Internet Fax - How Does it Work?

Copyright (c) 2008 Titus Hoskins

As a society we are always seen to be embracing new technology. One of the main places that this is seen is within an office environment, where we have already started and pretty much accomplished replacing paper documents with digital ones. Well now there is another technological force heading to an office near you in the form of Internet faxing.

Internet faxing, or online faxing as it is also known, refers to the process of sending a fax via an email account. When you are faxed in this manner the fax is converted to a file and emailed to you as an attachment. You can then open this fax as many times as you need and the fax will be saved to your computer for any future reference.

Faxing is still essential to everyday business practices, especially when it comes to important documents such as legal documents and contracts. This can however become a hassle as fax machines are costly to run and prone to paper jams as well as other technical faults. With Internet faxing however all of these problems simply disappear!

All you need for Internet faxing is an Internet connection, an email account and a subscription to an Internet faxing service. This immediately cuts your business costs as you don't have to fork out for the actual fax machine or the paper and print cartridges that it takes. Big Plus, there is no need for an extra fax phone line.

A standard fax machine that is connected to a conventional phone line charges you the same amount it costs for a phone call with every fax that you send. Think about the amount of faxes that you send in a week and this cost soon adds up! With Internet faxing however, you pay a start up fee and then a set monthly rate that is calculated on the maximum number of faxes you plan to send. As it is a hosted service it also means that you don't need to buy or install fax servers, modems or any special software. You simply sign up to your service provider and you are given a Local or Toll-Free telephone number that allows you to send and receive faxes.

With Internet faxing you get a wide range of features that you wouldn't get with your average fax machine. You get to track and a report of all your faxes, whether you have sent or received the fax. This stops the problem that is common with a fax machine, that problem is lost faxes. No longer will you have to worry about this as you will have a clear record of everyone you have faxed and everyone who has faxed you. Most of your faxes can be stored online for around 30 days for most online fax services, some have longer periods. Remember, you can also store and save all your faxes to your email system or computer.

The security that comes with Internet faxing is also a lot higher. You can have encrypted faxes which are very secure. Let's face it with a fax machine, anyone who is in your office can pick up that fax and read it or fax someone from your machine but not with Internet faxing! Your Internet fax service is, just like your email account, password protected. This gives you; or your business sole access to your fax service and as your fax service is online you can gain access to send or receive a fax anywhere that you have access to the Internet. This means Internet faxing is perfect for mobile professionals, business travellers and anyone who is putting in that extra bit of overtime.

Internet faxing allows your business to reach new levels as the world becomes more and more mobile. Does your company have it?