Online Faxing – The Basics

Online faxing is actually a very simple procedure and most of the hard work is carried out by your account provider.  They will take care of all of the necessary formatting issues so that you can send and receive faxes to and from other online fax numbers and also traditional fax machines.

How Does Online Faxing Work?

When you send an online fax you will first need to scan the paper document into your computer and save it in a standard file format such as DOC, PDF, TIFF or JPEG.  You would then log in to your account and select the file you want to send and also the destination number.  Once you have clicked on submit your online account provider will take care of converting this electronic document file into a format that can be transmitted over the Standard Telephone Network so that it can be read and received by traditional fax machines.  When you receive a fax in your online account this process will happen again (in reverse) and the fax would be converted into an electronic file that would appear in your online fax account just like an email.

What does Online Faxing Cost?

Costs vary across the different online fax services available, but in general you could expect to pay around $12 to $16 per month for a standard online fax plan.  You do need to watch out for hidden costs that can push the prices up higher than you expected though.  This can include overage fees if you go over the agreed account limitations on sent/received pages (usually around 500 per month) or fax online storage (around 30 days maximum).

Security

You do need to think about the security of your online fax account if you regularly send private or confidential faxes.  Make sure you check that the account provider has a good security policy in place and adequate encrypted SSL software.

Why Choose Online Fax Services?

Online fax services have many advantages over the traditional fax machine which can benefit both businesses and those individuals who may need to send the occasional fax from home.

Save on Set up Costs

If you are just setting up your own business then online fax can save you a lot of money as you will be able to send faxes directly from your computer.  You will not have to purchase any additional equipment or supplies.  Stand alone fax machines can be expensive to buy and maintain, and also waste a lot of ink and paper as you will not be able to choose which faxes are printed off, they will come through automatically whether it is something you actually want to receive or not.

Fax to Anywhere

You can fax to any fax number in the world with online fax services, not just to other online accounts as your provider will be able to convert the online data you send so that it can be transmitted over the Standard Telephone Network to traditional fax machine set ups.  You will also be able to receive faxes from any type of fax machine in the same fashion.

Send and Receive Multiply Faxes

You can send and receive multiply faxes at once with online accounts.  This is useful as it saves you the time and hassle of having faxing ‘queues’ as with traditional fax machines, where you would be unable to send and receive faxes whilst one is still in the middle of being processed.

Save Online

If you have limited space for filing paperwork then online faxing is a good option as you can save faxes online for a limited period (30 days to a year) with most accounts.  You can also save the faxes directly to your hard drive if you want to keep them for longer periods.

Can you Send Faxes Online?

There are many online faxing services now available over the Internet and these offer a range of benefits over traditional faxing that include:

•             You can send faxes using any Internet enabled computer just by logging into your online fax account. This means you will not have to buy a separate fax machine just to send faxes, which will save you money not only on purchasing and maintenance costs but also on supplies such as paper and toner cartridges.

•             If you only send faxes now and again you can take advantage of the many free online fax offers available, which allow you to send and receive around 5 faxes for free every month.

•             Online fax services provides you with a low cost local fax number and some accounts also come with toll free fax numbers which makes it cheaper for customers and contacts to send you faxes.

However there are also some downsides to online faxing that you will need to take into account when choosing a service:

•             There are limitations on how many faxes you can send and receive per month with most online faxing services.  If you go over these limits you could be charged overage fees, or your account may be suspended.  So if you do sent a large number of faxes per month (over 500 pages) then it may actually be more cost effective to use a traditional fax set up.

•             Online fax storage is offered in most online fax accounts, but this is only usually for a set period (industry standard 30 days) so if you want to keep faxes you will need to remember to save them onto your hard drive or a memory device, or print them off in hard copy.

•             If you receive a fax that needs signing then you will need to print it off, sign it and then rescan the document into your computer so that you can send it back again.  Some online fax services do provide an electronic signing service so that you don’t have to print off and rescan documents but these are few and far between.

Cheap Online Faxing

Online faxing is ideal for individuals or small businesses that only need to send faxes now and again as it can be carried out over the Internet on your computer or mobile device.  This will save you the costs of buying and maintaining any additional equipment and supplies.  Online faxing is very quick and easy and all you will need to do is set up an account with one of the online fax providers such as Popfax.com or Myfax.com.  You can then choose one of the plans available.  Most of the plans will have fax limitations, so you will be restricted to a certain amount of sent and received faxes each month, but most plans also offer introductory rates of around 5 free sent and received faxes per month, which is ideal for low level fax users and you may end up not having to actually pay for your online faxing at all under these offers.

Online faxing is very similar to email and once you have scanned the document to be faxed into the computer you can send it straight to the destination fax number through your online faxing account.  The account provider will then convert this file into digital information that can be sent over the standard telephone network, which means it can then be received by traditional fax machines, or the files will be sent directly to another online fax number.  You can also receive faxes from traditional fax machines and the account provider will convert the information from the telephone network into a digital file that you would receive like an email in your inbox.  Once of the many benefits of online faxing is that when you receive a fax in your inbox you can choose whether you want to print it off or not, which will save you a lot of paper and you can also save the file on your computer, which is ideal if you do not have a lot of office space for storing files or want to password protect the file to maintain its confidentiality.

Online faxing is ideal for individuals or small businesses that only need to send faxes now and again as it can be carried out over the Internet on your computer or mobile device. This will save you the costs of buying and maintaining any additional equipment and supplies. Online faxing is very quick and easy and all you will need to do is set up an account with one of the online fax providers such as Popfax.com or Myfax.com. You can then choose one of the plans available. Most of the plans will have fax limitations, so you will be restricted to a certain amount of sent and received faxes each month, but most plans also offer introductory rates of around 5 free sent and received faxes per month, which is ideal for low level fax users and you may end up not having to actually pay for your online faxing at all under these offers.

Online faxing is very similar to email and once you have scanned the document to be faxed into the computer you can send it straight to the destination fax number through your online faxing account. The account provider will then convert this file into digital information that can be sent over the standard telephone network, which means it can then be received by traditional fax machines, or the files will be sent directly to another online fax number. You can also receive faxes from traditional fax machines and the account provider will convert the information from the telephone network into a digital file that you would receive like an email in your inbox. Once of the many benefits of online faxing is that when you receive a fax in your inbox you can choose whether you want to print it off or not, which will save you a lot of paper and you can also save the file on your computer, which is ideal if you do not have a lot of office space for storing files or want to password protect the file to maintain its confidentiality.