Free Online Fax Service
by Matt Gerchow
Fax is a technology that has been widely used within business, and sometimes outside of business, since the 1980s. With the advent of the internet, email and similar technologies have been adopted on a wide scale.
However, fax is perhaps surprisingly still used in companies around the world. A traditional fax machine requires access to a phone line.
This means that, unless the owner does not mind having their primary line tied up whenever a fax needs to be sent, they must incur the cost of a second line rental each month. Adding this cost to the price of toner can lead to a fairly inconvenient piece of office equipment.
It is due to this that more people are turning to internet fax services. In fact, a number of these types of services offer trials, which means that, at least for a limited period, it is possible to use a free online fax service.
Some services offer native or web-based applications. These allow the user to log in, scan a document or create one on the PC (in the way that any standard document might be created), upload it to the fax company's servers, where it will then be sent in the same way as it would had the user access to a "standard" machine.
This means that the user can send their documents to colleagues or other businesses, and the recipient will know no difference. As email is so fully integrated into most people's business lives, a number of these types of companies now offer email-to-fax services.
These allow the user to email their documents to a specific email address, with the recipients fax number incorporated into the address. This makes sending a document as easy as sending an email.
Different companies offer different levels of service, but some offer a genuine fax number so that the user can also receive documents. When a document is received, it will be automatically emailed to the user, cutting down on paper and toner costs.
Whilst it is a comparatively old technology, fax lives on in modern business. Using a free online fax service can help to limit costs and limit the time devoted to maintaining an aging piece of office equipment.
However, fax is perhaps surprisingly still used in companies around the world. A traditional fax machine requires access to a phone line.
This means that, unless the owner does not mind having their primary line tied up whenever a fax needs to be sent, they must incur the cost of a second line rental each month. Adding this cost to the price of toner can lead to a fairly inconvenient piece of office equipment.
It is due to this that more people are turning to internet fax services. In fact, a number of these types of services offer trials, which means that, at least for a limited period, it is possible to use a free online fax service.
Some services offer native or web-based applications. These allow the user to log in, scan a document or create one on the PC (in the way that any standard document might be created), upload it to the fax company's servers, where it will then be sent in the same way as it would had the user access to a "standard" machine.
This means that the user can send their documents to colleagues or other businesses, and the recipient will know no difference. As email is so fully integrated into most people's business lives, a number of these types of companies now offer email-to-fax services.
These allow the user to email their documents to a specific email address, with the recipients fax number incorporated into the address. This makes sending a document as easy as sending an email.
Different companies offer different levels of service, but some offer a genuine fax number so that the user can also receive documents. When a document is received, it will be automatically emailed to the user, cutting down on paper and toner costs.
Whilst it is a comparatively old technology, fax lives on in modern business. Using a free online fax service can help to limit costs and limit the time devoted to maintaining an aging piece of office equipment.