What is an online fax? How do I choose? Online Fax Services

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Web Fax Service FAQ

FaxCompare has compiled a web fax service FAQ based on inquiries and comments submitted by FaxCompare users. A web fax service (also known as online fax, email fax and internet fax) is used to send and receive faxes over the internet and eliminates the need to purchase a fax machine. Please contact us if you have a question that is not listed here.

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Web Fax Contents

Top 5 Most Frequently Asked Web to Fax Questions

1. Can I port my current fax number to a web fax service?

If you currently have service with a local telephone company, then you should have no problem porting your number or taking that number with you if you decide to change carriers later. However, if you were issued your fax number through an email fax service or VoIP service, then you might have a problem. Electronic fax services and VoIP services have to lease numbers from telecommunications service providers, who control the switches used to route calls from the internet to analog phone lines. Therefore, those numbers are registered to the email fax service or VoIP service and you don't own it like you do if it's issued by a local service provider. The good news is that if you port your number to a web fax service, you can keep it no matter where you move.

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2. I'm new to email fax. How do I send an email fax?

First, you need to sign up for an email fax service. Check out our internet fax reviews page for some options. Second, you will need to scan the document you want to fax and save it on your computer (skip this step if the file is already saved on your computer). Third you simply attach the document to an email and address the email to the fax number you're sending it to. For example, if you have a MyFax account and you want to fax something to the number 222-555-6666, you would type 12225556666@myfax.com in the "To" field of an email, and the email and attachment would go to that fax number.

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3. Which web based fax providers are Mac-compatible?

We have tested 8 fax by email providers for mac-compatibility: MyFax, RingCentral, MetroFax, Callwave, RapidFAX, GoFaxer, TrustFax and OneSuite. All of the email faxing services are compatible with Macs except TrustFax and OneSuite.

Tip: To get around TrustFax's incompatibility, all you need to do is use a different browser, such as FireFox, instead of Safari. Unfortunately, there is no way around OneSuite's incompatibility because it is a software issue, not a browser issue.

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4. I am concerned about receiving advertisements and unsolicited faxes from contacts I don't know or approve. Do any of these web to fax services have a filter that allows me to customize my sender list?

There are three ways a web to fax service addresses junk faxes:

  1. Spam/Junk Fax Filters - Most web fax providers offer "junk fax" filters free of charge with their service. These filters recognize "junk" faxes and will move them to a "junk folder." However, since these filters only have the ability to organize and NOT BLOCK faxes, this feature is pretty useless if you receive a high number of unsolicited faxes. You still have to pay for these "junk faxes" because you technically received them.
  2. Block Lists - Several fax to email providers offer block lists. You can curb unsolicited faxes by entering in phone numbers you want to block. These contacts will NEVER be able to send you a fax again. The downside to a blocked list is you can't always guess the phone number of the next solicitor. Once you obtain the number and block it, they can change it and spam you again.
  3. Approve/Block List Combination - This is the only method FaxCompare has found that truly blocks junk faxes. RingCentral is the only internet faxing provider (so far!) that has this feature. You can opt to "block all numbers" on your blocked list, and then manually enter in contacts' phone numbers into your approved list. This way, no solicitor will be able to fax you again. The only downside to this method is that you will need the flexibility to approve people on the fly. (If you're receiving a fax from a new contact, you will need to log into the system and manually add them to the approved list. But, if you have a smart phone, this shouldn't be a problem).

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5. How do I electronically sign my faxes and send them back?

Some email fax providers, such as RingCentral and eFax, include an e-signature feature with their service. If your email fax provider does not have an e-signature, follow the process below to e-sign your faxes

  1. Scan and save a digital version of your signature (.jpg, .gif or .png)
  2. Download a .PDF editor, such as Adobe Acrobat
  3. Open your fax with the .PDF editor
  4. Insert your signature image file
  5. Re-save the file
  6. Upload new file; send back as a signed fax

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What equipment or do I need to web fax?

The only set-up required to web fax is a computer, a browser of your choice (Firefox is our favorite!) and an internet connection. A scanner is optional and only necessary if you don't already have the documents saved on your computer.

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Does there have to be an internet connection at both sending and receiving ends for web faxes to work?

No. You can send a web fax to someone with a traditional fax machine and no internet connection. Your provider will convert your attachments to a fax and then transmit it to their number.

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What email programs can you use to email fax?

Email fax services work with all web-based email programs (i.e. Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.), and they work with most email software programs (i.e. Outlook and Novell). Email software programs have plug-ins specifically designed for email faxing, but you are are not required to use the plug-ins in order to email fax.

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What tips can you offer for porting numbers?

  1. Sign up for the service you're porting the number to via the phone (not the internet)
  2. Allow 2-3 weeks for the porting process to be complete
  3. Pay outstanding balances
  4. Be prepared to pay a porting charge; about 1/3 of the email fax providers charge anywhere from $20-$50.
  5. Read the terms and conditions of the service you're porting the number to. Sometimes there are egregious ownership terms.

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How do web fax services charge? Per page or per minute?

Fax providers bill by pages with the assumption that one page takes 60 seconds to transmit. So, if your web fax provider advertises that they include 300 pages, you can think of it as 300 minutes. Approximately 90% of all pages take less than 60 seconds to transmit. Graphic-intensive fax pages may take longer than 60 seconds, and may be charged as multiple pages. Exceptions: MetroFax bills per page, not per minute no matter how long the page takes to transmit. MaxEmail bills per 30 seconds of transmission time, rather than 60 seconds like most email fax providers.

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If a web fax service includes more than one user with their service, does that mean they include more than one fax number as well?

More users does not mean more fax numbers. A user is simply an email address that is authorized to send/receive faxes through their email account. For example, if you have 5 users (email accounts) with your web fax service, then all email accounts would receive notifications when a fax is sent/received. Also, each email address tied to the account would be able to send faxes directly through their email program (i.e. Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) as opposed to the web fax provider's online interface.

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What happens when I need an additional user? Can I delete one, add another for an additional cost, or am I stuck?

If you need to add another user to your account, you can do one of two things:

  1. Delete a current user and replace them with the new user
    --OR--
  2. Give the new user the log-in information to the email fax provider's online interface, and let them send/receive faxes from there.

If you're opting for the first method because the email to fax feature is important to you, then we recommend looking for an email fax provider with a high number of users. FaxAGE and eXtremeFax have unlimited users; TrustFax has 10 users. As far as we know, the only email fax provider that lets you add users for an additional cost is Fax2Mail.

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Do web to fax providers support color faxes?

At this time, web to fax providers do not support color faxes. Like graphic-intensive faxes, color-intensive faxes have longer transmission times, and web fax services do not have the resources to secure enough bandwidth to support this feature. This is the direction in which they're heading, so don't be surprised to see a color fax soon.

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