What is Internet Fax? Send and Receive Documents Online via Fax

Internet fax (also known as online fax or cloud-based fax) is a technology that uses Internet Protocol (IP) to send and receive faxes online. Instead of using fax machines or fax servers, which require telephone networks and landline phones, online fax uses IP for transmission and users get access to their faxes from almost any internet-enabled device.
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Web fax, mobile fax, email fax, and fax API are some of the different ways to use internet fax for sending and receiving documents online. Depending on the online fax provider you choose, you may be offered some or all of these tools and services.
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‍See also: Things to consider when choosing best online fax service.
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Say Goodbye to Your Traditional Fax Machine

As mentioned earlier, traditional fax machines use telephone networks to establish the connection between two fax devices in order to transmit documents and copies in the form of pulses (Wikipedia). To send and receive faxes using this old-school method, you are going to need a working fax machine (with papers, toner, and ink),  a landline phone, some extra space to place your machine, and some extra time and energy to set up the device. When it comes to receiving, you must be beside the fax machine to receive them, and most importantly, you don't get to choose which document to print and which not.‍

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Disadvantages of using traditional fax machines:

1. They need a landline phone number
2. They don’t support multitasking
3. They cannot be reached easily
4. They cannot be moved easily
5. They are not as secure
6. They may charge you for international calling
7. They are not environmentally-friendly

Read more: What are fax machine alternatives?

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Say Hello to Online Faxing Solution

If sending and receiving faxes is an inevitable part of your business and you are just disappointed with your old fax machine or fax server, then the online faxing solution is going to boost your productivity and save you lots of time and money.

‍Read more: Boost productivity with internet fax services.

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‍With online fax services, you will be able to do all your fax-related tasks wherever you are, whenever you want and on any device. You no longer need to worry about losing an important fax, hearing a busy line, extra costs for international calling, maintenance costs, organizing your faxes, being a green company, and other issues and difficulties you used to have with your old fax machine.

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Advantages of online fax services:

1. It saves you lots of time and money
2. It keeps all your documents organized and always available
3. It enables you to receive and send faxes from mobile devices
4. It lets you sign documents electronically and fax them back
5. It’s super easy to setup and use
6. It comes with high-security protocols
7. It enables you to get a Local Fax Number from almost any desired country or area

Read more: What are the advantages of online fax services?

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Internet Fax Services Main Features at a Glance:

Depending on the fax provider you choose, you may be offered different features and services. When choosing a provider, you need to make sure it offers the features you need:

1. Fast and high-quality fax transmission
2. Secure and reliable
3. Available for Web, desktop, Android, and iOS devices
4. Easy to use interface
5. Cloud storage
6. Electronic signature
7. Built-in scanner to scan documents
8. Send faxes to numbers that require extension dialing
9. Send faxes to human-operated telefax machines
10. Scheduled delivery
11. Send faxes to multiple contacts at once
12. HIPAA-Compliancy

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Different Ways to Send and Receive Faxes with Internet Fax

Note that, for sending and receiving faxes through a cloud-based faxing solution, either the sender, the receiver or both should have a valid internet fax subscription, and you can easily send faxes to any fax machine or fax server with your online faxing account.

‍Web Faxing: For this method, you get to use a desktop or web-based application to do all your faxing. All your documents will be stored in the cloud and you just need to have a PC or laptop with an internet connection to have access to your faxes. Usually, you'll be informed with a notification via Email or Push when there is a new fax message in your inbox.

Mobile Faxing: For this method, your Android or iOS phone/tablet turns into a fully functional fax machine, and you even get to use your device's camera to scan physical documents and turn them into ready-to-send documents via fax.

‍Email Faxing: For this method, sending a fax is as easy as sending an email. You get to send faxes from any mail server including Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook, to any fax machine or internet fax. On the other side, your received faxes can be found in your emails.

‍Fax API: The programmable fax web service enables you to do all your faxing activities from virtually any application, software, or system.

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While sending a fax seems to be outdated and odd, most lawyers, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, regulated industries, and government agencies still send and receive documents over fax.

While fax machines are so inconvenient, people still need faxing. That's where the Internet faxing solutions emerge and make faxing a more pleasant and productive experience. Online faxing offers a secure and reliable solution to transmit documents digitally and enables its users to store their documents in a safe cloud storage and access them from anywhere anytime.