Internet or email fax services are becoming very popular with the computer savvy public. The ability to receive and send faxes whenever and wherever you access your email has proven too irresistible for many fax users to ignore.  

It’s an offer they couldn’t refuse. Can you blame them?  

No more paper-jams, no more bulky fax machines, no more messy inks, no more busy signals, no more extra phone lines, no more return trips to the office at 10 o’clock at night to retrieve that important fax.  

Internet fax is easy, mobile, convenient, accessible and very compatible with most of today’s and tomorrow’s computer gizmos and gadgets. From cell phones to BlackBerries to ultraportable notebook computers, email fax services will work with all of these contraptions.  

Besides, almost every aspect of doing business in our brick and mortar world has been transferred onto the Internet. Faxing services are no different. However, using an Internet fax service has some distinct advantages over the old fashion fax machine/service; mainly the ability to access your faxes anywhere, anytime. This mobility is a big plus for both mobile professionals and ordinary fax users. Being completely connected in a wired world can give any business or company a competitive edge.  

But there are so many Internet fax services to choose from, each with its own features and pricing structures, so just which Internet fax service is right for you?  

The answer will mainly depend on your own faxing needs or requirements. How much faxing do you plan to do? What types of faxing services do you need? Will you be only receiving faxes? Will you be only sending faxes? Will you need both functions? Will you need a fax broadcasting service?  

Perhaps the first question you have to ask yourself: Do you need Internet fax at all? Some people like to keep their businesses 9 to 5, weekdays only, please don’t bother me after working hours or on the weekend. If you want your faxing strictly confined to your office, during office hours on your old fax machine, then Internet fax is probably not for you!  

On the other hand, if you want your business or company to be able to receive and send faxes 24/7 – 365 days of the year, then you should check out the different Internet faxing services.  

There are many Internet fax services available to the consumer. Some of the better known ones are MyFax, eFax, Send2Fax and TrustFax. All these email fax services have different plans and features. They also have different rates and fees, so it pays to shop around and check out each before you sign-up to any one fax provider.  

Each fax service provider has slightly different ways of sending and receiving faxes. They all use email and the Internet. Some have a free desktop application download that sits on your desktop. Most can be used with Windows Outlook and Windows Office. Most or all have a Web Interface, online website where you can access your Internet fax account to send or check your faxes. Most also provide storage space if you wish to keep your faxes online.  

Almost all are completely flexible and scalable to meet all corporate faxing requirements. They can be customized to any size organization or business. Fax broadcasting, where you send a fax to a large numbers of recipients, is offered by most online fax services including the ones mentioned here.  

And obviously, all supply you with a local or toll-free fax number.  

What Internet fax service is right for you depends mainly on your own personal needs. Are your faxing needs very minimum or do you do a lot of faxing? The answer will usually determine which faxing service you go with. Of course, you must also check out customer support, service reliability and the overall quality of the fax service you are signing up for. But you knew that!  

If you just want to ONLY receive faxes, eFax will provide you with a free account where you can receive up to 20 free faxes a month. But be warned, you will have to upgrade to a paid service if you want to send faxes. The charge is minimal but they can quickly add up, so keep a close check on how many faxes you send each month. You should also be aware that each of these services charges higher rates to send international faxes; domestic faxes are cheaper.  

Another fax service you should check out if your faxing needs are light, Send2Fax Prepaid charges you $0.15 for every fax and a $20 deposit along with a very low $1.95 monthly fee. They also have a plan if you only send faxes – Send2Fax Broadcast is a send-only account at $0.06 per sent page and a $1.95 per month fee. TrustFax has a Power User plan for $19.95 per YEAR with 70 Free Fax Pages (Incoming AND Outgoing) and 15 MB online storage for your faxes.  

If your faxing needs are a little heavier you could try MyFax; it has great customer support and is only $10 a month, which includes 100 sent and 200 received faxes. No setup fees, no hidden charges, and it also informs you how much each of your faxes cost.

Save a tree. Send a fax online.

“We are losing Earth’s greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.” 12,500 sheets of paper can be made from 1 tree210 billion sheets of paper are consumed by faxing in US companies every year.10,000 sheets of paper per year are used by a single
US office worker95% of this paper will eventually be thrown away un recycled.4 trees per year are cut down to feed the fax requirements of an average
US company.17 million trees per year are cut down to supply fax paper for the
US as a whole 

We’re all aware that the planet’s resources are under pressure like never before, but how would switching to internet faxing help reverse this? Surely it would be a drop in a very large ocean? 

The truth might startle you. The decision to send your faxes online could substantially reduce deforestation and benefit the eco-system as a whole.  

First, let’s consider a real life example of fax paper usage in a typical office with 100 employees. 

Let’s assume that this office purchases approximately 1 million sheets of paper or about 5 tons*.This may seem excessive, but if you look at your own purchases you will find that 10,000 sheets of paper per person is a reasonable number and could even be conservative for some offices. 

Traditional faxing accounts for 5% of all paper used in offices, which means our example business is faxing out around 50,000 sheets of paper per year. 

Or 500 sheets per person. (Over 40 fax pages per month) 

On a micro-scale, this may seem insignificant. But when you consider
U.S. businesses now use about 21 million tons of paper every year it means faxing alone accounts for 210 billion sheets per year – a staggering figure by any standards – and one with devastating consequences for our rainforests. 

Furthermore, 95% of the paper used for faxing will eventually have to be disposed of. Although moves have been made in recent years to increase public awareness of recycling, the results are not enough to have a meaningful impact on deforestation. Most of this paper will end up as landfill, adding further to the pressures on the environment. 

Traditional fax machines are also the most energy intensive form of communication available. A report by the Association of Cities and Recycling found faxing to be the most wasteful form of transmitting messages. ** 

We believe that the movement to paperless fax solutions will have a significant impact on the environment. As part of the evolution of modern society towards a more conscientious and responsible attitude towards the earth’s resources, switching to Internet fax is a simple yet important step. Internet fax is also:Less expensive – online fax providers like TrustFax offer this technology from $29.95 per YearMore flexible – online fax will scale easily if your business requirements increaseQuicker – messages are sent in seconds rather than minutesLess hassle – send and receive faxes as easy as emailMore secure – access your communications on a 128 bit encrypted websiteBetter quality – what you see on the screen is what you fax, not a faint copy 

Your business will also make huge gains in terms of human resource productivity. Every member of your company can send faxes straight from their desktop. No more traipsing over to the fax machine, waiting for it to become free, punching in the number, sending the fax and then waiting for confirmation – ten times a day. You’ll also benefit from a huge cut in operating expenses if you no longer have to buy printer toner or paper. 

The transition from paper to digital media is happening across the whole spectrum of human communication. As email replaced snail mail, online faxing will supersede traditional fax machines. This change is a natural progression and is largely ineluctable – it is the rate of adoption that needs to increase. We are fast approaching critical mass with our depredation of the world’s rainforests. Serious changes need to be implemented now if we are to create a viable and sustainable environment for future generations.

RelayFax Server

RelayFax is an email-to-fax and fax-to-email fax server. RelayFax Pro automates the process of sending, receiving and managing your network fax traffic. By integrating into existing email systems, RelayFax provides full faxing capabilities from your desktop. RelayFax features include Caller ID Fax Routing – Using Inbound Fax Rules, RelayFax supports routing of faxes based upon Calling Number Display data (commonly called Caller ID); Outlook Address Book Integration – Client can use the shared contacts that are set up in your Outlook Address book so you don’t have to maintain multiple address books; OCR Inbound Routing – Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), RelayFax checks inbound faxes with your account database to utilize email forwarding and custom rules; SMTP Client – This application gives users a simple, yet complete, interface with which to send faxes; TWAIN Device Support – RelayFax is able to interface with TWAIN devices, such as scanners and digital cameras, quickly and easily; Fax Scheduling – Allows faxes to be assigned a specific date and time to be sent; Fax Broadcast Wizard – Send the same fax to large numbers of recipients; Attachment Faxing – Allows RelayFax to extract and fax attachments as true documents; Custom Cover Sheets – Using a cover page editor, each individual user has the option of selecting the default cover page, as set by the Administrator, or using another; and Ring Count Delay – Sets the number of rings before a call is answered to facilitate receiving Caller ID information or using the line for voice calls.

PGi Fax2Mail

 PGi Fax2Mail makes it economical, efficient and easy for individuals and small businesses send, receive and manage faxes right from their computer – just like they would use email. PGi Fax2Mail eliminates many fax-related expenses – like fax machines, extra phone lines, supplies and repairs. If you’re away from the office, you can still be productive and print to any fax machine from your mobile device, and receive and manage your faxes remotely.There are many benefits to using PGi Fax2Mail as your Internet fax service, including:

• No maintenance or supplies
• No busy signals or paper jams
• Ultimate convenience
• Reliable and always ‘ON’ when you need it to be
• Easy to use – if you know how to email, you know how to use PGi Fax2Mail
• Complete privacy when receiving documents in your personal inbox
• Enjoy savings over other providers. Compare Rates
• Flexible options-use your existing fax number or get a new local or Toll-Free number
• And much much more…

 

PGi Fax2Mail

 PGi Fax2Mail makes it economical, efficient and easy for individuals and small businesses send, receive and manage faxes right from their computer – just like they would use email. PGi Fax2Mail eliminates many fax-related expenses – like fax machines, extra phone lines, supplies and repairs. If you’re away from the office, you can still be productive and print to any fax machine from your mobile device, and receive and manage your faxes remotely.There are many benefits to using PGi Fax2Mail as your Internet fax service, including:

• No maintenance or supplies
• No busy signals or paper jams
• Ultimate convenience
• Reliable and always ‘ON’ when you need it to be
• Easy to use – if you know how to email, you know how to use PGi Fax2Mail
• Complete privacy when receiving documents in your personal inbox
• Enjoy savings over other providers. Compare Rates
• Flexible options-use your existing fax number or get a new local or Toll-Free number
• And much much more…