The Right Internet Fax Service
If you are going to be using the internet to send a fax, the first thing that you will need to do is choose an internet fax service. When choosing an internet fax service company you want to make sure that you are choosing the best company for your needs by keeping certain factors in mind while comparing the various companies.
The first thing that you want to look at is the quality of their service. You want to look for an internet fax company that has had a chance to prove themselves to their customers. The best way to find a company that offers high quality service is to read reviews on internet companies from the internet, you can also learn a lot from word of mouth recommendations. In addition to this, you want to check with the BB to see if there are any complaints against the company before signing up for any kind of service.
The second thing that you want to look at is the price the internet fax company is going to be charging you, make sure that you read the fine print to ensure that you have a complete understanding of all of the costs that are associated with the internet fax service. You want to find out what the monthly charges will be, but you also need to find out how many faxes you are allowed to send each month, which includes both inbound and outbound faxes. You also want to find out how much it is going to cost if you go over, many internet fax companies have a cost per extra page, which can range from three to ten cents per page.
The availability of the internet fax service is also something that needs to be considered. You want to see how often the fax service has down time because that can interfere with your business. You also need to find out about how much storage they provide, if they provide any online storage at all. You should also check into the access numbers, find out if they offer local numbers or 1-800 numbers so that your customers won’t incur long distance charges. You also want to look into what desktop applications you can use the internet fax service with; if you don’t have the correct applications, it can cost you even more money to get started.
Finally, you will want to look at the type of support that they offer. You want to choose an internet fax service that provides their customers with great technical support. You want to make sure that you choose a company that will give you the help you need when you need it, not four or five days later. Read our reviews for an overview of internet fax service providers.
Internet Faxing Basics
When running a business you have a lot of stuff that you have to keep organized, including faxes. One way to help keep your faxes organized is to use an internet faxing service. Using an internet faxing service allows you to organize your faxes directly on your computer, but you can also print out hard copies if needed. Another advantage to using internet faxing is that you can use the fax service no matter where you are located, which means you can effectively run your business from anywhere.
The key to using internet faxing for your business is to learn the basics of internet faxing. Learning the basics will allow you to get started with internet faxing, but will also help you take advantage of everything that internet faxing has to offer.
The first step to using internet faxing is selecting an internet faxing service that meets your business needs. To select the right company you will want to know what you are looking for, figure out ahead of time how many faxes you will be sending each month, plus any extra features that you cannot do without. Look around and compare the different companies until you find the one that meets your needs, and is reasonably priced. You do not want to rush this process because it is a decision that you will have to live with for a period of time.
Once you have selected the right company for your business needs you will want to get set up on their website. Most companies will require you to create an account by filling out a variety of forms, which can be filled out and submitted directly through the company’s website. Once you have created your account you will need to pay for the service that you want, which can be done with a credit card or something similar. You can also look for companies that offer free trails that way you can determine if it is going to be the best choice, and ensure that it offers everything it says it does.
Once you have created your account you will need to select a fax number for your business. Most internet faxing companies offer you the choice of using a local number or a toll-free number, but you will have to make the decision on which one to use. If you use a local number, you might incur higher monthly charges due to faxes coming in from long distance numbers. If you use a toll-free number, you can avoid those charges, which will keep your monthly plan charges down too.
To receive any faxes that you were sent you will need to check your email box; most likely, they will come in the form of attachments. To send a fax you will need to log into the internet faxing service’s website and follow their specific instructions.
Packetel Review
Packetel is a very basic, inexpensive fax service with no fancy extras, hidden fees just basic unlimited incoming faxes for $3.95/mo. If you are only looking for incoming faxes and may be receiving a lot of them then this is for you. $3.95/mo. includes everything and can be accepted from anywhere in the world.
UPDATE: Packetel was purchased by MyFax and is no longer $3.95. The next best option is now Nextiva which is $4.95/mo. and offers the same service. Try Nextiva here or Learn more here.
Packetel runs on any network environment (e.g. Dial-up, ISDN, DSL, Cable Modem, T1, or T3 network connections) without any problems so it will work well for anyone. There is no software installation required in most computer systems. Another nice feature is you can specify up to two email addresses for receiving faxes. You can also selectively print out just the faxes that you want. They also offer a junk filter which seems to work well.
Packetel offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee and are really good at refunding if something isn’t right or doesn’t work. We’ve liked their service and highly recommend Packetel if you are looking for high volumes of incoming faxes. It truly is unlimited and worth signing up. They have an auto bill feature and if you don’t sign up for automatic billing they will not charge your credit card. Reliable, cheap and efficient.
eFax Review
eFax is one of the bigger, better known names in the internet fax community. Currently there is a risk-free trial which allows you to send up to 50 fax pages for 30 days so you can test the system. eFax offers 3 basic plans and are very reliable. The most basic offer is their eFaxFreewhich is very, very limited but does let you accept incoming faxes.
The best plan is the eFaxPlus which starts at $12.95/mo. Incoming faxes to a local number are free or .20 per page to a toll-free number. Most small business will gladly take the local number option and the $12.95/mo. deal isn’t bad. You can save another 20% with the annual rate. You can send faxes anywhere in the USA for .10 per page. One draw back to this account is the online storage of your faxes and voicemail is only 30 days.
The next plan is the eFaxPro at $19.95/mo. The great part about the Pro package is the 1 year of voicemail/fax storage. You also get to download their Papermaster Pro easy to manage and edit your faxes software ($199 value) for free.
What is the difference? eFax Plus is perfect if you receive fewer than 130 fax pages a month and do not need voicemail. You’ll get a local or toll-free number that’s tied to your email. Send and receive faxes as email attachments. Access your faxes online for up to one week. eFax Pro is a more complete communication solution. As well as all the features of eFax Plus, receive up to 200 fax pages a month and access your faxes online for up to one year. Your eFax Pro number will also accept voicemail and deliver it as an email attachment.
MyFax Review
MyFax is a very good program if you just need the basic fax-to-email without all the extras. For a simple $10 a month (or $110 per year) you get 100 included sent pages and 200 included received pages per month. If that fits into your needs then MyFax is an excellent choice. The toll-free number makes this an awesome deal!
When you send and receive faxes, MyFax sends easy-to-read notification messages to your e-mail account. Aside from whether or not the transmission was successful, MyFax tells you how much the fax cost (if it was international or went over your allotted number of pages), including any taxes.
MyFax also offers their own address book, called eContacts, via their web interface. It’s pretty handy if your sending faxes to the same companies every month. Every little thing helps. Their international rates are either lower or the same as the other providers so if the 300 pages per month fit into your needs MyFax is an excellent choice and we give them 9 out of 10.
RingCentral Review
As a RingCentral subscriber, you and your employees can create and send professional faxes and broadcast them to multiple people in the US or overseas. You can block junk faxes, create custom cover pages, sign faxes electronically, and attach documents.
All RingCentral plans include RingCentral Internet Fax and RingCentral FaxEditor tools. Faxing with them is as easy as printing a document. For instance, RingCentral is fully integrated with Microsoft Office so you can fax directly from Word or Excel by just clicking the RingCentral fax icon on your toolbar. In addition, you can fax from other Windows applications by selecting Print from the File menu and choosing RingCentral InternetFax as the printer. The toll free or local number you get when you sign up serves as your fax number but keep in mind that faxing does not tie up your lines so callers never hear a busy signal.( Dedicated fax numbers are also available ).
You’ll have a variety of delivery options from which you can choose to receive faxes: Email, your online account, and your Call Controller inbox. Faxes are stored in your online account for 30 days and you can download them to your PC for permanent storage.
To edit and annotate your faxes, you can use the award-winning FaxEditor tool, which lets you add text and graphics or a signature, and to create custom cover sheets with your personalized logo.
All users in your account with a unique extension will have their own fax capabilities. We recommend RingCentral for any total business package because of the great phone, fax offers and reliability.
