fax message in a fax format and routed by the telephone service provider when the source device sends the incoming fax message via the incoming call signal over the circuit-switched network; transmitting the incoming fax message over the data network to a destination address; A fax system that stores instructions for executing the

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprises:

9. The fax system of claim 8, further comprising instructions for determining the destination address to which the incoming fax message is to be sent based on the fax telephone number.

10. the data connection is a first data connection, the destination address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address or a domain name, and the instructions for sending the incoming fax message include: establishing a second data connection with a destination device over the data network using the IP address or the domain name; and transmitting the incoming fax message over the second data connection.

11. 11. The fax system of claim 10, wherein the incoming fax message is transmitted according to an encryption protocol, the encryption protocol comprising one of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

12. 9. The fax system of claim 8, wherein the data connection is part of a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk purchased by the cloud-based service provider from the telephone service provider.

13. 9. The fax system of claim 8, wherein the signaling protocol is one of an H.323 protocol, a Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

14. 9. The fax system of claim 8, wherein the incoming fax message is transmitted according to the T.38 protocol.

15. 1. A method performed by a fax server of a fax service provider, the fax server executing fax processing software, the method comprising: establishing a first data connection with a source device owned by a cloud-based service provider over a data network; receiving a fax transmission over the data network, the fax transmission being sent via a first data connection to a fax telephone number of the destination device; converting the fax transmission to a fax format; establishing a second data connection with the destination device via the data network using the fax telephone number via a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk owned by the cloud-based service provider; transmitting the fax transmission in the fax format to the fax telephone number of the destination device over the second data connection.

16. The data connection is a first data connection, and receiving the fax transmission comprises: establishing a second data connection over the data network with a source device owned by the cloud-based service provider; and receiving the fax transmission over the second data connection.

17. the second data connection is a virtual personal network (VPN) connection; 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the fax transmission is received according to an encryption protocol, the encryption protocol comprising one of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

18. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving authentication information for a telephone service provider account owned by the cloud-based service provider, and wherein establishing the second data connection comprises sending a signaling protocol invite to the telephone service provider over the data network, the invitation including: 1) a fax phone number; and 2) the authentication information for authorizing the fax service provider to send the fax transmission over a SIP trunk of the cloud-based service provider.

19. The fax transmission is a first fax transmission, the fax phone number is a first fax phone number, the SIP trunk is a first SIP trunk, and the destination device is a first destination device, and the method further comprises: receiving a second fax transmission over the data network to a second fax telephone number of a second destination device; determining whether the second fax transmission is sent over the second data connection; 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: in response to determining that the second fax transmission will not be sent over the second data connection, sending the second fax transmission over the data network over a third data connection using a second SIP trunk to the second fax telephone number.

20. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving authentication information for a telephone service provider account for sending the second fax transmission and determining whether the second fax transmission is sent over the second data connection comprises determining whether the authentication information is associated with an account owned by the cloud-based service provider.

21. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the cloud-based service provider is a first cloud-based service provider, the second fax transmission is received from a second cloud-based service provider, and the method further comprises routing all future fax transmissions received from the second cloud-based service provider to be transmitted exclusively via the third data connection, for at least a period of time.

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