The Best Online Faxing Services for 2024

What Is Online Faxing?

Online faxing is the method of sending and receiving faxes in a digital format through your internet connection, directly from your computer or mobile device. The virtual fax (vFax) process transmits almost any file that can be attached to an email.

While traditional faxing requires a dedicated phone line and a fax machine, vFax only requires an internet connection and a web-connected device. vFax users can send online faxes through a vFax provider’s app or web dashboard, or even directly from their email. The recipient can receive the faxed documents on their fax machine or email address. Unlike generic file sharing, online faxes are still legally recognized and binding documents.

Since vFax is a cloud-hosted service, your vFax provider handles the transmission between the internet and your recipient’s fax machine. Online faxes can be sent anywhere in the world via easy-to-use interfaces, directly through email, or by integrating existing VoIP services with a fax machine.

Many of today’s VoIP providers offer vFax services, because the T.38 protocol now makes virtual faxing possible to send documents and other data through your standard internet connection.

 

How Does Internet Faxing Work?

Internet faxing works by encoding faxed documents into a digital format, transmitting them over the internet, then a) delivering them to the recipient via email, or b) decoding them into an analog format that the recipient’s fax machine can receive and print.

Users send virtual faxes directly from their vFax provider’s dashboard, or from an email address. They can receive vFaxes through these same methods, or through a traditional analog fax machine.

Sending an online fax requires only four things:

1. Internet connection
2. Computer or mobile device
3. Virtual fax provider subscription
4. Email address

Process for sending a virtual fax:

1. Open your email or the dedicated web dashboard. Type in the recipient’s fax number. If sending the vFax via email, follow their number with the vFax domain, as such: 16509876475@ringcentralfax.com.
2. Attach the document you want to send; some services allow you to include a message or cover sheet.
3. The recipient then receives the document and cover letter as if it was a standard fax. If the recipient uses online fax, they also receive the document via email.

On the more technical side of the equation, the hard copy file you upload or scan into your computer will be converted to either a PDF or TIFF image file type. It's then attached to the email being sent, which will arrive in the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME). This is the internet standard that allows emails to support non-text attachments.

The data is transmitted via the TCP/IP protocol to allow for secure, long-distance transmission and even the ability to verify if your fax has been received.

 

How VoIP Faxing is Different From Regular Faxing

VoIP faxing uses the internet to transmit documents virtually as data, while traditional faxing uses the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) to transmit documents in an analog format. While traditional faxing requires a fax machine, VoIP faxing does not.

Here are the ways that online faxing and regular faxing are different:

• Transmission method: VoIP faxing sends fax over the internet as digital data. The provider handles this transmission, converting the document back into an analog fax format before delivering it to the recipient’s fax machine, email, or vFax dashboard.
• Required hardware: VoIP faxing requires only an internet connection and a web-connected device, while traditional faxing requires a fax machine and a landline connection
• Device compatibility: With VoIP faxing, you can send a vFax directly from a computer or mobile device, using your email address or provider’s app. This means that users can send VoIP faxes from anywhere, while traditional faxing needs to be done in-office or near a fax machine.
• Provider requirements: To send a traditional fax, you need a dedicated fax phone number, a fax machine, and your recipient’s fax number. To send a VoIP fax, you must be subscribed to a virtual fax service and have the recipient’s fax number.
• Speed and sending multiple documents: VoIP faxing sends documents instantaneously, while traditional faxing can take several minutes per page. VoIP faxing also enables you to send multiple documents at once.

 

Benefits of Online Faxing

Online faxing provides mobility and convenience that make traditional faxing more user-friendly, while maintaining the security and professionalism that make faxing popular with business users.

• No fax machine necessary
• Mobility
• Confidentiality
• Reduced costs
• Saves time
• Paperless and private

 

No Fax Machine Necessary

With online faxing, you do not need a physical fax machine–just an internet connection and a device.

Removing a fax machine from the situation leads to greater flexibility, the option to send faxes on the go, and reduced costs associated with hardware maintenance.

 

Increased Mobility

Internet faxing utilizes either a web-based interface, an email account, or a smartphone app. Because of this, you can send faxes from anywhere in the world as long as you have a stable internet connection.

Online faxing also allows users to send and receive more than one document at a time and send a document to multiple recipients. This means online faxing is much quicker and more convenient than traditional faxing.

 

Confidentiality

Faxes sent to an email account are far more private than just the public fax machine used by every worker in an office. When using a public fax machine, confidentiality is even more compromised.

Faxes are used mainly for legal documents, in which confidentiality is a major priority. With everyone delegated to your own private email, it’s much easier to ensure your files are seen only by your eyes.

 

Reduced Costs

Online faxing generally saves money for businesses, compared with using traditional analog fax. This is because virtual faxing doesn’t require landline phone service, so companies using vFax can often ditch their landline phone system.

Most online faxing services offer a subscription-based program to allow for unlimited faxes sent and received for one monthly fee, while some providers offer pay-per-fax options.

 

Saves Time

Faxing with a traditional machine is a slow and arduous process, enabling users to send only one document at a time. Online faxing allows for simultaneous faxing, which can save hours per week.

You can send or receive as many faxes as you need at the same time without waiting for them to be processed by a machine. Each one will turn up as its own individual email or fax, to keep everything neat and organized.

 

Security

All virtual faxes are end-to-end encrypted, making them more secure than regular emails. Some professional and legal contexts will not accept photographed or scanned documents, but will accept faxes–both virtual and regular. This security makes virtual faxing a good fit for many professional contexts.

 

Online Faxing Features to Look For

Many online faxing providers offer distinct business features for faxing. When choosing a vFax provider, look for the following features:

• Scheduled delivery
• Electronic signature
• Group faxing
• International faxing
• Number blocks
• Encryption
• Mobile alerts
• Custom cover pages
• Local and toll-free numbers

 

Scheduled Delivery

Senders can use the schedule delivery features to send faxes at a future date or time, such as before an appointment or important event. This feature is helpful when sending documents to users in another timezone, so you can schedule delivery at the start of their business day.

 

Electronic Signature

Through vFax providers’ web-based portals or smartphone apps, users can digitally sign their names before sending a fax, to ensure a legally binding document. Faxing is still the principal method of exchanging legal, binding, or contract documents, so It's imperative that users can digitally sign any form.

 

Group Faxing

Online faxing enables users to send or receive multiple faxes at once. Taking this one step further, group faxing lets users blast out a single fax to as many recipients as necessary in one click.

Thanks to the intuitive portals and apps from your faxing service provider, group faxing is simple and generally won’t cost you anything extra.

 

International Faxing

One of the major benefits of online faxing is the ability to send faxes internationally without incurring the long-distance charges that happen with landline-based faxing. Instead, online faxing is similar to sending an email–it doesn’t matter which country the recipient is in.

All vFax providers support international texting.

 

Number Blocks

Many virtual fax service providers let you create a whitelist of allowed numbers, or a blacklist of specifically blocked numbers to help cut down on the number of unwanted faxes. This feature helps keep your email inbox uncluttered.

 

Encryption

To keep your files and documents secure, look for a provider that offers not only outgoing but even incoming fax encryption.

Some providers even enable SSL-secured web communications with their app portal, which provide full security throughout fax delivery. These features ensure that sensitive information, and user profile information, are only visible to authenticated and involved parties.

 

Fax Alerts on Mobile

Most providers support mobile alerts, enabling you to receive text-based or push notifications when you receive an inbound fax. Users can also set up notifications for successfully delivered faxes, which confirm that their recipient received the fax.

 

Custom Cover Pages

A fax cover sheet provides basic information that outlines the content contained within the fax. This summary is helpful for professional documents, technical information, or long faxes.

Most vFax services allow you to create your cover page through their mobile apps, desktop apps, and web-based GUI portals.

 

Local and Toll-Free Numbers

Most vFax providers have a bank of toll-free and local phone numbers from area codes across the US, from which users can select a business phone number to use as a fax address. Users can pick a new number from an area code of their choosing or use a pre-existing number.

 

What Are the Issues with Online Faxing?

While VoIP faxing is generally more cost-effective and convenient than regular faxing, the virtual method has a few drawbacks. It requires an internet connection, provider subscription, and the vFax sender must know the recipient’s address.

• Requires an internet connection: Regular faxing requires a phone line and fax machine, which enables companies to send faxes even with no internet. Virtual faxing requires an internet connection from mobile or web-connected device,
• Requires a provider subscription: To send a virtual fax, users must subscribe with a virtual fax provider, who handles the transmission and converts the fax between data and analog formats. Regular faxing requires analog phone service but not a vFax provider subscription.
• Can lead to a cluttered email inbox: Virtual fax users that don’t use a fax machine receive inbound vFaxes via their email inbox. If these users don’t organize faxes, they can quickly lead to a cluttered and disorganized email inbox.
• Must know recipient’s full address or fax number: When sending a fax via the app dashboard, the sender only needs to know the recipient’s fax number. When sending a virtual fax via email, however, the sender must input the recipient’s fax number, followed by the provider name as the email domain. Sending a vFax via email can make senders susceptible to errors and prevent delivery.

 

How to Choose an Online Faxing Service

Companies that frequently send faxes will certainly benefit by switching from an analog fax system to online faxing. vFax has lower costs, increased flexibility and mobility, and its lack of hardware makes it much easier to maintain.

When choosing a vFax provider, keep the following information and practices in mind:

• Pricing: Some vFax providers charge for each fax, while others have a subscription model. It’s important to take a close look at exactly how companies charge and how much they will be charged.
• Hidden fees: Some subscription services surprise users with hidden and extra fees undisclosed at the time of sign up. While long-distance faxing is made easy through an internet connection, another good point to take note of is any extra costs or fees that might be charged for international or long-distance faxing.
• Limitations or restrictions: Some providers will limit the number of incoming and outgoing faxes that are allowed per month in your subscription package. If your service functions with a limited number of sent and received faxes, it is also possible the provider will charge overage fees for when you go over that predetermined limit.
• Customer service: With all hosted services, customer service is key. When things go wrong, you need someone to help. Ensuring the online faxing provider you decide to utilize has a solid and responsive customer service is key to maintaining your faxing service.
• Free trial: Some internet faxing providers will offer a free demo or trial period for their service. You can generally establish an overall understanding and feel for the service through these demos and trial periods. Trial periods also offer a way to test out the provider’s customer service and full list of features.