Handbook:Advanced Server Configuration:Controlling Modem Usage

HylaFAX provides a great flexibility in how modems on a server machine are used. Modems can be constrained for outbound-only use, inbound-only use, or both. Modem priorities can be used to control the order in which modems are assigned to outbound jobs. Modems can also be dynamically taken off-line for either inbound or outbound use by using the faxstate or faxconfig commands. For example, to mark a modem as "busy" or "down" so that it is not assigned to an outbound job the faxstate command would be used:

hyla# faxstate -s busy ttyf2

To temporarily disable the answering of inbound calls on a modem one could use faxconfig:

hyla# faxconfig -m ttyf2 RingsBeforeAnswer 0

Similarly, it is easy to constrain a modem so that only inbound data calls are accepted during part of the day with either data or facsimile calls the rest by using simple shell scripts that are invoked by cron. Flexibility is available when using faxgetty to control modems.