Re: Regular expression for Fax numbers

Regular Expressions have nothing to do with the question asked because there is no US standard for distinguishing "fax numbers" from other POTS line dedicated to data, nor from voice lines.

Consider your home telephone line(s):

If you have a fax (hardware or software) attached, is that a fax number?
If that line is also used for oral communications, is it a fax line?
Is it still a fax line if you installed it for use with a fax machine and have kept it as an extra voice line since you turned off the machine?

JavaFan and others have made this point in various manners.

The question is moot or needs refinement.

Comment on Re: Regular expression for Fax numbers

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Re^2: Regular expression for Fax numbers by ELISHEVA (Prior) on Feb 12, 2009 at 14:39 UTC
The OP may not be from the US. He or she may have also realized that in some places mobile phones and land lines have distinct numbers (this is certainly the case in Israel where specific "area codes" are reserved for use by mobile phone companies) and may be wondering if the same extends to voice/fax. As for your examples, they may or may not apply in his or her home country. When I first moved to Israel I was amazed at how differently the telcom services were bundled here than in the States where I grew up. Things that I thought were distinct (e.g. voice mail) were integrated into my phone services. Things that I thought were all-in-one required special flags to be placed on the account. Faxes send out an easily recognizable sound pattern - it is not at all unreasonable to think that in some countries, that signal will be transmitted only from certainly specially designated lines. So in my opinion, better to ask than not. Somebody is probably paying a lot of money for this software. Perhaps you could help him/her out by guiding him/her in refining the question? Best, beth Former telcomm data analyst (many, many years ago)	[reply]

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Re^2: Regular expression for Fax numbers
by ELISHEVA (Prior) on Feb 12, 2009 at 14:39 UTC

As for your examples, they may or may not apply in his or her home country. When I first moved to Israel I was amazed at how differently the telcom services were bundled here than in the States where I grew up. Things that I thought were distinct (e.g. voice mail) were integrated into my phone services. Things that I thought were all-in-one required special flags to be placed on the account. Faxes send out an easily recognizable sound pattern - it is not at all unreasonable to think that in some countries, that signal will be transmitted only from certainly specially designated lines.

So in my opinion, better to ask than not. Somebody is probably paying a lot of money for this software. Perhaps you could help him/her out by guiding him/her in refining the question?

Best, beth
Former telcomm data analyst (many, many years ago)

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