Facsimile machine time shifting and converting apparatus

Abstract

A system for communications and conversion between different formats of facsimile machines. The system receives information from a sending facsimile machine, and determines if conversion needs to be made. If conversion needs to be made, the device sends the proper handshaking signals to the sending facsimile machine. The sending facsimile machine then sends the transmission which is recorded by the present invention on any suitable sound recording media. At some later time the present invention performs the conversion without the constraints of real time processing, and outputs a converted signal to the local facsimile machine which recognizes it as a transmission from another facsimile machine in the format for which it is prepared. Another aspect of the invention determines if secure facsimile transmission is occurring at a time when the decryption key is not present in the local facsimile machine. If so, the machine records the incoming communication to save until such time as the decryption key is present. Yet another aspect of the invention receives communications to be sent from the local facsimile machine, and records these communications and resends them at a later time.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.