Is it Worth Using an Online Fax Service?

The fax is not obsolete: it has simply evolved. Today, rather than use a traditional analogue system, with a fax machine tied to a phone line, we can now send faxes online. This proves to be a very popular method of information transfer amongst businesses. However, it can seem a little pointless when you consider that much information can be send via other means, such as FTP or email. So, is it worth sending faxes via the internet? We think it is, and below, we will explain why.

Traditional Fax vs. Online Fax

Some people just prefer to use fax. For these people the argument may be whether to move the fax online, or stick with the traditional machine and phone line. We believe that it makes more sense to send a fax online. This is because the process is much easier, faster, and more efficient. There is no need to print anything out, or to move from where you are, you simply load it up to your email, write the relevant address, and hit send. Alternatively, you can choose to purchase a Fax API, which is a piece of software that you allow you to customise your faxing preferences. Fax API can be made bespoke, so that it matches your exact requirements. Either way, it is much easier to send a fax using the internet than it is to send a fax using a traditional fax machine.

With a traditional fax machine you feed a piece of paper with the information you need, the machine takes a photocopy, converts it into an analogue format, then sends it down the telephone. This means that the only information that you can send via traditional fax machine is in paper form. That is limited. However, with an online fax you can send a variety of different formats, including Word, Tiff, PDF, and Gif. Therefore, there is much more flexibility when sending a fax online.

Another way in which it an online fax has an advantage is in mobility. With a traditional fax machine, you are constrained to where the machine actually is. You cannot send faxes on the fly, you have to send them as and when you are at a machine. If you send a fax online, though, you have much more mobility. You can send a fax from wherever you have an internet connection. So you could be on a ferry in the middle of the Atlantic, and as long as you have an internet connection, you can send your fax. Furthermore, you can receive a fax anywhere too, because online faxes allow you to send and receive fax. This means that fi the other person has a fax machine and they want to send you a fax, you do not have to have a fax machine to receive a fax either.