3cx Built in Fax Server: ridiculous performance

[nobody]

A system which costs 250Euros/Year (not a one time payment, every year for the 4channel pro version) and is advertised having a built in Fax server compatible with G711a, that really should work. I invested a substancial amount of time trying to fix but whatever I do, faxes might arrive, but the result is just garbage. I am not alone with this problem, just do a quick search in the forums.
Please fix this problem or remove it from the feature list of the PBX.
FAX ist still (for years to come) a feature which small and larger enterprises need. Also you cannot expect that every provider offers T.38. If you offer G711 for fax make it work.

 

[cobaltit]

Huh? The core functionality of a PBX is voice, not fax. Fax is just one of those things that's there for light usage, but for heavy/important usage should not be relied upon. And your logic is flawed. 3CX advertises having fax capability, and when used with a supported provider via T38, works just as well as any other software fax product. That's like complaining that 3CX advertises it's phone features but doesn't work with one of the unsupported phones. G.711 fallback is clearly marked as beta.

Are you using a supported provider? Instead of trying to fix something that NOONE recommends, you should be looking to use a supported provider with T38. You'd have a much better experience then.

And 4 SC is not even a small enterprise.

 

[nobody]

The advertised functionality is: FAX receive option included. Also, I never saw a notice "only for light usage".
Yes G711 is noted as beta. But this beta status is now since April 19th, 2017. A very long beta time. Beta remove this altogether or finish it.
Agreed T.38 is a better choice, but from my knowledge most providers here in Germany do not support T.38. To make fax work G711 is needed in the majority of cases.
Business, enterprise, I does not make a big difference (here an 8sc version is used). I only wanted to point out, that even the smallest version which you can buy from 3cx has price tag where I assume that features announced since several years are finished within a reasonable time frame.

 

[cobaltit]

The integrated fax server is part of standard which is free for 8SC or less so you aren't paying for anything. And the fact that it is in beta doesn't change the fact that faxing over G.711 just doesn't work well period. If you look at any commercial FoIP providers they offer T38 only or use Store and Forward ATAs (what we do) because that is what works.

And I see several providers on the German 3CX supported page that do T.38

 

[nobody]

Customer pays for an 8CH pro version. You are right the beta does not work well, and therefore this needs to be fixed. Of course there will be a workaround somehow. But that doesnt make the unfinished feature of 3cx any better.
There are reasons to stay with the current provider for example a contract which runs for 24month. Also the contract of the DSL line includes voip access. Using a different voip provider would add additional cost.