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.

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.

Business Online Fax Services from TrustFax

You can cut the costs of faxing by switching from a traditional fax service to an online fax account from TrustFax.   Online faxing can be carried out through your computer and Internet connection so there is no need for any additional expensive equipment or supplies. You will also not need to pay for additional line rental and there are no contracts to sign.  TrustFax services are easy to join and you can start faxing as soon as you have set up your online account.

Fax Features

TrustFax offers a comprehensive features set that will provide you with all the tools you need to send and receive faxes online. You can store up to 20MB of faxes online and this means you will not have to print them off unless you absolutely need to.  Both local and toll free fax number options are offered.  TrustFax supports international faxing so you will be able to send and receive faxes to numbers all around the world at competitive prices.  You will also be able to digitally sign documents with your TrustFax account.

You can process your faxes through your email account with TrustFax.  Customers can add up to 10 email addresses on each account and this is ideal for small businesses so that everyone can take advantage of this cost effective and easy to use service.  Faxes will arrive as a standard email with an attachment containing the faxed document. You can then open up the attachment and decide whether you want to send, save, print or forward the document.  This is a very quick and easy way to manage faxes and you can also forward faxes to email addresses as well as other fax numbers.

Customer Services

TrustFax offers a solid customer services structure with 24/7 email support and a toll free direct dial phone number.  The website also offers a number of useful online support features including extensive FAQ pages and a fax glossary.

Pricing

You can choose to pay monthly or annually with TrustFax.  Paying up front for the annual service can save you money so this is a good idea for businesses that will be sending and receiving a lot of faxes throughout the year.  Standard plans are available from just $8.95 per month and this will allow you up to 250 sent/received faxes.  Account set up is free and if you need to send any additional pages over your monthly limit they will be charged at just $0.10 each.

Get Access to Cheap Online Fax with Fax2Mail

Online faxing can be a very cost effective addition to your home or work office.  This will allow you to send and receive faxes through your web enabled computer.  This is much cheaper than the traditional way of faxing as you will not need to pay for a second telephone line or any additional equipment.

Fax Features

You do not need to download any special software in order to be able to send and receive faxes online with Fax2Mail.  Once you have signed up to Fax2Mail you will be provided with a user account log in.  You can simply log in through your browser and start processing your faxes from your email account.  This is one of the easiest ways to use online fax and you will not have to go through any complicated set up or installation steps.  Fax2Mail will offer you with the following features:

  • Online account management – this makes it easy for you to view and organize your sent and received faxes.
  • Fax from mobile devices – Fax2Mail is compatible with any web-enabled mobile device including smartphones, Blackberrys and laptops.
  • Multiple file formats – you can process faxes in a variety of file formats including PDF, TIFF, JPEG and PowerPoint.
  • Real time delivery reports – this will show you that your faxes have been sent successfully.
  • Multiple recipients – you can send the same fax to more than one recipient at once.  This is a much quicker and easier method of distributing your fax messages.
  • International numbers – you can send and receive faxes to numbers all around the world with your online Fax2Mail account.
  • No busy signals – you can process multiple faxes with your Fax2Mail account at once and this means you will never get a busy signal as you would with a traditional fax machine.
  • Choice of numbers – you can set up your online fax account with a choice of different numbers including 0800, 0845 and 0871. This provides businesses with a number of options when it comes to pricing fax services for customers and clients.

Customer Services

Fax2Mail provides practical information about the services on their website.  If you are having any problems using your account or you want to talk to a customer services representative then you can call direct or email the helpdesk.  All technical support is free for Fax2Mail customers.

Pricing

There are a range of online fax price plans available from Fax2Mail.  These start from just $11.90 per month and there will be a standard one-off fee of $20 for setting up your new account.  You can pay online using the secure payment gateway or if you prefer you can contact the sales team directly by telephone.

Cut Costs with Online Fax from MaxEmail

MaxEmail will provide you with a way to send and receive faxes to any fax number in the world through your Internet connection.  This is a cheap and effective way to manage your faxing needs whether you are a business or private individual.

Fax Features

MaxEmail is an easy to use service and you can set up your account so that you can send and receive faxes from your email client.  This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to manage your faxes.   Inclusive online storage is provided with your account, but this is only free for 30 days.  After this you will have to pay to store faxes online, so it is a good idea to make sure you clear out any old faxes. Corporate faxing options are also provided for businesses.  This will allow you to add different fax numbers to your account to provide your customers with a greater range of options for getting in touch with you.  You can add up to 25 users with the basic plan so that your staff can take advantage of easy online faxing with MaxEmail.

Customer Services

You can get in touch directly with a MaxEmail operator by telephone or faxing the customer services helpline between 9am to 5pm (Mon to Fri).  You can also visit the website and find about more about the services and use the online submission form for further queries.

Pricing

MaxEmail provides online faxing accounts from just $9.95 per month (plus a $10 one-off set up fee).  This will provide you with 250 pages of incoming fax and 100 pages of outgoing fax per month.  A good bonus is that you can roll over your unused pages to the next month and this will help to avoid any overage charges in the future.  You will only need to pay $0.05 per page if you go over your incoming fax page limits.  The industry standard of $0.10 will be charged per page if you go over your outgoing page fax limits.

There is a limited free trial offer available as well. This is ideal for those who have never used online faxing before and are not sure if it will be suitable for their needs. You can test the service and see if this is suitable for you before you sign up to a paid for plan.

Process Your Faxes Online with Fax.com

Fax.com can provide both businesses and domestic users with a quick and easy way to use Internet connections to send and receive faxes. Fax.com is owned by j2 Global Communications, which is a leading online communications company with years of experience in the industry.

Fax Features

With Fax.com you can choose how you want to send your faxes online. You can log into the website and use the Fax.com online interface to compose and send/receive faxes.  Through this interface you can also add custom cover pages and headers and store your online fax contact book. You can also set up your Fax.com account to use your email client to process faxes.

Fax.com provides a choice of numbers including toll free options.  This is ideal for businesses that want to provide their customers with a free way to get in touch with them.   You can also use Fax.com with web-enabled mobile devices such as PDAs.  This means you can still access your faxes when you are on the move.

Pricing

Fax.com offers a basic plan for just $9.99/month.  There will also be a one-off start up fee of $9.99 to pay.  This package will allow you 300 pages of fax per month.  If you go over your page fax limits you will be charged $0.12 per page, which is slightly higher than the industry average.  You will also be entitled to 30 days free online storage for your faxes but a small fee will apply if you go over this limit.  It is a good idea to check through your stored faxes every week and delete those you no longer need to avoid incurring any additional charges.

Customer Services

Fax.com provide plenty of information about their services through their website.  You can also contact a customer services operator directly by phone during the weekly office hours of 8am to 5pm (Mon to Fri).