Fax Online

Internet Fax Services vs Traditional Fax

  • More Features - Online fax is easier to use and includes many features traditional fax doesn't have, such as fax storage.
  • Spend Less - No need to buy paper or ink. Send and receive faxes using your email.
  • Secure - Contrary to popular belief, online fax is often more secure than traditional fax.
  • Free Trials - Most online fax services offer free 30 day trials, no contracts. The second month starts as low as 1 cent / fax.

  • Internet Fax Services Comparison Chart
    Service
    Nextiva
    RingCentral
    eFax
    MyFax
    MetroFax
    ScreenShot spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
    Plan Reviewed
    Single User Fax 500 eFax Plus Best Value Essential
    Base Plan Pages

    The number of pages included in this plan. Either one number for combined plans, or two numbers if Inbound and Outbound pages are charged individually.

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    Base Plan Pages
    500 500 150 / 150 200 / 100 500
    Overage Charges

    How much you are charged for pages over your monthly allotment. These figures represent the most you will be charged for pages over your allotment. Check their site for specifics.

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    Overage Charges
    5.9¢ 10¢ 10¢
    Sending Users

    How many people can send faxes using this account?

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    Sending Users
    1 Multiple

    Enter "trusted e-mail addresses" in online account settings to allow different users to send faxes.

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    Multiple
    1 5 Multiple

    Up to 10

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    Multiple
    Storage Limits

    How much storage do you get for fax documents and how long can you keep them on the server? Bytes/Time

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    Storage Limits
    No Limit

    Storage of fax documents is provided, but no limits are specified.

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    No Limit
    200 faxes

    Up to 200 faxes are kept for an unlimited time in your online account. All faxes will also be stored indefinitely in the Call Controller inbox.

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    200 faxes
    Lifetime

    Both plans indicate "Lifetime Storage" on the website.

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    Lifetime
    1 year

    No mention of how many faxes, only that you can store faxes for one year.

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    1 year
    1 year

    Store for up to one year.

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    1 year
    Keep Your Number

    Will this company "port" your existing phone number to their system? (An alternative is to forward your fax number to the number they provide.)

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    Keep Your Number
    Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Free TollFree Opt.

    Does this company offer the option of selecting a toll-free number without changing the conditions of the plan?

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    Free TollFree Opt.
    No Yes No Yes No
    Use My Machine

    Does this service offer T.38 compliant hardware fax support? If so, you can use an adapter and a fax machine connected to the network. Also known as FoIP.

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    Use My Machine
    Yes Yes No No Yes
    Setup Fee No No No No No
    Basic Plan

    Lowest priced plan offered. This is the monthly cost if you pay by the year.

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    Basic Plan
    $4.95 $6.59 $16.95 $10.00 $7.95
    Full Review Nextiva Review Ringcentral Review eFax Review MyFax Review MetroFax Review
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    What is Online Fax?

    Online fax is also known as digital fax, email fax, or Internet fax.

    An online fax service allows you to send faxes by an Internet-accessible device — whether this be computer, PDA, or iPad--or, vice versa, to send a fax from a traditional fax machine to an Internet-accessible device.

    The traditional fax machine does not need an Internet connection to send or receive online faxes; online fax service providers perform the necessary conversions and transmissions. Online fax services will also provide fax storage and tools such as logs for managing faxes.

    To effectively capitalize on the power of internet faxing and the flexibility and convenience that it offers, a business must choose the service that best meets its needs.

    Click here for our comparison chart.


    How to Fax Online

    Complete setup to start faxing online takes approximately 5 to 10 minutes.

    1. Establish an account with an online faxing service provider.

    2. Fax using your Web-based email program, the provider's interface on their Web site, or on a separate desktop application.

    If you have a fax number with your local telephone company, you likely can move that number over to an online fax service for use there after you sign up.


    Online Faxing Advantages

    1. Less than $10 / month: Sending and receiving your faxes over the Internet saves money. All you need is an Internet faxing service provider and a device to access the Internet. In addition, a scanner is an optional tool to allow you to digitize documents that you do not already have stored.

    2. Efficiency: The traditional way of sending and receiving faxes requires physically accessing a fax machine and concerning yourself with whether it is operational. Online faxing does away with those concerns and affords the same mobility and speed you have with the Internet.

    Incoming faxes go straight to your email. A notice can be sent to recipients by cell phone, pager, or email to alert them they have a fax waiting. Faxes can even be sent internationally.

    3. Fax on the go: Fax through the online interface or send a fax by email.

    4. Multiple recipients: With the old method of fax transmission, you were limited to one recipient for your fax — not so for internet faxing, which allows faxes to be sent to multiple recipients simultaneously.

    5. Security: Your experience with traditional faxing using a fax machine and dedicated telephone line has likely left you wondering at times whether the faxes you sent might have been vulnerable to viewing by persons without a need to see the content. Online faxing reduces that concern by delivering your faxes in encrypted emails directed only to the recipients you specify.

    6. Sustainability: Internet faxing is environmentally friendly because it reduces paper and ink usage. Online faxes can be managed entirely through electronic means, editing, annotating, copying and signing. This saves trees as well as physical office storage space.

    Back to the comparison chart.

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