A fax server is a physical or virtual server used to manage the sending, receiving, and storage of faxes over a digital or analog network. Fax servers were once considered standard equipment in most business offices, but these days they are almost obsolete.
Instead, there are many better solutions on the market today so you don’t have to deal with fax servers and the headaches they cause.
Four reasons not to use a fax server
1. Fax infrastructure is difficult to scale.
One of the most difficult things about changing office communication settings is making changes on a large scale. This can be really annoying for fax servers as it requires careful planning to avoid ending up with seriously snarky communications.
Additionally, expanding a fax server often requires a significant investment in new technology, including additional fax boards, modems, and servers to handle the increased fax volume moving through the office.
Using an online fax service can avoid this problem entirely and provide much smoother scalability without requiring additional hardware investment. This makes cloud-based services even more capable of accommodating the growing needs of business communications.
2. Limited flexibility
Simply put, fax servers are only good for sending and receiving faxes. That said, it’s not very useful in modern office communications, where people need to send and receive messages across a variety of platforms and devices.
Fax servers are not designed to interact with the many types of devices we use today, so they can run into serious obstacles when it comes to office communications.
Trying to interfere with your fax server’s business operations may disrupt your workflow or require you to find workarounds that accommodate outdated technology. At the same time, you run the risk of losing track of documents that are not part of your cloud-based system.
Simply put, maintaining compatibility with evolving technology standards and protocols may not be a challenge worth taking on for tax services.
In contrast, many online solutions offer much greater flexibility, allowing users to send and receive faxes via email, online platforms, and even apps. For example, employees can send faxes from their iPhone no matter where they are.
Online faxes are also stored centrally and accessible to your team. This makes organizing and accessing your files much easier. Remote workers can find everything they need without having to come into the office.
3. Fax server maintenance cost
Because fax servers rely on hardware, they require ongoing maintenance, which can be a huge drain on your budget. And since this equipment is aging and becoming less relevant, it is not always possible for an old technician to service it, so you will probably have to look for a specialist.
It may be tempting to avoid this particular drawback by simply not maintaining your fax server as much, but this can be a costly mistake. Downtime and system errors can easily disrupt business operations and result in additional costs for troubleshooting and repairs.
After all, faxing doesn’t require a lot of bandwidth, but it does require a reliable connection. Some delays or problems may prevent your fax from being sent or received.
Online fax solutions avoid this problem entirely by requiring no dedicated hardware and offering a predictable subscription-based pricing model with minimal initial investment.
4. Security risks
The older the technology, the more likely it is to be breached or hacked along the way. Even if they don’t, they may still contain vulnerabilities that make them more likely to be compromised in the first place. Fax servers are no exception to this rule, and people have spent a long time figuring out how to hack them and exploit vulnerabilities.
The unfortunate truth is that transmitting sensitive information over traditional phone lines and unsecured networks increases the risk that hackers and fraudsters can intercept and use your data. And there’s not much that traditional fax servers can do to mitigate this risk.
Of course, cloud-based and online fax solutions also have security vulnerabilities, but they have advanced security protocols and use the latest encryption methods to protect your information.
Additionally, depending on the service, many online fax solutions comply with industry security regulations, and these solutions are also regularly updated in response to new threats.
Three alternatives to an in-house fax server
1. Online Fax Solution
Online fax solutions are now the standard replacement for fax servers. This allows businesses to do everything they can with a traditional fax setup, but with a much higher level of security and convenience.
Online faxing, also called Internet fax or virtual faxing, is very similar to sending email. Open the software or platform, select the document you want to send, then click a button to send it to someone else’s fax machine or online fax service.
Key benefits of an online fax solution include:
- Cost-effective: Online fax services typically offer subscription or pay-as-you-go pricing, which is much cheaper than buying, maintaining, and updating all the hardware and software.
- Scalability: If you need to add another line to your online fax service, simply notify your provider. There is no need to install additional hardware or buy new software.
- pliability: The keyword for online fax service is ‘online’. Because everything happens over the network, you and your team can access your fax from anywhere you have an internet connection.
- security: Online fax services are usually very secure, with encryption protocols and data privacy measures in place. Depending on which service you use, you may also find options that comply with industry-specific security regulations such as HIPAA.
2. VoIP service
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service allows you to make and receive calls over the Internet instead of traditional phone lines, and can even be used to send faxes. The way it works is that you send your digital data to someone’s fax machine, which converts or converts it back into an analog signal via a VoIP service or an analog telephone adapter (ATA) that helps the fax machine read it.
Unlike traditional fax machines, VoIP fax services don’t automatically print what you receive, but keep it on file in a cloud-based system so you can access it from anywhere and print it whenever you want.
Key benefits of VoIP phone service include:
- Cost-effective: Like online fax services, VoIP phone services are typically inexpensive and most operate on a subscription model that can be easily scaled up or down as needed.
- Seamless integration: VoIP phone services do more than just fax, making them a great option for businesses looking to consolidate their operations as much as possible. VoIP phone service gives your team access to phone service, fax, document management, and more all in one place.
- Advanced features: VoIP phone services include a variety of advanced features to make your faxes more effective, and one of the most useful features is the ability to convert faxes to emails. This will also email your fax so you can reply. Many VoIP phone services also offer online document signing, which can be very convenient when faxing contracts and the like.
It’s important to remember that many VoIP phone services also offer fax services, but not all do. Research whether the service you are considering has all the features you need.
3. Document management system
Document management systems (DMS) are not specifically designed for faxing, but they can often be used for faxing, making them a good alternative to fax servers.
It works much like an online fax service in that you can upload documents to DMS and then send them as a virtual fax. Received faxes can also be sent directly to DMS and sorted with the rest of your files.
The main benefits of DMS are:
- convenience: If you already use a DMS to manage documents and need to send faxes, it makes sense to use the same platform to perform both functions.
- Built-in integrations: Faxes are sent and received directly from DMS. This means you don’t have to worry about copying files from the fax service or getting files from DMS and sending them through the fax service.
- Easy configuration: If your DMS already has a good hierarchy, Fax will fit right in, without having to create another process.
I personally have nothing against fax servers. I just don’t think this is the best way to handle faxes in most offices. There are so many better options.
