Internet Fax

Internet fax is a very popular service for businesses looking to send and receive faxes across the Internet without requiring a fax machine. In this article we will explain what this technology is, how it works, the benefits of using Cabertel for online faxing, along with pricing details.

What is Internet Fax?

Internet fax, which is also referred to as online fax and efax, is essentially a way to send and receive fax documents over the Internet without the need for a fax machine. A protocol known as T.38 is used for transferring the data across the Internet. If the fax machine at the receiving side does not support T.38, then a T.38 gateway is utilized to convert to and from an analog fax signal.

How to Fax with Cabertel

Faxing with Cabertel is simple. In the sections below we detail how to send a fax online and how to receive a fax without a fax machine.

Send a Fax Online

The steps for sending a fax over the Internet are very straighforward and detailed below. Essentially, you simply send a PDF to a fax number. Other file types can also be sent.

• Log into the Cabertel secure web portal.
• Navigate to the Fax server application.
• Complete the short form for the cover sheet information.
• Upload the PDF (Portable Document Format) document.
• Enter the fax number you are sending to and press SEND.
• Check your email to make sure it was sent successfully.

NEW FEATURE

We have made fax transmission even more reliable and easier for our customers. You can now simply email a PDF to an email address that contains the fax number you are sending to (your account manager will provide further details). We will then send this in real-time to the fax machine using the T.38 protocol.

The advantage of this new fax feature is that it is simpler to use and we use technology behind the scenes to maximize reliability. For example, we will send the fax across the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) as close as possible to the fax machine you are sending to. We also attempt up to 9 retries with different settings to maximize the chance of success. Note that you must provide email addresses for those allowed to send faxes so we can whitelist them. Also there is a 5MB limit on the email and attachment size.

How to Receive a Fax without a Fax Machine

Receiving a fax is even easier. When you sign up for service, provide an email address for incoming faxes. Whenever a fax is sent to your fax number, it will be converted into a PDF document and emailed to you.

The Benefits of using Cabertel for Internet Faxing

There are a number of benefits to using Cabertel for your faxing needs. We have detailed some of the most important benefits below:

• Premium routes. We only use Tier 1 premium carriers, such as Level3, for faxing over T.38.
• No more fax machine maintenance (e.g. paper, ink, paper jams etc).
• Simple and secure web portal for handling all of your faxes online. NEW: Try out email to fax service!
• Redundancy. We use multiple geographically diverse servers for faxing.
• If your fax transmission fails, we retry multiple times with different settings to maximize the chance of success.
• Low cost.

Pricing Details

Our Internet fax pricing is very competitively priced. The pricing tiers are based on the number of pages you send or receive per month within the U.S. All faxes are sent and received using premium T.38 carriers.

• $6.99 : up to 100 pages/mo
• $11.99 : up to 250 pages/mo
• $18.99 : up to 500 pages/mo
• $32.99 : up to 1000 pages/mo
• Ask for larger volume pricing.

Frequently Asked Fax Questions

Are there up-front costs?

The one-time costs are minimal. There is a small fee to port your fax number to Cabertel, if applicable. If you are planning to use your own fax machine there is a cost associated with the ATA device mentioned above.

How reliable is it?

Our fax server is very reliable because we only use premium T.38 carriers such as Level3. However you should be aware of some corner cases. Whenever a fax is transcoded to and from the Internet to a G3 type fax machine there is a possibility of errors due to lost packets. A good Internet connection is key. Also, fax machines vary considerably when it comes to timing specifications so very old fax machines can be problematic. We will retry multiple times should there be an issue sending a fax. If it fails you will be notified by email.

Should I consider Internet faxing if faxing is key to my business?

If you are a standard fax user, Internet faxing should work very well for you. If faxing is mission critical to your business, consider keeping an analog POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) landline dedicated to faxing. Move to Cabertel VoIP for your phone service though, it will save you a fortune over landline phone service.

Which document formats do you support?

You can upload documents of type PDF (recommended), TIFF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX.

Can I send a test fax online with Cabertel?

If your business is genuinely interested in the Cabertel online faxing service reach out to us and we will let you send a test fax online. Canon has a neat test server for faxes, which can be reached by faxing to 8553922666. They will send a fax back to you so it tests both directions.

Do you count all pages faxed per month?

We actually look at the corresponding number of minutes used during all of your incoming and outgoing faxes per month. On average it takes 1 minute to send or receive a fax page so 300 pages is more or less equivalent to 300 minutes. Using minutes in the pricing table would be a better representation but the market place is used to this being defined as pages.

What Next?

If you have questions or would like a formal quote please complete the information in the form below and we will get back to you promptly.

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