Why the old line was needed
A fax machine speaks to another fax machine in tones over a voice call. That handshake is fragile. It needs a line that passes the tones through unchanged, which is what a traditional analogue line did.
Why an internet phone line often fails
Voice-over-IP service compresses speech, and compression built for speech distorts fax tones. The two machines then disagree, the call drops partway, or the pages arrive with black streaks. Connecting a fax machine to a voice adapter can introduce these problems; results depend on the equipment and fax support offered by the phone provider.
What an online fax service does instead
You upload the pages over HTTPS. The provider places the fax call from its own network, where the connection is built for fax, and reports the result back to you. In faxB2B you watch it move from queued to sending to delivered or failed, and a failed call is redialled automatically when the reason is worth another try.
What you still need
- An internet connection and a browser. Use an up-to-date browser on a supported device.
- A fax number, only if you want to receive. Sending works without one. Numbers for receiving are available in the US and Canada.
- The recipient number in international form. faxB2B sends to the US, Canada and countries of the European Union.
Decide in three questions
- Do you still receive faxes on paper? If yes, get a number and read them as PDFs instead, and test the replacement before deciding whether to cancel the old line.
- Does anyone else use that line? Alarm panels and card terminals sometimes share it. Check before you cancel.
- Do you need the same number? Ask support to check whether your US or Canadian number can be transferred. Keep the old service active until the transfer is confirmed; timing depends on both carriers.