Fax & Enhanced Messaging

Iridium Fax and Enhanced Messaging service offers an extensive suite of options allowing subscribers to transmit and receive information in different format over the Iridium constellation of 66 satellites.

The Iridium Fax and Enhanced Messaging service includes: outbound fax, inbound fax, text email to fax, and outbound data messaging, all using the Iridium data service. These services drastically increase the subscriber’s ability to use the Iridium network for their data communication needs.


Outbound Fax

The Outbound Fax service allows any standard Group 3 fax machine or fax modem to be used in conjunction with an Iridium phone to send documents to any fax number around the world. The destination fax machine needs no special equipment or software to receive the fax from the Iridium subscriber.

All fax data is compressed before transmitting over the Iridium satellite network to minimize transmission time. An intelligence data transfer mechanism is employed to ensure efficient usage of the data bandwidth; even if the satellite link drops during the data transfer, it will automatically attempt to re-establish connection and continue to transmit information without restarting from the beginning.

If the destination fax number is busy the fax document will automatically be scheduled to retry the delivery without requiring the document to be resent by the subscriber. Once the document is successfully delivered the subscriber will be notified with a SMS message.


Inbound Fax

The Inbound Fax service provides Iridium subscribers with the ability to receive fax from any fax machine around the world. The originating fax machine needs no special equipment or software to receive the fax from the Iridium subscriber.

Each subscriber is provided with a personal fax mailbox number that is used to accept faxes. Once a message has been received, the uniHub connected to the Iridium phone is notified with a SMS message. It would retrieve the message and ring the attached fax machine to print out the document; all without any user intervention. Inbound faxes are held in the subscriber’s mailbox until they are downloaded to the subscriber over the Iridium network. This service allows subscribers to receive faxes at any time regardless of whether or not their Iridium phone is on.


Text Email To Fax

The Text Email To Fax service allows subscribers to receive text-based emails using their Iridium phone and a standard Group 3 fax machine. This service provides the Iridium subscriber with a personal email address. Whenever a text-based email is sent to the subscribers email address, the email is downloaded to the uniHub and then converted to a fax image and printed to the attached fax machine. This service allows the subscriber to receive emails without a computer or the need to constantly connect to the Internet just to check whether there is any incoming email.


Outbound Data Messaging

The Outbound Data Messaging service enables custom applications to transmit data information over the Iridium network. This service can be configured to work with the subscriber’s data transfer requirements. For example, if the subscriber has an application that requires GPS coordinates to be delivered to a central application, the Outbound Data Messaging service will allow the respective data to be bundled in an email and transmitted to an Internet destination. This service is ideal for subscribers that are trying to implement specific solutions that require data from the field to be transmitted back to a central repository.