Fax machines may seem like out of date technology to many people in business today, but there are definitely companies out there who still use it on a regular basis. Whether you work from home or in an office there is a good chance that you will need to make use of fax technology at some point. Users of fax machines may have a variety of reasons which could include a sense of security while transmitting documents, a wish to make use of technology and devices already in place to maintain low costs, a preference for more traditional methods of communication, and many others. The point is that you don’t want to be required to buy technology which your company has deemed out of date or obsolete, but you still need to be able to communicate with those professionals who use fax technology. That is where Fax over IP software can come in handy. You can enjoy all the capabilities of fax communication with computer technology you already have in place.
How Fax Over IP Software Works
FoIP essentially means that a fax is delivered and received over an IP network, whether the entire process is carried out in this manner or it is a combination of old and new fax technology. It can be done in either real time or a method called store and forward. A facsimile is an exact copy of a document which is scanned and coded into a sequence of audio data pulses which are then transmitted to the receiving party and decoded to recreate the image. Before Fax over IP software, this was done with a fax machine over a traditional phone line, which created the need for a dedicated phone line for sending and receiving faxes.
Business benefits of Fax Over IP Software
FoIP makes it possible to eliminate the cost of extra phone lines and fax machine purchase and maintenance. It also speeds up the fax process because it is much faster and, unlike with traditional faxes, you can send and receive more than one at a time. Of course, it is necessary for the computer which is being used to receive the faxes to be on, otherwise they won’t come through until it is. But the ease of use and streamlined communication possibilities, combined with the ever improving technology make it a great solution for businesses of all sizes. You never need to scan an actual document in with Fax over IP software because it can be created or opened on the computer which will send the fax. You can also open faxes in an email, so they don’t need to be printed in order to be viewed. With the prevalence of email communication this is a great feature.