Computer Sales and Support

Fax Over the Internet

Posted on 25. Oct, 2009 by admin in Fax, Software

Why Should You Fax Over the Internet?

The old method of faxing using a fax machine and a fax phone line can’t compete with the powerful fax capability that you get when you use fax over the Internet. Online fax is cheaper, less bother, and more reliable. With fax over the Internet, you get features that old fashioned fax can’t match.

Internet Fax Benefits

Internet fax is based on email. You receive faxes in an email and send them out using email or software from the fax provider that uses your email to send the fax over the Internet.

When you send and receive fax over the Internet you gain all the computer fax benefits.

1. Flexibility – You can do your faxing anywhere. All you really need is an Internet connection. A smart phone has enough power to send and receive faxes.

You can direct faxes to the person that is supposed to get them. You never need a fax machine anywhere and you certainly don’t need special paper for a fax machine.

2. Economy  – You don’t have to buy a fax machine or a dedicated phone line. You won’t need to pay for paper, toner and paper storage.

3. Ecologically friendly  – You don’t waste paper on junk faxes and you only print the faxes that you need on paper. You also don’t have to deal with the issue of discarding used toner cartridges. You use less energy by not powering a fax machine and a dedicated phone line.

4. Reliability – Online fax is provided by companies that have to make sure they are always available in order to stay in business. They make sure that their equipment is always working. You don’t depend on your own private equipment. Even If your computer is down, your fax will still be working for you.

5. Increased Productivity – No more waiting on fax lines. You can send and receive multiple faxes at the same time.

How do I Send a Fax Through the Internet?

Sending a fax through most computer fax services is accomplished by sending an email. Some programs have special software to send the fax.

Most standard document, spreadsheet and PDF formats are supported. This is Efax’s list of supported output formats

If you need to fax something that wasn’t generated on a computer such as a freehand drawing or that brilliant idea that you had over lunch and scrawled on a napkin, you can scan it into your computer into a standard image file type such as bmp or jpg.

You can also send faxes of hand drawn items, paper documents or graphical images by using either the camera on your phone or your digital camera and downloading the image to your computer.

If you want to capture documents that you can’t get the source for and you want to have the information translation from a picture to a usable office document, ScanR provides software for Blackberries and various phones that not only takes pictures but converts documents on the spot into text using OCR (optical character recognition) software.

You can also capture those documents that they won’t let you take with you with your digital camera. If you don’t need an instant conversion to an electronic document, digital camera images can be scanned at your convenience on your computer with OCR. Microsoft Office includes Microsoft Office Document Imaging which does this.

My Internet Fax Service Picks

eFax Internet Service

eFax is probably the granddaddy of the fax services. It’s the one that can say “been there, done that”. It’s a full featured and robust service that can handle anything that you throw up against it.

They provide a number of packages with the feature set that you choose. Their experience insures smooth and reliable service.

The provide for domestic and international fax numbers.

Take advantage of a 30 day free trial offer.

Faxage – the Best All Around Deal

The Best Internet Fax Services

They offer a selection of plans at very economical rates.

When you sign up, if you are not happy for any reason, you can get a full refund within the first 2 weeks with no questions asked.

There is no limit on the number of users

Faxage has an exclusive caller-ID blacklist feature that blocks faxes from numbers that you select.

Secure email allows you to specify certain faxes that can only be viewed with a login.

Faxage’s excellent customer service is outstanding

User satisfaction is very high.

You need to be aware that Faxage has limited local numbers and no international numbers but if this is not an issue for you, you can’t beat Faxage

Click on the image below to learn more about Faxage.

Tags: email fax, fax over internet, fax to email, internet fax, online fax