Introduction: Why Faxing Still Matters (and Why It’s Still a Hassle)
Faxing might sound like a relic of the past, but in 2025, it’s still a vital tool for industries like healthcare, legal, and finance. Despite the rise of email and instant messaging, faxing persists due to its perceived security and legal acceptance—over 100 billion faxes are sent globally each year! Yet, anyone who’s used a fax machine knows it’s far from perfect. From paper jams to dropped connections, faxing has always been a bit clunky. And as businesses move to modern systems like SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), the challenges only grow. In this article, we’ll explore why faxing remains tricky in the 21st century, the added hurdles of faxing over SIP, and how VentureTel’s eFax for Business offers a reliable Business Faxing Solution to make faxing easier and more secure.
The Persistent Challenges of Traditional Faxing
Faxing has been around since the 1980s, but its core issues haven’t changed much. Traditional fax machines are prone to mechanical failures—think paper jams, ink shortages, or the machine just refusing to cooperate. Network disruptions, like a storm knocking out phone lines, can also lead to failed transmissions. A 2019 Washington Post article highlighted how these reliability issues make faxing feel outdated compared to digital alternatives like email.
Beyond reliability, there are other headaches:
- Security Risks: Faxes can be intercepted if left on a shared machine, a real concern in offices handling sensitive data.
- Cost: Maintaining fax machines, buying supplies, and paying for dedicated lines add up quickly.
- Convenience: Faxing often means physically handling documents, operating finicky machines, and filing papers, which slows down workflows.
Despite these drawbacks, faxing remains essential. Industry reports show that 75% of healthcare organizations and 89% of law firms still rely on faxing for secure communication, valuing its traceability and compliance with regulations.
Faxing Over SIP: A Modern Twist with New Problems
As businesses shift to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems, many try to fax over SIP, the protocol that manages VoIP calls. But SIP wasn’t built for faxing, and this mismatch creates new challenges:
- Network Issues: Internet networks can introduce latency (delays), packet loss, and jitter (inconsistent data delivery), leading to garbled or failed faxes.
- Protocol Conflicts: Traditional fax machines use the T.30 protocol, designed for analog lines. SIP faxing often requires translating this into digital formats like T.38 or G.711, which can fail if systems aren’t compatible.
- Call Drops: During faxing, SIP may need to renegotiate the call from voice to fax mode, sometimes causing “glare”—a conflict that drops the connection.
- Security Gaps: Unlike traditional phone lines, IP networks can be vulnerable to hacking if fax data isn’t encrypted.
These issues make faxing over SIP notoriously unreliable, often forcing businesses to keep old-school fax lines despite their modernization efforts.
The Numbers Behind Faxing’s Staying Power
Faxing’s challenges haven’t diminished its importance. To quantify the impact, consider the following data, derived from recent surveys and studies:
| Statistic | Details |
|---|---|
| Fax Usage | Over 80% of small and medium-sized businesses still use faxing. |
| Healthcare Sector Reliance | Accounts for 40% of total fax machine usage. |
| Healthcare and Legal Reliance | 75% of healthcare organizations and 89% of law firms rely on fax machines. |
| Global Fax Machines in Operation | Over 43 million units worldwide. |
| Fax Volume Stability | 82% of large firms report stable or increased fax usage compared to prior year. |
These numbers, drawn from sources like Business.com and industry reports, show that faxing isn’t going anywhere—but the need for better solutions is clear.
VentureTel’s eFax Solution: Faxing, But Better
VentureTel’s eFax for Business, integrated with Microsoft Teams, tackles these challenges head-on, offering a modern Business Faxing Solution that’s reliable, secure, and easy to use. Here’s how it works:
- Cloud-Based Faxing: Instead of relying on physical machines or SIP, VentureTel uses the cloud to send and receive faxes over the internet, dodging network issues like latency and packet loss.
- Seamless Integration: Faxes arrive directly in a Microsoft Teams channel, where your team can view, share, and collaborate in real time. Need to send a fax? Do it with a few clicks, right from Teams.
- Automatic Storage: Inbound faxes are saved to a SharePoint folder, accessible from both SharePoint and Teams, making document management a breeze.
- Enhanced Security: Faxes are encrypted during transmission and stored securely in the cloud, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
- Cost Savings: No hardware, no dedicated lines—just a simple subscription that cuts down on expenses.
By moving faxing to the cloud and integrating it with Microsoft Teams, VentureTel eliminates the mechanical and SIP-related headaches, offering a solution that fits seamlessly into modern workflows.
Why Choose VentureTel’s eFax for Business?
Faxing in the 21st century doesn’t have to be a hassle. VentureTel’s Business Faxing Solution brings reliability and convenience to an outdated process, helping businesses in healthcare, legal, and finance stay productive without the frustration. Whether you’re sending patient records or legal contracts, our eFax for Business ensures your faxes get where they need to go—securely and efficiently.
Ready to modernize your faxing? Contact VentureTel today to learn how our eFax solution can transform your workflow. Text us at 208.735.8999. Prefer a call? Reach us at 208.735.8999.