The big argument that I have seen is that you get proof that the fax was delivered. Confirmation page!
Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 4, 2014, at 7:02 PM, Douglas Pickett <douglas.pick...@rogers.com> > wrote: > > Alexander, > I'd have to agree that the only really reliable fax solution is to plug a > machine into an actual analog line. I suppose if there had been the demand > someone would have made widely available a traditional fax machine type of > device that actually talked SIP (or what have you) directly, or communicated > with a service via the Internet that would then deliver the pages as faxes. > > Your comments about getting customers away from using faxes seems all too > familiar to me - same arguments, same pushback. > > Fax-to-email seems to be the most cost effective solution - and it is what I > use for my business. For me the service is much less expensive than the cost > of a phone line. Really handy for incoming, and for small volume outgoing > using the web interface is OK. > > I think fax technology is almost at the point I remember in 1988-ish where > the company I was working for moved to a new office, and the move included > moving the Telex machine. The office move also marked getting a fax machine > for the company. Within weeks the Telex machine was gathering dust, having > been supplanted by the fax machine. > > I suppose the only argument for a fax is that (as I understand it) a faxed > document is considered a legal copy of the original, although a scanned and > emailed copy isn't. The line here becomes very blurry when you scan a > document, upload it to your fax service, then it is faxed, and possibly then > it is converted to an attachment to an email when it is delivered. > > Regards, > Doug. > > >> On 04/11/2014 6:01 PM, Alex Robar wrote: >> Doug, >> >> We spent a long time trying to find an ATA that worked reliably for >> outbound faxing, but the reality is that it's just too flakey. It doesn't >> work in the moment that customers need it, and they get ticked off. >> >> So we started telling customers they can spend $60+/month on an analog line >> from Bell, or they can change their process and spend $10/month on a >> fax-by-email service. Initially we got a lot of pushback - customers feel >> it's crazy to pay that much per month just to send 10 pages. So we told >> them to go talk to their vendors who require communication by fax. >> >> At the beginning of the conversation, customers tell us that vendors >> require faxing, and there's no other option. After speaking with their >> vendors, most customers are finding that they can actually email the >> vendors, or submit data through online forms. The customers simply hadn't >> asked the vendors about how they could contact them in so long that they >> just assumed fax was the only real option. >> >> Today we had a customer who did this, and found only one vendor out of ten >> that required faxing. They shopped around, found a competitor who didn't >> need faxing, and told the original vendor they needed to accept forms via >> email, or they were losing business. Suprise... An hour later the vendor >> had a way for my customer to email the vendor everything they needed. >> >> Fax is a dying technology, but it's been very hard to get rid of. The past >> few months have started to seem like the tide is finally turning. At this >> point we are always encouraging customers to reach out to any vendor who >> requires faxing and ask for alternative communication methods. The results >> have been excellent. >> >> Cheers, >> Alexander >> >> On Tue Nov 04 2014 at 5:45:30 PM Douglas Pickett <douglas.pick...@rogers.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I'd be especially interested in the consensus on how best to deal with >>> fax machines in a SIP environment today. >>> >>> Once upon a time I'd have leaned towards keeping the fax systems on >>> analog lines all for themselves (maybe also using them as the backup >>> lines). Or else use a fax-to-email for the incoming. Outgoing was >>> always a question mark - how to do the hardcopy original outbound in a >>> way that is as low fuss as a physical fax machine. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Doug. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: asterisk-unsubscr...@uc.org > For additional commands, e-mail: asterisk-h...@uc.org > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: asterisk-unsubscr...@uc.org For additional commands, e-mail: asterisk-h...@uc.org
