Internet Faxing Features and Benefits

If your fax machine is connected to a conventional phone line, each fax you send is charged as a phone call. So, when you send a fax to a destination outside your local calling area, you pay long-distance charges. Internet faxing bypasses the need for fax machines and phone lines entirely. You usually pay a one-time, start-up fee and then a flat monthly rate based on the maximum number of faxes you plan to send.

Because you have no need to buy, install and administer hardware or software, you save money both on equipment and information technology personnel. And, since faxes are sent and received through existing e-mail applications, employees don't need extra training.

Photo courtesy iStockPhoto Receive faxes on any device used to check e-mail.

Security can be a concern with conventional faxes, because paper faxes often sit in the machine until someone -- not necessarily the intended receiver -- picks them up. That can't happen with Internet faxes because they go directly to the recipient's e-mail account.

Perhaps the most basic and most useful advantage of Internet faxing is never having to deal with conventional fax machines. You don't have to change toner cartridges or worry about busy signals. And, you don't have to worry about a fax getting lost in a pile of papers.

Other Internet Faxing Features
Most Internet faxing services also come with a Web site or Web interface to access special features like:

• Tracking and reporting of faxes
• Scheduling faxes
• Archiving faxes
• Password protection of files
• Creating groups for frequently sent faxes
• Broadcasting faxes to hundreds or thousands of recipients

For more information about Internet faxing and related topics, check out the links on the next page.