Understanding FoIP Before Making the Jump to Implementation: Zetafax

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Fax technology is still very much a part of the innovative office environment, but it has changed in appearance and even process, yet has remained much the same in function – to transfer documents from one place to another. In today’s all-IP environments, it is much more common to see Fax over IP (FoIP) as the benefits that can be delivered to the business are considerable. 


FoIP enables documents to be sent efficiently over an IP network, thereby reducing the need for additional phone cabling and eliminating some of the manual processes that used to accompany standard faxing, according to a new Equisys white paper.

Telephone lines can be eliminated within the enterprise as there is no longer a need for lines to be connected to the fax server computer. In addition, the hardware does not need to be located in the same server so if server changes are made, it won’t affect the FoIP technology used within the corporate environment. 

A fax document travels an interesting journey when FoIP is involved. Within the FoIP system, faxes are actually sent in a series of hops. Imagine using stepping stones to cross a stream and this is much like the process through which a document follows to get from the fax sender to the recipient. 

When a fax is sent through FoIP, the sax serer sends data to the gateway – the phone system – over the LAN. The gateway then send this data down the phone line as a fax tone, just like a fax machine or a computer fax board would. The remote fax machine that is receiving the data will send confirmation messages back through the same route. The entire process is in real-time so the fax server knows when and if the fax has been successfully received. 

While FoIP can deliver a number of benefits to your environment, there are a few things you should consider before making the move to such a platform. First, examine your network as fax transmissions using FoIP can be affected if there are delays or data loss situations on the company network; second, examine current fax usage and infrastructure to identify any improvements that should be made when moving to FoIP; third, research available options to see how they might fit your needs; and finally, plan and execute the implementation with the assistance of your FoIP provider. 

Check back next week as we dig deeper into FoIP to understand the benefits that this technology platform can deliver to your environment.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Harrison

(source: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/zetafax/articles/112566-understanding-foip-before-making-jump-implementation-zetafax.htm)

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