Consumer Guide to Setting up Online Faxing Services

Thanks to online faxing, businesses can send and receive fax messages without having to buy a fax machine or maintain a dedicated fax line.  Setting up online faxing services can be done in a matter of minutes; the crucial part is picking the right service provider who can furnish the perfect balance between quality and price.  In this post, we provide an easy step by step guide to setting up online faxing services.

1. Browse online and look for an internet faxing service that can provide what you need.  There are various companies offering this, so make sure that you do your research first.  Usually, internet faxing plans are offered on a monthly basis, and each subscription has an allocated number of faxes you can send for each billing period.  If your office sends a lot of fax messages each time, you may be able to save by choosing a subscription that allows unlimited fax transmittals for a flat fee.  If you only send out faxes occasionally, there are also plans that just charge you per fax message you send.
2. Create an account by providing the necessary information and payment method.  Generally, online fax services can be upgraded or downgraded as needed.  This is ideal for start-up businesses that are still expanding their operations.
3. You will be given an email address through which you can send fax messages, and a phone number to be used as your virtual fax line.  Thus, while you transmit and receive fax messages on your computer, people who send faxes to you will still do it using your virtual phone number.
4. You can immediately start to send and receive fax messages.  To send out a fax, log in to your subscription account, create a new message and attach the documents that you wish to transmit.  Enter the name and the fax phone number of the recipient.  You will receive a confirmation message if the transmittal had been successful.
5. Once your account is up and activated, make sure that your service was set-up correctly by sending yourself a test message. 

Because internet faxing providers are basically offering very similar products, what makes one provider better than the other largely depends on add-ons.  Look for subscription plans that provide generous storage capacity for online document storage, increased data encryption and security, and 24/7 after sales technical support.  Most reputable companies would give you a 30-day trial period so you can judge the quality of service at no cost to you.

To read reviews of internet fax services, please visit Online Fax Center.