Despite the advent of numerous contemporary solutions as well as technologies, faxing remains the most dependable document-sharing contrivance today. For instance, well-established industries in realms such as healthcare or medicine heavily rely on fax machines to dispatch essential files as well as extremely sensitive documents. Small and medium enterprises also fax machines to be invaluable tools. They’re not only safe but also more secure. However, nowadays, there are numerous ways to send faxes, but you can still use a fax machine to forward fax over VoIP. Here’s what you need to know about sending faxes with VoIP.
How you can fax with VoIP
To adjust your business to a more contemporary and cost-effective environment, you can try switching to VoIP infrastructure for purposes of communication. VoIP denotes a technology that enables you to not make phone calls via your computer using the internet. It functions by converting all the sounds in your phone call into a sequence of data packets. Generally, conventional legacy faxing needs a dedicated phone line to send files and documents respectively. However, can it also work with VoIP? Technically, you can transmit a fax with VoIP. Nonetheless, you may experience challenges trying to set up everything, which is not often straightforward.
Sending a fax with VoIP
For you to send a Fax over IP, you should endeavor to ensure your VoIP provider, as well as fax machine, have distinct instructions to set them up together. While several providers may have an alternative, some fax machines require one to dial a code to configure it. Additionally, you may also need to confirm if your VoIP can connect directly to the fax machine or if it requires a VoIP fax adapter. It’s also advisable to confirm if the settings of your fax machine should be adjusted.
Is VoIP the ideal fax solution?
In an increasingly digital environment, it may not be ideal to transmit fax with VoIP. For instance, setting up everything is quite intricate. You may have to spend a lot of time as well as effort to ensure everything functions smoothly. Besides, there’s also the problem of most VoIP providers being incompatible with many fax machines. There are also doubts about its reliability and consistency. For instance, it’s possible that your transmission may not go through, which is not only inconvenient but may also lead to serious problems.
VoIP services employ compression protocols. However, while this may appear like an impressive technology for other purposes, it is hardly compatible with faxing because it’s not possible to compress fax tonnes. On the same note, while this may not be an issue for infrequent faxing, you’re likely to encounter challenges if you plan to use fax with VoIP for large-volume faxing needs.
Alternative for fax with VoIP
It’s still possible to use this type of faxing for infrequent use or backup purposes. Nonetheless, if your business deals with large-volume faxing frequently, it’s highly recommended for you look for a better alternative. In this case, you may consider using, for instance, an online fax solution such as iFax as a better replacement for VoIP faxing.
Conclusion
VoIP is undoubtedly an impressive technology that can be invaluable to your business and helps to develop a more flawless communication medium. However, if you plan to use Fax over IP, it should be occasional rather than frequent since the method is not effective with high-volume faxing needs.