Electronic fax options? Conversant C-Fax just reselling 2talk fax

Forums › VoIP › Electronic fax options? Conversant C-Fax just reselling 2talk fax

blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#110489 10-Oct-2012 10:28

We had some fax lines with 2talk and had issues. Support was not helpful so I looked for alternatives. I wanted to go with WxC so I could get decent support, and while I prefer pdf files for incoming faxes I could have gone with tif files they supply, but they have no fax sending service so I had to rule it out.

I contacted conversant who I understood had their own systems. I let them know up front we were with 2talk and not happy with the service/support so were looking to move. They were straight up about their pricing etc but never mentioned anything about using the same 2talk service I was "moving" from.

After "moving" the first fax number I suspected they are using the same 2talk service I had come from. I sent them an email a week ago:

Are you guys reselling 2talk for fax or do you have your own service?

If you are reselling 2talk, do you have any ability to get reasonable service/support from them? The entire reason I moved from 2talk is because we had an issue with not receiving a fax (that was showing up as a completed call on 2talk live) and they escalated the ticket but then never got back to me.

I have had no response. I would have been prepared to pay their higher price if they were able to get good support from 2talk on my behalf, but the disingenuous manner in which they have handled the matter has left me wanting to use the money back guarantee they provide and find another solution.

So:
We use faxing to send/receive from other businesses/government departments/banks/councils that prefer fax over email. Internally everything is pdf/email. I have 10 physical locations each with a local fax number that relates to that area.

9 locations are very light usage e.g. 1 fax a day max, 1 location is fairly heavy e.g. 15+ faxes a day. At 9 locations I need them to be able to send a pdf attachment via email to a fax machine.

I want incoming faxes either to come through, or to be rejected at source so the sender's machine doesn't report that it was sent successfully.

Assume the 9 locations don't have a landline. Can anyone recommend any good option?

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420 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#698953 10-Oct-2012 10:57

I have used digital island fax to email service in the past and was very happy with it. Using 2talk fax to email and vice verse now for the last two years and it has been going well.

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blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#698998 10-Oct-2012 11:59

Thanks, I'll check them out.

Yeah I had no issues with 2talk, except when I had this issue and tried to get support for it. In business sometimes when you need support you need support. They should introduce a premium support option. Make loading a premium support ticket $30.

If the problem is a basic configuration thing on their end they waive the fee. If they need to investigate you get 30 minutes for free then they pay e.g. $60/hour on top of the ticket price.

fellaintga

195 posts

Master Geek

#699221 10-Oct-2012 17:11

If its that critical build your own solution then we use this http://www.yeastar.com/Products/BizFAX-E100.asp

Just put it at the main place the log the other locations into it.

richms

26406 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#699322 10-Oct-2012 20:45

Sending has never worked for me with 2talk.

If the places you deal with are so backwards that they only accept fax and you cant change providers of what they provide then your only reliable option is a telecom analog line with a machine on it.

People claim voip works for fax, and it gets pretty close to working well but you then have to do things like retard the fax speed down to 9600, turn on "international mode" and other things to get a fax machine to work on an ATA.

The pdf to fax on 2talk has at best made the machine ring and then generated an error when I tried. Same for tiff to fax. Even sending back the file that I got from it when I sent a fax to my 2talk number gets an error.

Now if someone asks to send me a fax I just point out that it isnt the 1990s anymore.

Richard rich.ms

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#699326 10-Oct-2012 21:05

I agree Richms, faxing doesn't work on voip.

2Talk have the best service I've every seen. Yes, their tech support can be hit and miss, but they also don't try to hide that, they're very up front.

If you really need a reliable fax then get a Chorus analog service and a basic machine on it. Seems that those faxes are going to be worth $10 a page, what's the business worth?

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Zeon

3876 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#699331 10-Oct-2012 21:19

Im trialling t38faxtovoip with vfx. Haven't got it working yet

Speedtest 2019-10-14

vespaman

88 posts

Master Geek

#699389 10-Oct-2012 22:33

Been using 2talk fax with no issues. Send frm email works fine. Doesnt like coloured text and looks distorted also if pdf has hyperlink blue underlines on page. Not a lot of choices - tried 3 cx fax server with a few ddis but never worked, callplus was crap - its the devil you no with 2 talk.

cameronbeattie

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#699598 11-Oct-2012 11:40

We run our own infrastructure for voice, chat and other services we provide. For fax we decided to use other providers (including 2talk) rather than build our own because we see it as a technology that’s reducing in use over time.

If you experience issues there are certain troubleshooting steps that we take and if necessary we can escalate it. We do have a lot of customers using fax (particularly in real estate and legal) so we’re generally able to identify and resolve issues with the help of the carrier where necessary.

Sorry we were slow to reply.

Regards

Cameron Beattie
Managing Director
Conversant

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#699650 11-Oct-2012 12:55

DonGould: I agree Richms, faxing doesn't work on voip.

I disagree entirely. Fax works over VoIP, but it's only a 98% reliable solution.

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek

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WorldxChange

#699652 11-Oct-2012 12:58

sbiddle:
DonGould: I agree Richms, faxing doesn't work on voip.

I disagree entirely. Fax works over VoIP, but it's only a 98% reliable solution.

Couldn't have said it better myself

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richms

26406 posts

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#699683 11-Oct-2012 14:07

98% would be being generous. 50% is closer to the sucessrate I have had with a standard fax machine on a t38 supporting ATA on 2talk. Often get only one page working issues, only works at 9600. Just hopeless.

Richard rich.ms

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#699695 11-Oct-2012 14:21

maverick:
sbiddle:
DonGould: I agree Richms, faxing doesn't work on voip.

I disagree entirely. Fax works over VoIP, but it's only a 98% reliable solution.

Couldn't have said it better myself

I should qualify my comment for others...

I was not able to make it work at all. I was using an older machine with no T38 support.

I have talked to guys at 2Talk who commented it took them a bit to figure out how to set stuff up properly to work well, but were able to make it go just fine.

I agree with the suggestion above that Fax is a dieing technology and not worth the investment.

If 'you' really want faxing to work on VoIP then I completely agree with the suggestion to talk with VXF (Mav above) or work with someone like SBiddle to get you a working system.

It might cost you a bit more for the VoIP service from VFX or a bit for SB's time, but if you're looking at 12 months of 10 dedicated phone lines then the pay back is there.

I'm sure I could have nutted it out if I put in more effort, but if you're new to VoIP (which I was when I tried to figure it out) then I suggest the investment in time isn't worth the headache v's just getting someone such as Mav or SB to sort it for you.

D

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DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#699698 11-Oct-2012 14:24

richms: 98% would be being generous. 50% is closer to the sucessrate I have had with a standard fax machine on a t38 supporting ATA on 2talk. Often get only one page working issues, only works at 9600. Just hopeless.

Mav and SB both run different platforms with different dynamics and I suggest have put in more investment to make it work well.

This fax issue has come up a number of times and both Mav and SB have chimed in, in the past, and no one has ever come back with any proof that they're not quite true to their word when using their platforms.

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Ragnor

8085 posts

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#699722 11-Oct-2012 15:01

DonGould:

2Talk have the best service I've every seen. Yes, their tech support can be hit and miss,

Contradiction detected!

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#699734 11-Oct-2012 15:14

Ragnor:
DonGould:

2Talk have the best service I've every seen. Yes, their tech support can be hit and miss,

Contradiction detected!

lol... I didn't write that one well.

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