Most groups use fax technology in some way or another.  Improvements in hardware and software, as well as the rise of the Internet, have significantly changed the options and "best practices" for faxing.  This document provides recommendations for how and when to use computers and the Internet to get more out of your fax.

The rise of email has reduced our dependency on the fax machine, but faxing still remains an important form of electronic communication for many groups.  Most often, a fax is used to distribute press releases, send non-digital documents or sometimes for one-time transmission of documents to parties who don't have access to email.

There is no "magic bullet" solution for faxing, but by appropriately applying several different techniques for sending and receiving faxes, the online organization can realize considerable cost and time savings.

Fax machine

The keystone of any organization's fax system should be a fax machine.  Having a standard fax machine is essential to most organizations, as they often need to fax documents with signatures, or other original documents not generated on their computers.  A plain paper fax machine is preferred as it's output of received faxes is much nicer than thermal paper faxes.  However, a thermal fax machine can be had for half the price and with the recent proliferation of Internet based faxing services, it may be all that you need. 

Internet-based faxing services

In the past few years, a number of companies have begun offering fax services over the Internet.  While the exact details of various Internet fax services differ, the concept is as follows:

Your computer sends the content of your fax as an email message to a computer operated by the Internet fax service.  This machine then converts your email into a fax and sends it to the destination fax machine(s).  Receiving faxes through this type of service is pretty much the same, only in reverse.  A fax is sent to your fax number (assigned by the service, and quite possibly not a local number for you) where a server converts it into an image file and forwards it to your email address as an attachment.

Here's a quick rundown on some of the leading Internet fax services.

FaxCube is among the best of the Internet faxing services.  Their service is flexible, easy to use, and their customer support is excellent.  They have a variety of service plans, and can work with you to setup a plan that fits your organization's needs.  Their "basic" plan offers unlimited free incoming faxes, and outgoing faxes at $0.05 per 30 seconds of fax time (the average time it takes to send a page).  FaxCube can provide a fax number for receiving faxes, which can be upgraded to a toll-free number for a nominal monthly fee.  Viewing received faxes and sending faxes requires special, but free, software that is easy to use and provides some great features.  You can manage fax numbers, send to broadcast lists and covert faxes to text. 

eFax and JFax also offer good Interest faxing services, with a bit more of a consumer focus.   

	eFax		JFAX		FaxCube
	eFax Free	eFax Plus	Free Fax Plus	Personal Telecom	Basic	Full	Unlimited	Send-only
Monthly Cost	Free	$4.95/mo	Free	$15 setup, $12.50/mo	$7.50/mo	$10/mo	$30/mo	free, $2.50/mo when not used
Fax Receive	y	y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Fax Send	N	y	$2.95/mo, $0.06/30 seconds	$0.05/30 seconds	50 pages free/month, $0.20/page addt'l	$0.05/ 30 seconds	unlimited	$0.05/ 30 seconds
Broadcast faxes		y	up to 50 lists with 100 members each; $0.075/30 seconds	up to 50 lists with 100 members each; $0.05/30 seconds	Y	Y	not allowed	Y
Voicemail	y	y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
Phone Number	assigned; no choice of area codes	y	assigned; no choice of area codes	Choice of over 90 ciites, including Seattle, Portland, Vancouver				N
Toll-Free number	extra cost	extra cost	n/a	extra cost of $0.10/incoming page	$25/yr	$25/yr	$25/yr	N

 

Summary

Internet-based faxing, particularly broadcast faxing, has several advantages over faxing from a fax machine or from a modem attached to your computer.  First, Internet based faxing works over your existing Internet connection , and does not require a dedicated modem or phone line.  Second, Internet-based faxing does not tie up your computer for the duration of the broadcast fax; all you send is a single email message--the Internet fax service's computers do the rest, and provide you with a complete report of successful and unsuccessful faxes.  Third, receiving faxes in an electronic format is resource efficient and makes forwarding easy.   Finally, Internet-based faxing, is usually cheaper, especially for in-state long distance faxes.

It's easy to imagine combining an Internet fax service with an inexpensive fax machine to serve all of your faxing needs.  Not only would all of your needs be met but you'd save money, resources and time.  Now this may not be appropriate for every organization but is definitely something to consider.

 

For more information

Faxcube:  http://www.faxcube.com . 

eFax: http://www.efax.com .

JFax:  http://www.jfax.com .

Kevin Savetz's FAQ "How can I  send a fax from the Internet" can be found at http://www.savetz.com/fax .

 

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