subject: The Growth Of Fax Service Comparison Sites [print this page] Online faxing -- otherwise referred to as e-mail faxing, Internet or Web faxing, and digital faxing -- is a process whereby documents are converted into digital files by a service provider for sending or receipt via e-mail. Some people are still using old, standalone fax machines while others rely primarily on e-mail and ftp for documents that are, respectively, small or large. The online services, therefore, can be considered a bridge between past and future, and as there are still tens of millions of fax machines being used in the U.S., and possibly more than that in Asia alone, we will enjoy a choice of fax technologies for some time to come.
Simply put, when you get an online fax service account, you will be assigned your own, dedicated fax number. Standard fax machines sending to that number will have their fax messages converted into e-mail attachments, and these will be routed to your e-mail inbox. The majority of online faxing services let you send such attachments as Word documents, jpeg photos or PDFs to standalone fax machines, which receive them just as if you'd sent them from a similar machine. Beyond this basic commonality, the services can also differ in many ways.
The growth of fax service comparison sites -- like EmailFaxCompared.com, OnlineFaxGuide.com, OnlineFaxCompared.com and others -- suggests not only continuing interest in online fax service, but the public's need for clear, brief and honest information.
What you learn at comparison sites
It may behoove you to use one or more of the comparison sites, paying most attention to the ones that do not cite "winners and loser" but simply provide a fair comparison or easily read chart. You will discover that the monthly costs vary, but that most or all services will be less than the cost of a phone line. Plus there will be no long-distance charges, and since you don't need a "real" fax machine, there are no paper or toner costs.
Since you receive faxes with your e-mail program, you can set up all kinds of mail filters to deliver incoming messages where they need to go -- including the trash. The e-mail format allows for forwarding, as well as direct receipt on smartphones and WiFi-equipped PDAs, like the new Apple iPad or even the iPod touch music player. All of this translates into much greater time efficiency, a benefit you can expect from most online fax services. In addition, reliability is increased since you can avoid the technological limitations of both phone lines and fax machines -- like busy signals, paper jams, empty toner cartridge or thermal-paper roll, etc.
Other benefits and considerations
All of the services will also tell you about how environmentally responsible they are, but in truth it's you who are exercising environmental care. Reducing your consumption of paper, toner, power and time not only reduces your cost of doing business, it is also a responsible environmental policy. Not only are most services eco-friendly, but most are high-tech-capable, too, supporting the highest level of encryption technology. Don't forget that being able to address faxes so that they go to one specific person, in a secure computer environment, is far more secure than sending sensitive data to a common fax number.
One big advantage of seeing all the services in one place is being able to "average them out" and see what the basic, "market standard" service should be offering. In addition to the things already mentioned, there do seem to be commonly offered features. Of course, you may need some special functionality, and you need to read thorough reviews and visit the sites of the various online fax firms to assess them fully. Still, the following are common features, including:
a reasonable amount of time for a free trial, up to 30 days;
very low (or no) start-up fee;
a monthly fee of around $10;
at least 300 total pages (in and out, combined);
a reasonable per-minute, rather than per-page, charge for overage pages;
customer service, at least during regular business hours, if not 24/7;
both send and receive capability; and
no hidden fees or extra charges of any kind.
It is best to resist "brand name attachments" and not choose a fax service based only on the company name. Use one or two different comparison sites, instead, and even a third if you need a tie-breaker.
The fact is, the best of the bunch will meet or exceed every feature listed above, so take time to do a full comparison.
