To those who believe that faxing is obsolete, think again! At a time when technology develops at a staggering pace, the trusted old fax holds its own. Instead of being sidelined as a relic, the fax moves with its time and goes digital.
FAXING IS STILL A BIG PART OF THE BUSINESS WORLD TODAY
The fax is still a staple in business today. According to a research from International Data Corporation (IDC) released last year titled “Fax Market Pulse: Trends, Growth, and Opportunities”, 82% survey respondents said fax usage had increased over the past year.
In fact, there are many reasons why people favor faxing over newer and more innovative ways to transfer documents.
Firstly, it is seen as a more secure medium to transfer information. Unless a person gets physical access to either end, when the fax is sent or received, documents cannot be intercepted.
Secondly, people are used to it. Indeed, old habits die hard. And if you have invested in a fax machine, you might as well get a good use out of it.
Furthermore, due to government regulations, faxes are needed in several organizations. The medical sector, for instance, is required to transfer data via fax to fulfill legal requirements and compliance guidelines.
Finally, a fax holds up well in court in case of litigation between two parties. The fax is viewed as a reliable source, and companies can provide call logs to prove a fax was sent.
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF FAXING
Let’s be honest, no one has the patience to hover over a fax machine anymore, feeding it paper and waiting for the documents to go through. And then, there is the trek to the file cabinet to ensure everything is filed properly, especially if you are dealing with sensitive information. They do call us the “microwave generation” … and that’s because we are used to and want everything fast – fast food, fast track, fast download speed.
The traditional fax is also inflexible. There is one place to send and one place to receive, making it difficult to transfer documents out of office hours or on the go.
Finally, faxing can be quite expensive when you add up the recurrent cost of maintenance, paper, and expensive ink. That’s without considering the original investment of the fax machine.
Furthermore, Long-distance phone charges can add to the cost of faxing, especially with international faxing. All regular phone charges apply for each fax and larger numbers of pages can increase the bill.
THE RISE OF CLOUD FAXING
Well, if faxing is still so popular, why turn to cloud faxing? The answer is simple. As stated earlier, manual faxing has its pros and cons.
And with more and more businesses turning to VoIP, the fax must evolve. Indeed, the fax machine was designed to function on the analog network. And when companies have their communication systems move to the cloud, the fax must follow.
Cloud faxing has all the advantages of the traditional, manual way of faxing without the disadvantages. With Cloud Faxing, you no longer need two fax machines, paper, and ink. All you need now is a computer or a mobile device with internet connectivity to send the data and a receiving device at the other end- another computer, a tablet, or a smartphone.
According to a 2017 Spiceworks poll, 13% of small and medium businesses are using online fax services.
And according to the IDC research mentioned previously, 90% of fax users have already integrated or intend to integrate fax with other technologies or applications like email or CRM system.
From these statistics, we can only conclude that cloud faxing will keep on increasing.
HOW TO USE CLOUD FAXING
There are 3 simple ways to send a digital fax. Each way is designed to meet your needs and the infrastructure you already have in place.
You can send and receive faxes on your traditional machine with the help of our adaptor or from an online portal with the virtual fax tool. You can also use an innovative approach called the e-mail Fax to send faxes from your email.
1. The adaptor
The fax was designed for the analog network, and cannot travel over a digital VoIP network. If you want to continue using your old fax machine, and you want to connect it to your VoIP phone system, you will need to use an adaptor.
A VoIP adaptor is a device that converts analog voice signals into digital IP packets to transport over an IP network. A VoIP adaptor also converts digital IP packets in analog voice streams. Standard VoIP adaptors connect to analog telephones via an FXS port.
2. The virtual fax tool
This is an online fax service that allows you to send and receive faxes via the internet.
You simply need to sign in with your login details, then upload the documents and type your text. Enter the fax number and send.
3. The e-mail Fax.
Internet faxing is as easy as sending an email. Open a new email message, type the email address followed by @fax.voxsun.com, into the “To:” field. Then, type the fax number into the “Subject” field. Attach your fax document and type a message in the body of the email to use as your cover sheet. Hit Send.
So clearly, the digital fax is here to stay. Businesses are increasingly turning to Cloud faxing to transfer data because of its many advantages. Besides, faxing without using any paper is better for the environment!
