• Affordability- Cut costs on ink, machinery maintenance, and paper. Not only that, but plenty of online fax services offer more affordable payment plans than regular fax services
• Security- Online faxes benefit from heavy duty encryption, usually the standard AES approved by the NSA
• Convenience- Sending faxes through a computer cuts out printing and copying documents, not to mention working a fax machine. Besides that, paper archives become a hassle of the past
• Sustainability- Saving money on paper and machinery translates to less demands on the environment
• Organization- Most online fax services provide comprehensive archives of inbound and outbound faxes. All sent data is readily accessible on the computer, so long as you don’t permanently delete files.   

This is good news for those that deal with larger organizations. Government offices, law firms, and banks still depend on faxes and prefer to receive certain types of information, like personal records, through them.

Why? For starters, faxes provide an automatic hardcopy and are usually stationed near a secretary, receptionist, or the designated recipient. Faxes can also be easier to verify and track. They even draw attention thanks to fun sounds.

There are plenty of online fax services to choose from. To help we’ve ranked our top seven fax services, based on a criteria of price and features. From descending order, these top online fax services provide the most bang for your buck.

7^th- Wired Fax

Our number seven for good reason, Wired Fax not only provides the standard features one expects, but also a cloud management system that keeps archives and includes an address book . Depending on the plan, users can expect anywhere from 25 to 400 outgoing pages and 100 to 600 incoming pages. This service also provides the option to receive faxes via email, cutting down on costs and allowing one to review documents wherever internet is available.

6^th- RapidFAX

Rapid Fax earns a spot on our list for its integration with the Microsoft Office Suite- the file menu in Office programs are altered to enable expedient faxing. Subscribers have a total of 300 inbound or outbound faxes each month, though after this limit they can pay an additional $0.08 per page.

5^th- MetroFax

Our 5^th ranked service provides some convenient features, most importantly MetroFax’s unique mobile-app. Other perks include the option to retain an old fax number, automatic retries, and compatibility with regular fax machines. MetroFax is also affordable and has a basic plan allowing up to 500 outbound or inbound pages per month. These benefits have helped the service net major clients such as AllState, SafeWay, and US Bank.

4^th- eFax
eFax lands 4^th for improving the general features mentioned above. Where many services offers cloud management, eFax offers lifetime storage. Other organizations allow the subscriber to pick their number, eFax allows the subscriber to pick a local or toll-free number. While other companies facilitate direct sends from Microsoft Office, eFax has a fax preview window. These features help excuse eFax’s increased subscription fees, the most basic allowing 150 free outbound or inbound pages per month.

3^rd- MyFax

MyFax gets our bronze medal for taking nearly all of the previous competitor’s features. MyFax allows toll free or local numbers, has a unique web app, is integrated with Microsoft Office, is completely cloud-based, and offers multiple security measures. The service even has educative webinars. On top of this, MyFax doesn’t charge an extra dime for faxing to 41 countries, including Iceland. MyFax has landed some solid recognition, such as 2009 Internet Telephony Product of the Year and a running string of gold medals from TopTenREVIEWS.

2^nd-  Nextiva vFax

Our second place winner offers much of the same. Mobile Support? Check. Compatibility with fax machines? Check.  Integration with Microsoft Office? Check. What sets Nextiva apart is its great price. The basic annual plan offers 500 free faxes per month for the equivalent of $5, a per-page ratio no service can really beat.

1^st- RingCentral

First and foremost, RingCentral is ahead of the pack for its price, offering the most affordable monthly plan for 500 free inbound or outbound pages per month- sorry Nextiva, but commitment can be scary. RingCentral also offers some nifty features that build upon the competition’s. This includes fax alerts for mobile devices and the ability to electronically sign faxes. Anybody who’s dealt with organizations such as investment firms or government branches knows the importance of that.

You can compare these online fax services here.

What is phone broadcasting?

Phone broadcasting is also referred to as voice broadcasting or message broadcasting. It is a modern communication tool wherein it can send out voices messages to hundreds and even thousands of recipients at a very short time. These voice messages can be delivered directly to live recipients or to their answering machines or voice mail.

Who uses phone broadcasting?

This tool is used by small to large businesses. It is also used by non-profit organizations, political parties, schools, medical facilities and government offices. Phone broadcasting is used for, and not limited to, sending out customer messages and announcements, promotion events, reminders, notifications, fund raising, emergency report, collections, greetings, and telemarketing.

How does phone broadcasting works?

First of all, you will have to sign up with a provider who will give out this service to you. There are so many different companies to choose from and it is vital that you have to take the time to know the scope of services they render and if their price is competitive or not. You can learn more about how to choose the best phone broadcasting provider here.

After choosing a service provider, you will have to sign up an account with them either through email or by phone call. Some providers can easily set you up online. Although your account can be set up in less than 30 minutes, the service will be available to you within 24 hours. You can choose from the different services they give out depending on what your business or organization needs.

You can choose whether you want to be billed by minutes or by phone calls. Understandably, you will not pay for calls not sent. Thus, it is important that the provider will have to send you a transaction report at the end of the day.

Who records the messages?

You can make your own recordings via telephone or any other means, as long as, it is in an MP3 or WAV format. Most providers can also record the phone messages for you, once you send in the script. This service is for free.

Do you set the time when messages should be sent?

Yes. Most of the time, you will have to let the provider know at what time of the day you want your messages to go out to the recipients. You can even schedule it at a future date and time. As long as you submit all your phone contacts, the messages you want to send, and the schedule – everything will be done for you.

Apparently, phone broadcasting has great advantages, not only to businesses but to other organizations as well. You can learn more here.

If a business chooses to provide its own online fax service in house, the uniform standards of the company’s information technology infrastructure must be followed to ensure enterprise-wide compatibility and consistency. This means all the employees need to be using the same client software for online fax. A universal mailbox may also need to be established for fax reception and storage.

Both negative and affirmative arguments can be made about the security of online faxing. On the positive side, most of online faxing service providers do have encryption protection. This entails transmitting each outgoing fax over an encrypted connection and storing incoming faxes in password-protected online accounts.

With online faxing, emails can be automatically received in email, avoiding the common scenario of paper faxes lying in fax machine out-trays for any passerby to see. In addition, emailed faxes can be electronically archived with ease.

The inherent susceptibility of any data transmitted over the Internet to hackers or others with pernicious intentions always makes security a subject of concern.

The susceptibility to security breaches leads some entities, such as health-care professionals to avoid the use of online faxing.

VoIP Telephony

Just as faxing online and any other Internet activity is subject to same attacks as any devices connected to the Internet, so is VoIP phone calling.

VoIP IP phone systems are vulnerable to attacks from both in-house and external sources. Conversations can be recorded and voicemail broken into. Denial-of-service attacks can take place and customer data can be harvested.

A means of adding security exists in the form of encryption, and many of the VoIP service providers do provide encryption.

You don’t have to worry whether the service has the capacity to handle your fax traffic volume. And you don’t have to be wary that you might be hit with hidden charges.

As you review the offerings of online faxing service providers, you will find that many of them offer multiple plans. Good advice is to choose a plan that gives you what you need to meet your specific faxing needs.

Of consideration are:

• The number of incoming and outgoing fax pages you anticipate you will have each month
• The number of users you will need (i.e., the number of email addresses you will want to establish as recipients for incoming faxes on your fax number
• How long you will need to archive fax files
• Whether you would prefer a package specially designed for corporations
• Whether you want the capability to send faxes by email

Seeking the Best Customer Service

A number of fax online providers are available, and most offer a 30-day trial period. The trial gives you a good opportunity to put test the customer service of your chosen provider. And you may want to select a provider that’s available to help you 24/7.

Gauging Your Needs to Keep Costs Economical

As you decide on a service provider, be careful to avoid any that have hidden service fees; you should have no trouble finding one that does not. Also, ensure that you don’t subject yourself to a start-up fee.

You should do your best to pay only for the amount of service you will need, based on the number of faxes you anticipate sending and receiving each month.

Most of the plans offered by online faxing service providers such as Fax89 allow a specific number of incoming and outgoing fax pages. If you exceed your plan’s limits, you will be required to pay additional, per-page fees. These fees typically range from $0.03 to $0.10 per page.

A service that can create a “blocked”/”allowed” call list is desirable, as this will prevent you from being charged for blocked calls.

Service providers may quote their rates in minutes or pages. The number of pages in a plan are often the combined total of incoming and outgoing faxes. Although the service providers state that the actual time to transmit a page may vary, page quotes are based on the assumption that one minute or less is required to transmit one 8.5 in. x 11 in. size page.

You’ll want to remember that photos create a larger file than mere text content, and consequently they are counted as more than a single page, even if they occupy only an 8.5 in. x 11 in. sheet.

Especially important: If being able to send faxes by email is important to you, ensure that the online faxing service provider plan includes that capability, because not all of them do.

Electronic fax archiving needs vary from person to person and from business to business. As you plan your online faxing strategy, you should consider how long you will need to store your faxes.

Although the majority of online fax service providers will store a copy of incoming and outgoing faxes, which you can access through the company’s Web site, they will do so for only a certain period of time before they either start charging you or delete the files. Some service providers will store your files for you in their systems for an unlimited amount of time; others set limits of 90 days, 6 months, or a year, for example.

Thinking about Premium Packages

Either from the onset of the initiation of your online faxing plan or as an upgrade, you may want to explore some of the more comprehensive plans that are available.

Online faxing is an adaptation that allows interoperability between the old technology of the telephone-line-based standalone fax machine and the transmission and receiving of faxes via the Internet and email.

An online fax service allows you to send faxes by an Internet-accessible device–whether this be a computer, PDA, or iPad. Or you can 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. The services will also provide fax storage and tools such as logs for managing faxes.

The Versatility of Today’s Fax Machines

Fax machines have evolved from single-capability devices to multipurpose ones, making them more versatile. Today many fax machines can not only be used to send and receive faxes but also to print and copy documents. Thus they are a fax, scanner, printer, and copier all in one.

In addition, the market is showing a receptivity to new broadband fax machines that enable you to send and receive faxes in the traditional method over a telephone line or very rapidly to any email address via the Internet, along the way using special, complex gateways for fax transmissions.

Key Benefits of Online Faxing

If you choose to use online faxing, you either eliminate or reduce the money you formerly invested in printer ink and cartridges, since viewing will be mostly online. You will also have the convenience of sending and receiving faxes right at your computer, which is likely the focal point of your work activities. And anywhere you can gain Internet access, you will likewise be able to continue receiving faxes.

Cost-effectiveness. Sending your faxes over the Internet saves money. The reason is that all you need is an online 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. The cost of using an online faxing service provider ranges from minimal (generally $10 a month) to free. In addition, you can use a scanner as a tool to digitize documents that you do not already have stored electronically.

Efficiency.The traditional way of sending and receiving faxes requires physically accessing a fax machine and concerning yourself with whether it is operational, and if the line is engaged with other activity, delays in sending or receiving will occur. Online faxing does away with those concerns and and affords the same mobility and speed you have with the Internet. 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.

The interoperability of online faxing allows any kind of software to be used to send multiple-page faxes that are accessible by Internet device or fax machine. The methods of sending online faxes varies based on the service. Some allow faxing through their sites or online interfaces; others enable you to fax by way of a desktop application or right from your email. With the old method of fax transmission, you were limited to one recipient for your fax — not so for online faxing, which allows faxes to be sent to multiple recipients simultaneously.

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.

Sustainability. Online 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.

NCSBCS Online Fax Reviews
View online fax service comparisons and reviews.

This is most notably true of legal firms and other entities whose business involves the exchange of signed contracts or other documents.

Old-fashion Fax Machines are Still Used

While the new fax machines are the products featured today, millions of the old-fashion, stand-alone fax machines continue to exist in places such as offices, homes, and police stations just about everywhere.

Case in point: On the first Wednesday in February, when high school football stars decide which big-college teams their going to choose to play for, they sign their letters of intent and fax them.

To say the least, the coaches on the other end have to ensure their machines are in great working order as they wait with great anticipation to receive the official confirmations of their highly coveted recruits.

New Internet Fax Machines Work with Traditional Ones

Although the traditional faxing method has kept its usefulness for some, others have chosen to progress to new ways of achieving the same objective.

As technology has evolved, faxing has adapted to accommodate new capabilities. Business rely very heavily on the Internet and email for completing a great deal of their basic tasks–especially those involving signed documents–and faxing can now be accomplished online with greater efficiency than ever.

In the process, the use of reams of paper and copious amounts of ink can be eliminated. If you have an Internet connection, you can fax with or without a fax machine, and with seamless interoperability with either old-fashion fax machines or email faxing systems.

Sending faxes or making a phone call over the Internet requires an entirely different approach from faxing or calling over a conventional telephone network, which sets up a dedicated circuit for the duration of a phone call.

VoIP uses a technology called packet-switched telephony in which voice data goes to its destination by way of innumerable packets across the Internet. Today VoIP services can offer quality and reliability on a level that rivals land lines and cell phones.

Companies that choose to use online faxing may also consider a VoIP phone system as they streamline their communications. Solutions for both faxing and enterprise-wide, Internet-based phone systems are available through companies such as RingCentral, Nextiva, and 8 x 8, for example.

Benefits of VoIP

Besides the streamlining aspect of being able to migrate all of your work activities to the Internet, VoIP and the means of using the technology for telephony online–Internet Protocol (IP) small business phone systems—offers several benefits that will encourage a person to drop the traditional land-line service.

Cost savings. At the top of anyone’s list of considerations is cost, and VoIP rates will in that respect because it enables less-expensive external calls and free internal calls. In fact, external calls can be up to nearly 90 percent cheaper with VoIP. Internally the calls are free because everyone is using the same network. If a company has a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, in which network access can be gained by “tunneling in,” employees can talk from their desks or the road with people at different company sites free of charge.

The cost of the IP PBX system vs. the traditional PBX is usually less while offering the same functionality by way of a more efficient technology that doesn’t require prefix numbers or complicated routing that can effect service reliability.

Interconnectivity. If a company is still in the midst of a long-term contract with a traditional PBX provider, an IP PBX can still be incorporated because it will work with the traditional system. This interconnectivity will allow the company to begin to experience the benefits of the new technology in preparation for making the changeover when the contract with the traditional provider ends.

Convenience. Since VoIP IP PBX systems use the Internet, if a user can access the network, he or she can log onto any Internet phone; this makes the traditional extension or phone socket unnecessary. Employees can roam, working from the office, the road, or home.

Positive perception. Business prospects in, say, Knoxville, Tennessee, can call a number with the local area code, but the call may actually go to a call center in another city. This reduces the perception that the company is far away.

Fewer staff members. Because telephone capabilities are integrated with the computer network in IP PBX systems, the requirement for switch-board staff is reduced.

Computer-telephony integration. Since IP PBX systems connect to the computer network and as part of the relationship, they also integrate with applications and can be synchronized with them. Case in point: voicemail messages can be attached to Outlook email client messages; when you listen to and delete the voicemail messages, they are likewise deleted from email message. In addition, the deletion process works in the other direction.

The integration also allows for a great deal of flexibility in terms of being able to set up call rerouting. The user can program the system to direct calls to a cell phone, voicemail, or home phone during specified time periods, for example.

Instant messaging can also easily be used in conjunction with phone calls conducted over IP PBX systems.

While reaping the benefits, companies are experiencing success with VoIP PBX systems [link to: Corporate-VoIP-Success-Stories].

Besides having updated features such as color LCD displays and fully functional keyboards, these new fax machines can convert hard copies into TIFF files for sending as email attachments.

They also allow you to do personal computer or network faxing, and they are so “smart” as to be able to reroute incoming faxes to your computer.

The Steps for Using a Broadband Fax Machine

Broadband fax machines enable you to send faxes online. These machines connect both to the Internet and a telephone line, giving you the capacity for online faxing and traditional–or old-fashion–faxing.

Faxes can be sent via a land line connection, or they can be sent and received by email through high-speed Internet connection.

The steps for sending a fax using a broadband fax machine are:

1. Place your document in the document feeder.
2. Enter the email address on the keyboard.
3. Press the send button.

What Happens to Your Document When You Send It via Online Fax

The broadband fax machine creates a TIF or PDF file of your document and then attaches it to an email. Then it sends the email to the destination you input using the keyboard.

The law states that the signature may be “electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”

Online faxing services offer the capability to add electronic signatures to the documents that you send by online fax. Some companies specialize in offering the means to add electronic signatures to your documents. Examples are DocuSign, which is commonly used in the real-estate industry, and EchoSign.

Exemptions to the Electronic Signatures Act of 2000 do exist. Although electronic signatures are valid for most documents, the following are exempt: wills, codicils (supplements that explain, modify, or revoke a will or part of one), and similar documents.