Introduction to Fax over IP with FaxxBochs

Since you’re reading the VoIP Insider it likely that you’ve decided to embark on the road of implementing Voice over IP (VoIP) or already have.

Congratulations!

Whether for reasons of cost, service availability, feature set, or ease of mobility, VoIP is a fantastic technology. However, it does have one major drawback that has been unreliable until recently, fax.

Who needs fax?

You may immediately question the need for fax.

Isn’t fax technology something from the past? Who really uses a fax machine anymore when we live in a world of “eFax”, scanners, and email?

Simply put, many people.

Fax is a secure method of document transmission that is still relied upon by many in the medical, legal, real estate, and other business fields. Well, no problem. If we need fax, let’s just plug our fax machine into an ATA/DTA device and fax away.

Right? WRONG.

Faxing over an IP network ain’t easy  (its not impossible either)

Fax is a very sensitive technology.

It requires strict timing between both endpoints during a session which is attainable on an analog or TDM circuit (T1/E1/etc.), but not definitively available on a packetized voice (VoIP) network. Network characteristics such as latency and jitter can have disastrous effects on a fax session. Also, the audio carried in a VoIP call typically employs some sort of compression to keep bandwidth overhead low.

Fax requires a wide frequency range to work properly. With a compressed audio codec, the available audio bandwidth is reduced causing issues between fax endpoints.

One proposed solution to these problems is a standard called “T.38”. It is a protocol designed to facilitate the real-time transmission of faxes through a packet switched network. While a ‘step in the right direction’, T.38 has many drawbacks and problems of its own and still does not bring fax reliability to a level on par with traditional fax lines.

Enter in FaxxBochs

With all of the problems inherent with fax over a VoIP network, how does a business send and receive faxes with 100% certainty?

The engineering and product development team at RockBochs Inc. have developed a product called the FaxxBochs which overcomes all of the problems of running fax over a packet switched network such as the Internet.

Designed from the ground up, FaxxBochs allows you to send and receive faxes using a standard fax machine over any Internet connection including DSL, cable, wireless, and even satellite! It also uses 256-bit AES encryption to ensure the security of the faxes while in transit. Designed originally for the emergency response market, FaxxBochs “just works” when you need it.

Simply plug your fax machine into the FaxxBochs CPE device, and within minutes you’re ready for a robust and reliable fax experience.

If faxing isn’t easy, it’s probably expensive right?

The ability to reliably fax over your Internet connection sounds great, but you’re probably wondering “How much does it cost?”

This depends primarily on the number of fax ‘lines’ you wish to have. The standard FaxxBochs CPE device has a single port for one fax machine and sells for $175. Additional fax ports can be added for $25 each, up to a total of four per FaxxBochs unit.

After you’ve chosen your hardware, you simply pay a low monthly service fee.

Each fax line is $30/month for unlimited inbound and outbound faxing with no domestic long distance fees. If you have satellite internet connectivity, each line is $50/month for unlimited inbound and outbound faxing with no domestic long distance fees.

In addition, you also gain access to the FaxxBochs Portal where you can view all of your inbound and outbound faxes, add tags for easy sorting and review, and perform general management of your faxes. And of course, fax to email service is included if you’d like to receive your faxes in electronic format.

Take the pain out of Fax over IP with FaxxBochs

VoIP technology has taken the telecommunications industry by storm. Until now, the biggest drawback to a successful VoIP implementation has been the reliable inclusion of fax service. Now, that vision has become reality with FaxxBochs.