Online Fax FAQ

1. Is it expensive for my company to switch to online faxing?

Absolutely not. Because online faxing does not require the sort of expensive peripheral equipment involved in traditional faxing switching to it is often free. The only equipment that you might need to purchase will be a scanner, but these are relatively inexpensive, and many companies find that they don’t even require a scanner for online faxing anyway.

2. I’ve heard that there are privacy issues related to Internet faxing, is this correct?

Naturally any form of business that is conducted over the Internet requires some safety features built into it. Online faxing providers build very intense encryption into their platforms to ensure that your data remains secure. Furthermore, it is also worth pointing out that conventional faxing runs security risks, with secure documents being sent to machines in public areas. Internet faxing negates any such worries by its very nature.

3. Do I require a lot of technical knowledge to set up Internet faxing?

Not at all. The online faxing service providers will set up your account for you, and once this is in place there is really no requirement for you to perform anything technical. Most online faxing services are operated through email programs such as Microsoft Outlook, and are no more complicated than sending an email with an attachment.

4. Can I set up online faxing so that numerous employees from my company have access to it?

Yes, most online faxing service providers enable you to set up multiple accounts, so that your employees can access online faxing from their own email account. It is advisable to check with a particular provider before you sign up for them to find out what their policy is, or you can read one of our reviews first so that you can compare various providers.

5. Is Internet faxing expensive to run on a month-to-month basis?

The opposite is the case; it is far cheaper to run an Internet faxing account than to fax in the conventional manner. This becomes more obvious the more faxing your company engages in. Conventional faxing incurs large expense through the purchasing of perishable items such as ink, toner and paper, it also clocks up more expense via utility bills and line rental. With Internet faxing, you pay a one-off fee each month, and as long as you don’t exceed a pre-set number of inbound and onbound faxes, that is the only payment you make.

To ensure that your online faxing account meets your needs, online providers usually offer numerous different packages, aimed at a variety of different faxing volumes. We cover many of these providers and their various schemes in our reviews section.

6. Will my employees require training to be able to use Internet faxing competently?

If they are remotely IT competent, then the answer is definitely not. Sending an Internet fax is no more difficult than sending an email with an attachment. And most fax providers enable users to compose fax documents and headers using commonly used commercial software such as Microsoft Word.

7. Can I continue to use my existing fax machine if I switch to online faxing?

Yes, some providers allow you to utilise your existing fax machine in order to send faxes over the Internet. It is best to check with individual providers as to whether they offer this service.

8. I’m interested in Internet faxing, but I’m not sure if it’ll meet the needs of my company, can I try it for a short period of time first?

Yes, many online faxing providers offer free trial periods, sometimes for as much as thirty days. There are also many packages available that cost a trivial amount of money per month, in exchange for which one receives a small number of faxes. This could be a good option for a company unsure of whether it wishes to pursue Internet faxing, or to what degree.

9. I need a lot of documents archiving, can Internet faxing deal with this?

Virtually all Internet fax providers offer storage services, and several offer unlimited storage for an indefinite period of time. This is something to check out with individual providers, firstly using our review section as a guide. It is, in fact, more convenient to store documents via online faxing for obvious reasons; no paper and no storage space are required.

10. Will I be able to send faxes to other companies that don’t have an Internet faxing account?

Yes, you can send faxes via online faxing to either email accounts, or in some cases conventional fax machines. It’s also possible to send faxes via VoIP.