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David Berger's Internet Fax Guide |
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E-mail to Fax OverviewEach fax company below allows you to select a fax number for your own ”private” use. During the online sign-up process, which takes less than five minutes, you'll select a fax number and enter your e-mail address. Once your account is set up, any incoming faxes will be automatically converted and routed to your email as PDF or JPG attachments. You may also access faxes via the Web. Sending faxes including Word docs, PDFs and pictures is a snap. Below are two videos that should help you to understand the process better.
MyFax
MyFax is the company I choose. It was very satisfying to call AT&T for the last time — to disconnect my phone line. Since I made the change to MyFax, I've slashed my costs by eliminating a phone line, fax machine, paper and toner. At $10 a month and no set up fee, MyFax is a great value. And if you select the annual payment option during the online sign up process, you'll pay just over $9.00 a month. For just pennies a day, you can receive 200 incoming and send 100 outgoing fax pages each month. Additional faxes, including incoming toll-free pages, cost just 10¢ each and it's easy to upgrade to a larger plan if needed. MyFax offers local and toll-free fax numbers throughout the USA, Canada, England and Europe. MyFax offers 1 year of free fax storage via the Internet and allows up to 5 users per account. MyFax integrates well with Microsoft Office and there's even a free fax plug-in for ACT! contact manager. If you own a Smart phone, you can receive faxes as PDF email attachments on it. • MyFax Website• MyFax 30-Day Free Trial • Get 3 Months of Service for $20 eFax
eFax has the largest Internet fax network and supports over 11 million customers worldwide in 46 different countries. eFax, owned by J2 Global Communications, boasts a 99.5% up-time and offers local fax numbers in over 3,300 cities worldwide. Over the past three years, eFax expanded its geographic coverage by about 62%. eFax currently offers toll-free fax numbers throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. When I called eFax's customer support for information, my questions were answered quickly. eFax costs $16.95 a month ($14.13 when you sign up to eFax's annual plan). eFax allows up to 5 users to receive 130 fax pages and send up to 30 per month. Overage fax pages cost 10¢ each (20¢ for extra incoming toll-free fax pages). eFax has a $10 set-up fee and stores faxes online for up to 1 year free of charge. eFax can also deliver faxes as PDF email attachments to your mobile phone. FYI, J2 Global Communication's acquisitions include eFax, RapidFax, CallWave Fax, Send2Fax, SmartFax, Fax.com, FaxMicro, OneFax and jConnect. • eFax 30-Day Free Trial• eFax's Annual Plan Discount MaxEmail
Receive up to 100 fax pages a month for as little as $2.00—based on a one-time annual payment of $24.00. All outgoing faxes within the US cost only 5¢ per page. Faxes sent to your fax number are directed to your email address, so you may receive faxes from anywhere, anytime. MaxEmail's coverage area includes 140 area codes. MaxEmail charges a one-time activation fee of $10. MaxEmail offers other Internet faxing plans including an $84.00 annual plan (or $9.95 monthly), but the one mentioned above is their best priced deal. • MaxEmail Website• MaxEmail 30-Day Free Trial FAXAGE
FAXAGE is a cost-effective Internet fax solution offering the widest variety of plans including 5¢ faxing at $3.49 a month. Other good plans from FAXAGE include 150 inbound and 150 outbound fax pages at $7.95 a month and 5,000 inbound fax pages for $19.95 a month. FAXGAE has a low 5¢ per fax minute overage charge on both local and toll-free fax numbers, and it charges a nominal $5.00 set-up fee. FAXAGE also has a plan at $64.95 a month with an average cost of 1.3¢ per fax. Designed for small business use, FAXAGE allows for multiple fax numbers per account and forwards faxes to as many email addresses as the user specifies. User management, status reporting, list faxing and other features are all provided via an integrated web interface. In addition to the Website, both email and custom API support are provided for sending and receiving faxes. • FAXAGE WebsiteRapidFax
At $9.95 per month and no set-up fee, RapidFax gives you a local or toll-free fax number for incoming faxes, including 300 combined incoming or outgoing pages. Additional pages cost only 8¢ each. RapidFax's Internet faxing plan includes a maximum of 2 users and free fax storage via the Internet for 30 days. RapidFax is supported by J2 Global Communications, which also owns eFax, CallWave Fax, Send2Fax, SmartFax, Fax.com, FaxMicro, OneFax and jConnect. RapidFax offers an exceptional value within the J2 branded line up. • RapidFax Website• RapidFax 30-Day Free Trial MetroFax
At $12.95 MetroFax provides a single user with 1,000 pages of Internet faxing (combined incoming and outgoing). Additional pages cost 3¢ each and you may get an extra fax number for $2.00. MetroFax charges a $9.95 set-up fee and offers 30 days of free storage via the Internet. • MetroFax WebsiteRingCentral
Make sure you read the fine print before signing up to Ringcentral. Yes, it offers a $7.99 plan, but that's assuming you pay $95.88 annually — otherwise it's $9.99 a month. RingCentral's fax service has no set up fee and includes a local or toll-free fax number and 300 shared incoming or outgoing monthly faxes. Additional fax pages cost only 6¢ each, making it a good faxing value overall. RingCentral's plan includes a maximum of 6 users and free online fax storage for 30 days. View video demo. • RingCentral Website• RingCentral 30-Day Free Trial Free Email to Fax ServicesThe following information outlines how to send and receive free e-faxes.Feel free to request my free newsletter which contains an updated list of companies offering free e-faxing services.Free e-Faxing NewsletterBest Free Fax Service
BestFreeFax.com offers free outgoing faxing services without any hidden gimmicks. You may send two, fourteen-page, faxes a day totally free! Yes, that's 28 pages of free faxing per day to any destination in the Continental 48 United States, Canada or Hawaii. • BestFreeFax.comMyFax Free Fax
MyFax also offers free faxing services. Users may send a fax to 41 countries in exchange for providing three e-mail addresses likely for marketing purposses. Give it a try and let me know what you think. • 'Send' Only Free MyFax Page• 30-Day Free Trial — Send & Receive eFax Free by J2
eFax Free by J2 Global Communications allows to you receive faxes by email. eFax Free provides a "randomly" selected eFax number for receiving only — which means you could live in California and get a Michigan fax number. I've received emails from folks stating that this service no longer works. I welcome your feedback. • 'Receive' Only eFax Free Page• 30-Day Free Trial — Send & Receive TPC.INT
The following information is taken from David Berger's book, The Cheapest Way to Make Phone Calls, Send Fax or Use the Internet (which is available free of charge for download). The Internet Multicasting Service is a non-profit organization operating a free e-mail-to-fax service. It relies on volunteers from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, who maintain fax servers in their particular areas, so all phone calls to fax machines are local. FYI, document number RFC1530 states TPC.int invented Remote Printing (ie, Internet Faxing) back in 1993. Since TPC.int relies on volunteers, the reliability is questionable. To send a fax to someone, first create the e-mail message. Use the following address. Replace the italicized variables with the actual person's name and phone number, but keep the punctuation and underline intact remote-printer.First_Last@13135551234.iddd.tpc.int Note that the fax number is one continuous string of digits, and it must include the 1 and the area code, even if the fax is just being sent across town. The service automatically sends you an e-mail confirmation either stating that the fax transmission was successful or did not go through — probably because there is no local fax server in that area. Here's a short list of areas covered by TPC: Canada and the United States (+1); Botswana (+267 total coverage); South Africa (+27); Greece (+30); The Netherlands (+31 total coverage); Bulgaria (+359); San Marino (+378 total coverage); Ukraine (+380); Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro (+381 total coverage); Croatia (+385); Italy (+39); Romania (+40); United Kingdom, Isle of Manx and the Channel Islands (+44 total coverage); Sweden (+46 total coverage); Germany (+49); Honduras (+504); Nicaragua (+505 total coverage); Cuba (+53); Brazil (+55); Australia (+61); Indonesia (+62); New Zealand (+64); Singapore (+65 total coverage); Hong Kong (+852 total coverage); China (+86); Taiwan (+886); Turkey (+90); India (+91); Sri Lanka (+94 total coverage) and Lebanon (+961 total coverage). • TPCint.orgFreePopFax
Based in France, FreePopFax allows you to send a fax to any fax machine in the US, Canada and 45 other countries. FreePopFax is supported by sponsored ads appearing on the cover page each fax. Since you don't know what ads will be displayed, I'd be a bit cautious. Users may compose a fax by attaching a file or entering text via a Web interface. • FreePopFax.comFaxZero
Like FreePopFax, FaxZero is supported by ads appearing on the cover page of each fax; therefore, I'd advise caution. Users may compose a fax by attaching a file or entering text via a Web interface. If you pay $1.99, you can have the ads removed. FYI, J2 Global Communications, parent company of eFax, filed suit against the owner of FaxZero for patent infringement (court case number 4:08-cv-04469-WDB). • FaxZero.comFaxItNice
FaxItNice permits you to send a free fax anywhere in the US, which normally costs $5.00 (using FaxIt Once plan). FaxItNice's free fax service requires you to create an account and secure a free fax token. Additionally, FaxItNice's paid plans are unclear and seemingly expensive. For example, its No Monthly Fee Plan cost you $20 to establish an account, plus $19.99 set-up fee and then it costs 75¢ to receive and 18¢ to send a fax page. • FaxItNice.comGotFreeFax
GotFreeFax is new and allows you to send a three-page fax within the US or Canada without ads appearing on the cover page. Users may compose a fax by attaching a file or entering text via an online user interface. The question is what does the Free Fax service not include that the premium service does? According to GotFreeFax's Website, its Premium Pay-Per-Fax service offers priority delivery, encrypted connection and technical support. GotFreeFax promotes its own paid-fax service and advertises other companies such as RingCentral, which confuses me. I'm seeking feedback from folks who have tried GotFreeFax's free fax service. • GotFreeFax.comFreeFax
FreeFax uses TPC.int's network of volunteers; hence, it is unreliable. Of all the free services I list, TPC.int is the one most people complain about. • FreeFax.comLearn MoreMore Helpful Fax Information:
Useful VideosInteresting Videos & Tutorials:
Reporting Unsolicited Fax SpamReport unsolicited advertisements via fax to http://www.junkfaxes.org. Note: A reasonable effort was made to verify that the information above is up to date and accurate: however, due to the nature of the Internet and the fact that faxing services change often, no guarantee is implied or intended. More...
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