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A number of business leaders are under the assumption that fax technology is dead. The argument seems to make sense, as they can carry just one mobile device to do everything. But, that mobile device likely has the capability to send fax over IP, or FoIP, communications. With the support of IP fax, this ‘dead’ technology is brought into the next generation.

For a number of organizations, embracing FoIP means they must also implement VoIP as their primary voice channel. This often means a reduction in telephone communication costs. It also makes for a great fit in a number of different environments, including the call center. According to this Gigjets report, VoIP provides the call center with cost efficiency, enhanced customer service applications and significant flexibility. And, thanks to its deep integration with current solutions, it is becoming the standard communications platform in the industry.

VoIP is also ideal for the mobile employee. As this type of employee continues to expand and grow throughout the world, the need for efficient communication methods grows as well. When VoIP is in place, individuals can send communications via FoIP to ensure compliance with specific industry regulations, allowing for the efficient archiving of documents and the preservation of the document’s integrity, without having to search for an analog fax connection.

Companies also save money with fax communications when they are sent via FoIP. As highlighted in this press release, FoIP is the less expensive alternative, as it eliminates the use of traditional PSTN phone lines to make connections, which are less efficient. By using the Internet, faxes can be sent anywhere for a fraction of the cost. Plus, the fax never has to be printed on paper; it can be shared and stored digitally.

Beyond the cost benefits, businesses can also leverage FoIP without changing their current hardware. FoIP will still work with a legacy fax machine as long as it has an IP adapter. IP faxing can be purchased completely separately if the organization is not yet ready to make the full migration to an IP phone system. It also enables the organization to get IP fax support from one vendor and their IP phone system from another.

Sagemcom (News - Alert) has built a solid reputation providing advanced server solutions for IP networks throughout the world since 2002. According to this TMCnet blog, the company’s technology leverages Unified Communications (News - Alert) systems and IP telephony to boost collaboration activities, productivity and overall ROI. The industry’s first T.38 FoIP solution to support major enterprise and remote branch office fax survivability was introduced by the company in its XMediusFAX Release 6.0.

"XMediusFAX software solutions provide users the flexibility to rapidly send and receive faxes from many kinds of interfaces such as desktop email clients, MFPs, cell phones, and so forth. We can support these with guaranteed performance", says John Nikolopoulos in the blog. "By minimizing fax application downtime, an organization's productivity, revenue, and even corporate reputation are preserved. Our intelligent engine can exploit advanced routing policy-based routing rules and allows you to switch ports as necessary. And of course, our system is highly scalable as well as fault resilient, without compromising its security features."

Most recently, the company’s XMediusFAX 7.0 is taking the market by storm, especially now that it has earned an Avaya compliant rating. Now, any Avaya (News - Alert) environment can leverage extended communication and collaboration solutions where IP fax is a priority. As communication channels continue to be streamline for efficient operations, the demand for FoIP continues to serve as the logical next step for implementation.