FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet?
This document is copyright 1994-2009 by Kevin Savetz.
Updated December 20, 2008 Continually updated since 1994!
What's new:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET?
Yes. There are many services that will let you use the Internet to send
faxes. Some are free while others are pay services. Some services
require that you can send and receive electronic mail, or that you have
Web access. Others require you to install special software on your
computer.
Some services allow you to receive faxes, too. When you receive a fax
at a special number, it is delivered via e-mail address or available for
viewing on the Web. Some commercial services include bulk faxing and other
special features.
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COMMERCIAL SERVICES -
FAXING FROM THE WEB AND E-MAIL
These services allow you to send faxes using any Web browser
or e-mail client, without installing special fax software on your computer.
(KEVIN'S PICK)
MyFax
MyFax is an innovative email fax service used in thousands of home offices and small businesses
that depend on reliable fax communications. MyFax simply integrates with existing email
systems, needing no new software or hardware, and eliminates costs, hassles and missing pages. For
only $10 monthly (or $110 per year) the "Best Value" plan allows 100 outgoing fax pages and 200
incoming pages each month. Additional pages cost 10 cents each. The "Most Popular" plan is $20
per month to send 200 faxes and receive 200. The "Fax More" plan is $40 per month and allows
users to send 400 faxes and receive 400. There's no set-up fee or other hidden fees.
You can receive your faxes as PDF or TIFF files in up to three email accounts, or view them on the
web. Send faxes via e-mail: the service supports 178 document types. Works with Microsoft Office.
Go to MyFax
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Metro Hi Speed [KEVIN'S PICK]
Metro Hi Speed lets you send and receive faxes via e-mail or by printing
to fax from your Microsoft Windows applications. A monthly charge of $12.95 includes up to 1,000
pages of combined inbound or outbound faxes. (3 cents per additional page.)
An additional $2 per month per line gets you a toll-free inbound fax number.
(There's also a $9.95 setup fee.) It's easy to add extra fax numbers (with discounts
for six or more) allowing each employee to have their own fax number that delivers faxes
directly to their e-mail account.
Go to Metro Hi Speed
[Verified 12/20/2008]
AirComUSA [KEVIN'S PICK]
AirComUSA offers fax<->email, fax-from-the-desktop, and fax broadcasting. You get a toll-free
1-888 number for receiving, or a local fax number in your choices of a few, but growing, list of area codes.
There are several account options, ranging from $8.95/month + 10 cents per minute to
$29.95/month which includes toll-free voicemail and two hours of usage.
You can register for a free trial account for receiving faxes: it
provides 30 minutes/30 days of usage (whichever is less) via a toll-free number. There is a $10 setup free, and with the lowest-priced plan you must also deposit $12 for the first two hours of system time.
Faxes arrive in e-mail as a TIFF or PDF file. They also handle special requests, such as
fax delivery via FTP.
http://www.aircomusa.com
[Verified 12/20/2008]
TrustFax [KEVIN'S PICK]
TrustFax provides a local number (toll-free numbers are available at a higher cost, or for fewer allowed pages) for incoming faxes, which are
delivered to your e-mail box in PDF format. You can send faxes via e-mail or the web.
The Prestige User account is $4.95 per month for 100 incoming and 50 outgoing fax pages per month and the Power User account costs $29.95 per year for 150 pages received and 50 sent per year. (10
cents per page for additional.) The Pro User plan costs $9.95 per month for 400 incoming and 125
outgoing pages per month. The Premium User plan costs $18.95 per month for 800 fax pages incoming and 250 outgoing. Discount for annual payment. Six high-volume "Platinum" plans also available starting at $414 per year. There is a free 30-day trial for every type of account.
Go to TrustFax
[Verified 12/20/2008]
FaxitNice [KEVIN'S PICK]
For occasional faxing, a prepaid FaxIt Credit account is a good deal with no monthly fees: 18 cents per page sent and 75 cents per page to receive. $20
minimum pre-pay, and fax numbers are lost after 180 days of inactivity. For sending and receiving faxes, the Prepaid Basic plan lets you send and receive with a per-page
fee (50 free pages per month, 15 cents for extra pages) and a monthly fee of $5.99. The Prepaid Premium plan is $9.99 per month and you get 350 free pages and pay 10 cents for extras. For heavier users
the $29.99/month FaxIt Elite plan lets you send/receive a total of 1,100 pages per month and pay 10 cents for extra pages. A free trial is offered for 15 days or 20 pages, whichever comes first. Also offers FaxItOnce service for $4.99 for 10 pages; 30 cents per additional page. No setup fee. You can transmit many common
file formats, including Word, Excel, PDF, and RTF.
Go to FaxItNice
[Verified 12/20/2008]
MaxEmail [KEVIN'S PICK]
MaxEmail, one of the oldest Internet fax services, lets you receive faxes and voicemail as e-mail
attachments, and send faxes via e-mail or the web. The Lite version of the service has an annual
fee of $24 (with a non-local fax number). There are 100 outbound pages allowed per month, with additional inbound pages costing 5 cents each and all outbound pages costing 5 to 10 cents each. The Plus version costs $84 a year (or $9.95 per month if paid monthly), and includes a local number in
your choice of various cities. Included are 250 inbound pages and 100 outbound pages per month. There's also a $10 activation fee, except on the Corporate plans. Corporate Lite is $39.95 per month for 600 pages; extra incoming pages are 2 cents and extra outgoing pages range from 5 to 10 cents. There's also a Corporate plan at $104.50 per month for 2,000 pages; 1 cent per extra incoming pages and 5-10 cents for extra outgoing pages. All plans have a toll-free option, but on toll-free plans each page sent cost 10 cents. MaxEmail offers a 30-day free trial. Broadcast fax service
is also available.
Go to MaxEmail
[Verified 12/20/2008]
SaveOnFaxes [KEVIN'S PICK]
SaveOnFaxes has two plans, all with a local or toll-free number option. Basic Plan is $44.95 per year and includes 50 combined incoming/outgoing pages per month. Extra pages are 12 cents. Small Business Plan is $75 per year for 250 incoming/outgoing pages per month. Extra pages are 10 cents. Small Business Plan has monthly payment plan option of $6.95 per month. $20 activation fee, except on the Small Business annual plan, where it's $15.
Go to SaveOnFaxes
[Verified 12/20/2008]
FaxPipe [KEVIN'S PICK]
FaxPipe's email-to-fax service offers five plans suitable for medium to very low-volume users.
On the high end, 900 combined incoming/outgoing pages for $36.95 month; on the low-volume side,
$47.40 a year ($3.95/month) gets you 25 combined pages per month. Additional pages are 10-15 cents, depending on the plan. You get a choice of toll-free or local number
in your choice of 32 area codes. $10 activation fee on all plans
Go to FaxPipe
[Verified 12/20/2008]
GoFaxer
GoFaxer offers two basic fax-to-email plans. The "Home" plan is $9.95 per month to send/receive 400 pages per month or $99.50 if paid annually, and the "Pro" plan is $24.95 per month or $249.50 annually for 1,200 pages per month. Extra pages are 5 cents each. No setup fee.
Another new option is GoFaxer's Max package, which can be billed through traditional phone carriers and is priced at $12.95 for 500 pages per month (5 cents per extra page). Free 30-day trial for monthly plan. Annual plans costing $99 or more include 11th and 12th month free as bonus.
Go to GoFaxer
[Verified 12/20/2008]
GreenFax
GreenFax (formerly IntelliFax) offers full-service internet-faxing
solutions with no setup charges and no contract. Local fax numbers for receiving faxes are available in 100+ area
codes. Inbound faxes forwarded via email in PDF or TIFF format. Unlimited web
storage of faxes. Secure (HIPAA-compliant) inbound faxing option available.
For a local number on the Signature Service Plan, pricing is $12.95 per month (billed quarterly), and includes 250 incoming and 100 outgoing pages per month. (Additional incoming pages are 3 cents; additional sent pages are 7 cents for the first page and 5 cents for additional pages.) A toll-free plan is also $12.95 per month, and includes 50 incoming and 100 outgoing pages. (Additional incoming pages are 15 cents; additional sent pages are 7 cents for the first page and 5 cents for additional pages.) Send-only service is purchased in $25 increments and billed at a rate of 7 cents for the first page and 5 cents additional in the U.S. and Canada. The Hi Volume Plan includes 1,000 incoming pages per month on a local number for $29.95 per month. (Additional pages 2 cents.) Corporate/high-volume plans available.
http://www.greenfax.com
[Verified 12/20/2008]
FaxAge
FaxAge offers plans starting at $3.49. For $7.95 a month, you get 150 incoming/150 outgoing faxes
with your choice of local and toll-free numbers. Higher-volume plans for virtually unlimited receive-only
start from $19.95 per month and send/receive for $64.95 per month for local numbers; toll-free has page limits in most cases. There is a $5 setup fee for all
account types. FaxAge allows for multiple fax numbers per account and forwards faxes as PDF or TIFF files to as many
email addresses as the user specifies. User management, status reporting, list faxing and other
features are all provided via the web interface.
Go to FaxAge
[Verified 12/20/2008]
FaxMicro
FaxMicro's Plus plan lets you receive unlimited pages for $4.95 per month. Sending faxes costs 5
cents per page for U.S. destinations, but is free for the first month. Their Toll Free plan costs $9.95 per month plus 5 cents per outgoing page, and adds a toll-free
number for incoming faxes. There's no setup fee unless you want a "true" 800 number or vanity number, which add a one-time $15 or $20 charge, respectively.
Go to FaxMicro
[Verified 12/20/2008]
SRFax
SRFax lets you send faxes via e-mail or the web, and provides a toll-free phone number
for incoming faxes. The Lite plan lets you send 100/receive 300 pages per month
for $9.95 a month or $108 per year; the Small Business plan bumps it to 200 outgoing/500 incoming pages for $15.95/month or $174 per year. The Large Business plan is $39.95 per month for 400 outgoing/800 incoming. Extra pages are 8 cents. A prepaid plan is $36 per year plus 25 cents per page, and a $25 deposit is required.
There's a free 14-day trial, and discounted annual rates are avaiable. One year of storage included.
Go to SRFax
[Verified 12/20/2008]
COMMERCIAL SERVICES -
FAXING FROM THE DESKTOP
These services allow you to send a fax using an application on your
Internet-connected computer (rather than by accessing a Web page or
sending e-mail.) You do not need a fax modem. These tools often let you
send formatted, graphical faxes directly from your favorite applications.
(SPONSOR & KEVIN'S PICK)
ClickFax
Send from any Windows application and receive faxes in your email. ClickFax
promises tight integration with Outlook, Access, Exchange, Excel, QuickBooks
and more. Budget plans as low as $3.41/month. Budget send/receive plan is
$9.95 per month with 50 minutes' worth of pages included on local number. Extra
minutes are 10 cents. A toll-free number is $1 extra per month. High-volume discounted plans as well. Prepay and get 20 percent off extra minutes.
Go to ClickFax Pro
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Fax1 [KEVIN'S PICK]
Send faxes worldwide via PC software, e-mail, or the Web. 12 cents per page for U.S.
destinations, with no sign up or monthly fees. New signups get $1 worth of free trial use (send-only); then purchase $10 in use credits.
If you need to receive faxes too, a Pro account ($9 per month or $99 per year) provides
an incoming fax line in your choice of many area codes. You can receive 200 faxes per month and additional pages are 5 cents each. Faxes are delivered as TIFF or PDF files.
Go to Fax1
[Verified 12/20/2008]
RingCentral [KEVIN'S PICK]
RingCentral Fax includes a toll-free or local fax number to receive faxes by email
web-based account. Receive fax alerts by cell phone. RingCentral Fax plans start at $7.99/month (on the annual Fax 300 plan; month-to-month is $9.99)
which includes 300 pages per month. 5.9 cents per additional page. Free Fax editing software included
to sign/edit faxes electronically. The service is fully integrated with Microsoft Office so
you can fax directly from Word or Excel by clicking fax icon on your toolbar.
Billing plans include: Fax 1000 $19.99/mo. annual plan ($24.99 if billed monthly) send/receive 1000 faxes per month and pay 4.9 cents for additional pages; Fax 2500 plan, $59.99 per month and 3.9 cents for additional pages. Setup fee of $30 (discounted to $15) for true 800 numbers and $30 setup for vanity numbers. Some plans include multiple fax numbers with additional available at $4.99
http:/www.ringcentral.com
[Verified 12/20/2008]
Concord Technologies
Concord offers Concord Fax Premier for $10.95/mo. for 50 faxes sent and 50 received, plus 8 cents and 7 cents, respectively, for additional pages. The Pro version is $14.95/mo. with 150 outbound/150 inbound plus 7 cents for extra pages. Concord Internet Fax for Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 is $9.95/mo. with 50 outbound/50 inbound faxes and 7 cents or 8 cents per extra page in the U.S. and Canada. Concord is no longer developing fax broadcasting, Internet fax, fax mailbox or universal mailbox. The company, which used to support fax from the desktop using WinFax Pro software, now only does so for existing customers, but offers a service (no software installation required) that is compatible with Windows Vista.
http://www.concordfax.com
[Verified 12/20/2008]
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FAXING
How to send an international fax? See HowToCall.info
[Verified 12/20/2008]
This site has free fax cover sheets available for download.
[Verified 12/20/2008]
LEGAL STUFF
This document is copyright 2009 by Kevin M. Savetz and may not be
reproduced without my express permission.
All prices in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
This document is always in transition. If you notice that something
important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please
contact the editor.
The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the
Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a
volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to insure that
answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or
intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember
that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be
surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do,
please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and
comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz.