Paving the Way for Reliable Fax Transmission

How is driving a car like sending a fax? It may be a surprise to some, but these two very different activities have similarities in common.

When a driver gets into the car, they will need to think about the following:

  • Traffic Situation – What blockages will there be along the way? The roads or highways should be accessible and not be blocked due to accidents, construction, weather conditions, etc.
  • Destination Route– How to get to the destination? Good traffic conditions would mean smooth sailing for the driver. However, if there’s traffic jam on the highway, the driver can take an alternate route such as side streets or the toll road.

During a fax transmission, senders only want to make sure their fax gets to their recipients. Like driving a car, they should consider the same travel conditions:

  • Traffic Situation-Will there be blockages along the fax transmission? If the fax is being sent via over standard T.38 or G.711 protocols, then most likely the fax will be susceptible to jitter and packet loss .
  • Destination Route-How to get to the destination? Chances are, not all of the faxes being sent will get to the destination and the faxes will need to be resent.

That’s how fax transmission is like driving. You wouldn’t drive on a road with an accident, would you? Then why would you send a fax via transmission that isn’t secure or that won’t go through? Sending a fax over VoIP over an unmanaged fax negotiation is like driving on a road with numerous potholes.

Because the VoIP isn’t managed, the data packets go along the routes which were designed for voice and not for fax. With voice, the data packets get reassembled along the route which is ok for voice because at the worst callers hear delayed speech or missing words once in a while, but fax data is different-it cannot be reassembled and instead the fax gets dropped completely. Therefore, recipients don’t get your fax.

There’s a newer and better technology available-fax via HTTPS, which transmits fax with real-time protocols for centralized control, reliability, and security. The fax analog signals are converted into HTTPS. This allows the fax to connect over Internet and then over IP to get to its destination without getting dropped.

Want to learn more about this exciting HTTPS technology? Contact FaxSIPit for more details www.faxsipit.com