Fax Over VoIP – How To Make It Happen
Businessmen are constantly searching for ways to save on operating expenses especially on the communications on the local, national and international aspects. After all, the calls and faxes to international destinations can add up to hundreds of dollars, which may or may not be recouped by the profits generated from their use. Fortunately, modern technology has provided us with fax over VoIP.
Possible But with Challenges
Yes, indeed, you can now use your Internet connection to send faxes anywhere in the country and the world. You will then be able to use the existing VoIP phone service provided by your Internet service provider for previously expensive faxes through your analog phone. Take note that faxes done the old-fashioned way meant paying for long-distance calls while VoIP faxing means paying the ISP its standard fee.
Still, we cannot overemphasize that faxing with VOIP technology has its difficulties. For one thing, you still have to use an analog phone to transmit fax data over VoIP, which is similar to voice phoning. So, if you only have an Internet connection without the analog phone, you must secure the latter.
VoIP uses the on/off digital signal that tends to be choppy in comparison with the analog electrical signal of the phone. As such, there may be a discrepancy between the amount of fax data being sent and the amount of fax information received on the other end.
Still, for all of these possible problems with fax over VoIP, the benefits cannot be dismissed so easily. You will enjoy benefits like cheaper expenses, higher quality documents and better control over the faxes in terms of security, congestion and errors, to name a few.
Possible Solutions
The trick in the maximization of faxing over VoIP is to solve the issues that can affect the quality of transmission. Keep in mind that there are many possible solutions to one problem so it pays to read the instructions manual, to ask the experts and to experiment with the technology. You may even discover a new use for it.
First, you must ensure that your ISP (internet service provider) is reliable especially in terms of stable, constant and uninterrupted connection. Your browsing and e-mailing activities will not be significantly affected by split-second interruptions in your Internet connection but this is not the case with fax over VoIP. You should not even think of sending a fax over a wireless connection because of its connection latency.
Second, you can also shift to a 9600bps fax transmission speed, which will maximize the success rate of sending the fax through the VoIP technology. This is because speeds faster than 9600bps significantly compromise the transmission because of jammed capabilities.
Third and often most important, you should ask the ISP for T.38 protocol support. Said protocol was developed specifically with the goal of improving the quality of faxes transmitted over VoIP technology.
Indeed, like any other communications tool, fax over VoIP has its merits and demerits. It is up to the user – you, of course, in cooperation with other concerned individuals – to maximize the benefits and to minimize the issues with the communications tool.