eFax
Fax (short for facsimile) refers to the transmission of documents to a remote printing device via the telephone network. The document is captured as a single graphic image, converted to bitmap format, and transmitted using audio-frequency tones. The receiving machine reconstructs and prints the image. The process was invented by Alexander Bain in the 1840s and was originally called the ‘Electric Printing Telegraph’. To this day, we still need to send faxes; email to fax or eFax can play a key role in your business success. Faxing is particularly important for government organizations, medical practices, insurance companies, and law firms.
Modern Voice over IP systems support faxing by using an analog adapter that connects to the fax machine and transmits the fax over the Internet connection. For companies that rely heavily on faxing and that already have a dedicated fax machine, we can install a Cisco SPA122 adaptor to connect your fax machine to the Internet and utilize the email fax service.
However, using an adapter adds additional complexity and another potential point of failure to the fax process. Therefore, if faxing is crucial to your organization, we recommend that you retain a dedicated analog POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line for your fax machine. The cost to retain a POTS line is not significantly higher than the cost of an analog adapter.
How to Fax from your Email
Fax to email is another common solution that eliminates the need for a physical fax machine (although it can also be used in conjunction with a fax machine). eFax requires a dedicated phone number – i.e. you can’t use a single DID for both phone calls and faxes. Using this method, incoming faxes are saved as PDF files and sent to your email inbox. Outbound faxing is accomplished by sending an email to a specific address that converts the content into a fax message and then transmits it to the chosen destination number.
With many eFax reviews to read through, connect with us for a premier and sophisticated faxing experience.