Method and system for transmitting the capabilities of a facsimile machine over the internet

A system for inquiring about communication capabilities, comprising:

• means for generating, by a transmitting machine, a request for capabilities of a receiving facsimile machine;
• means for transmitting over the Internet the request;
• means for receiving the request which was transmitted over the Internet by a transfer machine;
• means for generating, by the transfer machine and in response to receiving the request, a communication over a telephone network, wherein the communication is not an electronic mail message;
• means for transmitting over the telephone network, by the receiving facsimile machine in response to the communication from the transfer machine, an indication of facsimile capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine to the transfer machine;
• means for transmitting, by the transfer machine, the capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine over the Internet;
• and
• means for receiving, by the transmitting machine, the capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine.

A method of inquiring about communication capabilities, comprising the steps of:

• generating, by a transmitting machine, a request for facsimile capabilities of a receiving facsimile machine;
• transmitting over the Internet the request;
• and
• receiving, by the transmitting machine, the facsimile capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine, said receiving step performed after receiving, by a transfer machine, the request which was transmitted over the Internet, after generating, by the transfer machine in response to receiving the request, a communication over a telephone network, after transmitting over the telephone network, by the receiving facsimile machine in response to the communication from the transfer machine, an indication of the facsimile capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine to the transfer machine, and after transmitting, by the transfer machine, the facsimile capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine over the Internet, wherein the communication is not an electronic mail message.

A method of inquiring about communication capabilities, comprising:

• generating, by a transmitting machine, a request for capabilities of a receiving facsimile machine, wherein said request is generated prior to an initiation of a facsimile call between the transmitting machine and the receiving facsimile machine;
• transmitting the request over the Internet;
• receiving the transmitted request by a transfer machine;
• generating, by the transfer machine and in response to receiving the request, a communication over a telephone network, wherein the communication is not an electronic mail message;
• transmitting over the telephone network, by the receiving facsimile machine in response to the communication from the transfer machine, an indication of facsimile capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine to the transfer machine;
• transmitting over the Internet, by the transfer machine, the capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine;
• and
• receiving, by the transmitting machine, the capabilities of the receiving facsimile machine.