What is Fax Over VoIP?
Applies To
- Work for Desktop
- Fax
Answer
Fax over VoIP refers to the process of sending and receiving faxes over an IP network instead of the public telephone network. The key benefit of sending faxes in this manner is that it saves money on long-distance charges. When a user sends a fax over IP, a fax machine transmits the image data as packets through the public Internet instead of over the public telephone network.
Limitations of Fax over VoIP
Faxing has known limitations when implemented as a Fax over IP service. These limitations are technology-based and industry-wide. Several VoIP companies, including 8x8, use the T.38 standard for sending faxes over the Internet. Although the standard promises better reliability, that standard is still open to interpretation by various providers and cannot be maintained on an end-to-end basis.
8x8 cares about providing you with services that meet your needs. If your business is heavily dependent on regularly faxing large, multi-page documents, we recommend that you maintain an analog line and a traditional fax machine for reliable and consistent performance.
8x8 includes Internet faxing free with Work for Desktop and we also offer a Fax over VoIP service that connects a traditional fax machine to the Internet via an analog terminal adapter (ATA). For occasional faxing, many of our business customers find these best-efforts fax services to be cost-effective and more than adequate to serve their needs. We encourage you to assess your faxing needs to select the best option for your business