March 09, 2022
Fax machines can be a dying species, but you may still need to send or receive faxes from time to time. We consider costs, ease of use, and security to choose the best online fax service.
However, fax machines did not arrive until the mid-1960s. Even today, with all-in-one printers accommodating standalone fax machines, sending and receiving faxes is still sometimes necessary, especially when dealing with doctors or governments. Fortunately, you no longer need a cumbersome machine or a sleek all-in-one printer to send faxes. Alternatively, you can rely on an online fax service that you can access online or from your phone.
How do we assess fax services?
We use several essential criteria to assess fax services. One of the first aspects we consider is the cost per page because this metric enables us to determine their respective value. We also pay monthly allowances for most fax service pages we review but do not treat all service pages equally. We prefer services that offer a range of pages because this structure provides more flexibility for users who will have to send far more faxes than they receive - or vice versa.
When subscribers run out of pages, most fax services charge extra in the range of 3 to 12 cents per page. For those who frequently fax, reducing the overage fee is beneficial.
Fax by number
An important element to consider when reviewing different online faxing services is the options you have regarding your fax number. Some services assign you only one number, which gives you little or no input. Some allow you to select a specific region for your fax number, and some will enable you to choose a custom number. Another essential factor that distinguishes these services is whether they offer toll-free numbers or not. We appreciate that our online fax service can transmit existing fax numbers, saving you the hassle of notifying all your contacts.
We also consider how each service handles international numbers. All of the services we reviewed offer US and Canada numbers. However, some services may provide international fax numbers in more countries. This is especially useful if you have a lot of remote offices to manage international fax correspondence.
Security and features
We take the security of your fax service very seriously. For example, we may penalize services that do not handle passwords securely during the account setup phase. We also prioritize services that support two-factor authentication. Since government and medical offices are potential recipients of your fax, you need to make sure that any correspondence, like any other sensitive online account, remains private and accessible to anyone else.
We also prefer online fax services that offer helpful and relevant features. The ability to digitally sign documents is, for example, convenient because you do not need to print the document to sign with a pen and then scan it again. Robust search features are also crucial for finding old communications, significantly since many of the services we've reviewed save your message.
Broadcast quality
Over the years, we've used physical fax machines to test how well the service retains text and graphics for attachments, to some extent to verify compatibility with devices that are expected to replace them. But unfortunately, many offices no longer have any fax machines. In addition, we now work from home as most of the world - so we use the Internet fax service on both sides of the equation.
We can send two test documents (graphics and text) to the fax services to check how well each service processes and sends. We can evaluate the features we receive by verifying that the graphics and the text are clear and legible and have minimal background noise. Whenever possible, we can use the same fax destination to minimize discrepancies in how each service handles incoming faxes.
Who should you contact to get the best online fax services?
We, at Faxitfast, deliver the best online faxing services. With built-in smartphone service, the future of faxing is finally here. So, Sign Up today and enjoy our services.