Editor’s Note: Fax appears to be a simple technology, but only because many things are running in the background. In Part I and Part II of this series, Max Schroeder (News - Alert), senior vice president of FaxCore, a Denver-based fax server application provider, discussed legacy technologies like fax boards, fax machines and how fax servers save money. But beyond the cost-savings element, IP fax services play a more crucial role to help businesses become more efficient. Fax also offers security that other modes of communication don’t. Part III of this ongoing series will discuss why IP fax is so important in today’s office environment.

 

Max Schroeder: Customers demanded a move from legacy PBXs to VoIP applications to improve employee efficiency and reduce costs. Certainly, using a VoIP solution with a broadband connection saved on PSTN phone carrier minutes, but the real savings were on office efficiencies. Switching to Microsoft (News - Alert) OCS added a host of features to my company’s voice capabilities, for example. Installing a fax server leveraging a VoIP system from Cisco, Avaya or others would be similar. The same is true of FoIP.   

 

MS: Exactly. By bringing fax into the Converged IP equation, you simply add another component to the UM solution. In the previous segment of this series, we reviewed integrating applications like accounting to fully automate the billing and accounting process. Fax enabling these processes also reduces paper and mailing costs plus is a much greener resolution of how to bill customers. The same holds true for Unified Communications. 

 

 

MS: Some people think e-mail and fax communications are very similar. In fact, they are very different technologies. Fax is an image and e-mail is text. A fax document cannot not be modified (at least for most practical purposes,) but an e-mail is very easy to change. This is one of several key reasons that fax is considered a legal document by most countries – e-mail and voice messages are not. Another key reason is that fax has a date and time stamp proving when it was received and that it was received fully intact. With FoIP, the same logic applies, so it is simply improving fax communications, not replacing one technology with another and fax remains a legal document.

 

MS: Yes, there are some issues with T.38 faxing over the global carrier network today. Many people thought that fax and VoIP would be similar or identical with respect to how telecommunications carriers handle the packets but there are major differences. VoIP, as a communications medium, is very forgiving. Even with a significant percentage of packet loss, a call will not disconnect. The quality may be comprised but the callers can stay engaged and continue their conversation. Fax is totally different as even a small packet loss (less than .5 percent) can result in a disconnect, or having the sending device log the attempt an incomplete transmission. This goes back to the legal issue in that a fax is a legal document only if the sending device and receiving device confirm that the document was received fully intact. At this point in time, FoIP over the global carrier network is just not as reliable as using a standard PSTN fax. 

 

The SIP Forum has a working group (Fax over IP Task Group) actively engaged in understanding these issues and has developed a Fax-over-IP Problem Statement. Visitors may want to browse the SIP Forum site and consider joining the organization, or the task group. 

 

 

MS: The most important requirements are knowledge and forthrightness. Many individuals are not fully knowledgeable on the advantages of FoIP other than fax transmission costs. A statement like FoIP is much cheaper than PSTN faxing is not the response you want. An individual that provides a survey and/or a detailed conversation questioning how your company operates is what you need. Remember that a key to your long-term solution should include integration to other applications than fax. This is where the real ROI is achieved. Vendors or resellers with products that have a built-in set of features including an API or SDK is very desirable. Providing for simple migration from legacy fax to FoIP now, or at a later date is critical.

 

Although the FaxCore (News - Alert) product line offers a price model to fit companies of all sizes, the FaxCore application was designed to handle the needs of very large enterprises. This means that a company requiring a small, two- line solution gets the same software as a large enterprise with 48, 60, 96 lines or more and they can choose from analog, digital or FoIP solutions.