Are there any fax machines that work with internet phone service?
I have Sunrocket, and according to the rep, it will only work with digital fax equipment, if there is such a thing.
Tagged with: digital fax • fax equipment
Filed under: Send Fax From Computer
no, the only thing that will work is an stand-alone fax-machine….set the baud rate to 9600, or the overseas mode….Vonage and Packet8 have a fax line for VoIP…but you can also use the analog plug on the base-phone>>>>plug in the fax and try this…but only 1 sheet at the time! The Brothers fax-machines have the best success rate with VoIP so far….I have VoIP for over a year now with Packet8…
Most faxing capabilities with VOIP is a hit or miss situation. For some it works well, for others, not so well. For others, it’s an on again off again situation. The biggest problem with faxing over voip is that voip is sent out in packets, while fax usually requires a steady analog stream. If the voip/isp connection is good, and the codec can handle it, fax can be successful. The T.38 codec is a good codec for faxing over voip, but the distant gateways that take your voip signal and put it back onto the PSTN so that it can communicate with the more often NON-VOIP destinations, doesn’t always handle the T.38 codec. They all handle the G.711 codec, but that was designed for voice. Packet8, on their dedicated fax services, routes the fax calls through dedicated servers, and I assume gateways, that are intended to handle the T.38 codec and properly pass on the fax through the PSTN network. This obviously costs more to accomplish. From what Bryan and the rest of Packet8 has said, they do intend on offering this with their residential services also.
Of course, there are still some that have tried the "Dedicated Fax" service, and feel that it isn’t 100% successful yet. Others think it’s fantastic. I personally have not had any problems faxing with my existing normal Packet8 VOIP service, so buying a dedicated fax line is not a neccessity. Over time, the ultimate fix for faxing over voip, is to use a buffering method. The codec is already in use somewhat. It takes in the entire fax to buffer. Then in converts it all to digital. Then it is sent as packets. Then it can be reconstructed. The problem with all of this, is that the majority of phones, faxes, modems, alarm systems, directv receivers, etc… are all still analog and are all mostly part of the PSTN and NON-VOIP world. There is not reason for that side of the world to spend money and resources making these devices work with voip. It is going to totally be the responsibility of the voip world to make their NEWER, BETTER system become BACKWARD compatible. This isn’t the way it should be, but it is the way it will be.
Even if someone invented the best analog to digital conversion that would make faxes 100% successful, you would still need that capability at the gateway to reverse the process as it enters or exits to/from the PSTN network. This, I believe, is what Packet8 is trying to do. Have dedicated servers and gateways that can handle this conversion. Unfortunately, where a voip signal can hit a voip/pstn gateway just about any place, dedicated fax conversions aren’t as available. Over time, the technology will allow it to be more successful.
Personally, I see the use of fax machines as a "Dying Art form". Many people have already started using "Fax to Email" type services. Not because of voip, but because they are on the road a lot, and don’t have carry fax machines with them. With more and more broadband, people are using scanners and sending jpegs and docs end to end. Things that need faxing are being emailed to a fax to email service which automatically converts the doc and faxes it to the other end. I believe with or without voip, this will become the norm. Either end to end email type docs, or fax to email services. It’s more convenient, you can save the received docs, you don’t have to have or find a fax machine. It is much better. But, until the analog users realize that there is a better way, some people wanting new technology like voip are going to have to cooperate a little. If you are a voip user, and you really have to fax a lot, then you should look into a fax-to-email service. They aren’t that expensive each month. Then you don’t have any more problems…