Distributed Fax System with Pull-Based Delivery Confirmation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fax systems lack confirmation of delivery and fail to efficiently manage the retention time of faxes on servers, leading to prolonged storage and compliance issues due to security and regulatory concerns.
Innovation Solution
A distributed faxing system that creates a queued fax with a job identifier, customer identifier, and document identifier, allowing for tracking and retrieval confirmation through a pull mechanism, where faxes are deleted upon successful receipt notification from the receiving connector, minimizing storage time and ensuring compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If faxes are stored on the fax server for extended periods to ensure reliable delivery, then delivery reliability is improved, but storage time increases leading to compliance issues and security risks
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the receiving connector sends a notification back to the fax server when a fax is successfully received. This feedback loop allows the server to confirm delivery and subsequently delete the fax, resolving the contradiction between ensuring reliable delivery and minimizing storage time.
Solution Approach 2:
The fax server stores faxes preliminarily with the intention of deleting them after confirmation of receipt. The system prepares for potential delivery failures by maintaining temporary storage, but automatically removes faxes once delivery is confirmed, thus balancing reliability with compliance requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the fax server maintains all sent faxes for potential retrieval or re-sending, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity and storage management become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs self-service mechanisms where faxes are automatically deleted after successful delivery confirmation without requiring manual intervention. The receiving connector automatically notifies the server, which then autonomously manages the deletion process, reducing operational complexity while maintaining ease of retrieval during the retention period.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If conventional fax servers delete faxes automatically after a fixed time period, then storage time is reduced for compliance, but delivery confirmation reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using fixed-time deletion, the system uses feedback-driven deletion where the receiving connector notifies the fax server of successful receipt. This allows the server to delete faxes based on actual delivery confirmation rather than arbitrary time thresholds, maintaining both compliance and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
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.