Wake-on-Ring (WOR) or Wake-on-Modem (WOM) is a specification that allows supported computers and devices to "wake up" or turn on from a sleeping, hibernating or "soft off" state (e.g. ACPI state G1 or G2), and begin operation.
The basic premise is that a special signal is sent over phone lines to the computer through its dial-up modem, telling it to fully power-on and begin operation. Common uses were archive databases and BBSes, although hobbyist use was significant.
Fax machines use a similar system, in which they are mostly idle until receiving an incoming fax signal, which spurs operation.
This style of remote operation has mostly been supplanted by Wake-on-LAN, which is newer but works in much the same way.
Fax, sometimes called telecopying or telefax, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material, normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine, which processes the contents as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap, and then transmitting it through the telephone system in the form of audio-frequency tones. The receiving fax machine interprets the tones and reconstructs the image, printing a paper copy. Early systems used direct conversions of image darkness to audio tone in a continuous or analog manner. Since the 1980s, most machines transmit an audio-encoded digital representation of the page, using data compression to transmit areas that are all-white or all-black, more quickly.
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a DTE such as a computer terminal or PC, and a DCE, such as a modem. The standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, and the physical size and pinout of connectors. The current version of the standard is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997.
In telecommunications, an acoustic coupler is an interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone.
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology, for Internet access.
The Hayes command set is a specific command language originally developed by Dale Heatherington and Dennis Hayes for the Hayes Smartmodem in 1981.
Asynchronous serial communication is a form of serial communication in which the communicating endpoints' interfaces are not continuously synchronized by a common clock signal. Instead of a common synchronization signal, the data stream contains synchronization information in form of start and stop signals, before and after each unit of transmission, respectively. The start signal prepares the receiver for arrival of data and the stop signal resets its state to enable triggering of a new sequence.
Wardialing is a technique to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for modems, computers, bulletin board systems and fax machines. Hackers use the resulting lists for various purposes: hobbyists for exploration, and crackers—malicious hackers who specialize in breaching computer security—for guessing user accounts, or locating modems that might provide an entry-point into computer or other electronic systems. It may also be used by security personnel, for example, to detect unauthorized devices, such as modems or faxes, on a company's telephone network.
An answering machine, answerphone, or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone, or telephone answering device (TAD), is used for answering telephone calls and recording callers' messages.
A fax server is a system installed in a local area network (LAN) server that allows computer users whose computers are attached to the LAN to send and receive fax messages.
The Apple USB Modem is a combined 56 kbit/s data modem and 14.4 kbit/s fax external USB modem introduced by Apple Inc. after the internal 56k modem was dropped on the October 12, 2005 iMac G5 revision. While it looks similar, it should not be confused with Apple's optional USB Ethernet Adapter accessory, available for its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Retina range of laptops since 2008.
Internet fax, e-fax, or online fax is the use of the internet and internet protocols to send a fax (facsimile), rather than using a standard telephone connection and a fax machine. A distinguishing feature of Internet fax, compared to other Internet communications such as email, is the ability to exchange fax messages with traditional telephone-based fax machines.
Novation, Inc., is an early modem manufacturer whose CAT series were popular in the early home computer market in the late 1970s and early 1980s, notably on the Apple II. The Hayes Smartmodem 300, introduced in 1981, helped kill off Novation and many other early modem companies over the next few years.
Mwave was a technology developed by IBM allowing for the combination of telephony and sound card features on a single adapter card. The technology centers around the Mwave digital signal processor (DSP). The technology was used for a time to provide a combination modem and sound card for IBM's Aptiva line and some ThinkPad laptops, in addition to uses on specialized Mwave cards that handled voice recognition or ISDN networking connectivity. Similar adapter cards by third-party vendors using Mwave technology were also sold. However, plagued by consumer complaints about buggy Mwave software and hardware, IBM eventually turned to other audio and telephony solutions for its consumer products.
Command mode and Data mode refers to the two modes in which a computer modem may operate. These modes are defined in the Hayes command set, which is the de facto standard for all modems. These modes exist because there is only one channel of communication between the modem and the computer, which must carry both the computer's commands to the modem, as well as the data that the modem is enlisted to transmit to the remote party over the telephone line.
T.38 is an ITU recommendation for allowing transmission of fax over IP networks (FoIP) in real time.
A voice modem is an analog telephone data modem with a built-in capability of transmitting and receiving voice recordings over the phone line. Voice modems are used for telephony and answering machine applications. Similar to the Hayes command set used for data modems, in which the host PC commands the modem via a series of commands known as AT commands, there exists a well-defined set of common voice AT commands that are somewhat consistent throughout the industry.
A fax modem enables a computer to transmit and receive documents as faxes on a telephone line. A fax modem is similar to a data modem but is designed to transmit and receive documents to and from a fax machine or another fax modem. Some, but not all, fax modems do double duty as data modems. As with other modems, fax modems can be internal or external. Internal fax modems are often called fax boards.
Data Carrier Detect (DCD) or Carrier Detect (CD) is a control signal present inside an RS-232 serial communications cable that goes between a computer and another device, such as a modem. This signal is a simple "high/low" status bit that is sent from a data communications equipment (DCE) to a data terminal equipment (DTE), i.e., from the modem or other peripheral to a computer in a typical scenario. It is present on virtually all PC serial ports - pin 1 of a nine-pin (DE9) serial port, or pin eight over a 25-pin (DB25) port. Its purpose varies depending on the device connected, but the most specific meaning is to indicate when a modem is connected to another remote modem via telephone lines.
A modulator-demodulator, commonly referred to as a modem, is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more carrier wave signals to encode digital information, while the receiver demodulates the signal to recreate the original digital information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded reliably. Modems can be used with almost any means of transmitting analog signals, from light-emitting diodes to radio.
Modem over VoIP is the use of voice over IP (VoIP) to carry analog modem signals, which are then in turn used to carry a two-way digital data link.