|
How are internet fax to email services billed? |
|
The majority of companies bill for usage on a per-page sent or received basis, including extras like cover pages. On pre-paid monthly plans, you are allotted a certain amount of included sent and received pages, or a total of both. Once the included pages have been exhausted, overage is billed at a fixed rate per page sent or received. Certain providers will bill by the minute instead of per page, and also often bundle their packages with an answering machine service or virtual telephone assistant. Per minute billing is usually more economical if you tend to send faxes that are several pages long since the transmission time per page is usually after the first page has been sent. The best way to compare plans on a value basis is to review the Cost per Page (CPP) or Cost per Minute (CPM) rates for included pages/minutes. This number is determined taking the price and dividing it by the total pages or minutes included in the plan. You should also take into account the pricing on overage minutes or pages. You can easily compare the included CPP and CPM rates on our internet fax to email plan comparison chart. |
|
|
Can I send an internet fax to a long distance number? How are long distance faxes billed? |
|
With most companies you can send an internet fax to email to any number in the world that you would normally be able to reach with your standard landline fax, however, there is usually a long distance fee that is charged per-minute or per-page that you should be aware of. Consult the provider’s support section of their website as they usually list their long distance rates online, or email support requesting information on fees for a specific area code. |
|
Can I use my existing fax number as my internet fax to email number? |
|
Companies that offer local numbers in your area may be able to port your existing landline fax number to their service. Consult with their pre-sales or support pages with regards to availability. Another option is to have your existing landline fax provider automatically forward incoming calls to your new internet fax number. This is a great way to allow for a transitional period while people update their contact information with your new number, especially if you have just begun using a new toll-free fax number. |
|
Can my internet fax to email number be toll-free? |
|
Yes. Most companies offer toll-free internet fax numbers free of charge, but you should consult with them first to verify that there is no extra fee for incoming faxes that are charged to your toll-free line. |
|
Can multiple people receive and send internet faxes through the same number? |
|
Yes, it is usually possible to authorize several email addresses to send faxes from your internet fax to email number. Check each plan to see how many email addresses can be added to the "can send" list; it is usually mentioned in a specific company's review here on the site. With some providers, it is also possible to authorize an entire domain, which means that you can authorize anyone with a @yourcompany.com email address to send faxes to your number. When you add an email address as a recipient, a copy of all faxes will be sent to that email address, so make sure this is something you actually intended to do. |
|
Will people ever receive a busy signal tone when sending a fax to my internet fax number? |
|
With most services your clients will almost senever receive a busy signal when they send a fax to your internet fax number, however, this is not necessarily always guaranteed. With some plans, people sending you a fax might receive a busy signal if they are trying to connect at the exact same time you yourself are in the process of sending a fax. Further, with some companies you might be sharing lines with their other customers (as opposed to you being given a dedicated line), so if all incoming lines are busy people might receive a busy signal when they attempt to send to you. We recommend you consult with each provider you are considering prior to signing up if no busy signals ever is a critical feature to you. |
|
How long do internet faxes take to arrive in my email? |
|
When you receive an internet fax, it usually arrives in your email account within a few seconds from when the fax completely finished transferring from the sender to your provider. There is occasionally a very short delay caused by the provider as the server converts the incoming fax to a PDF or a TIF file viewable on your computer, but is usually about just as fast as it would be when receiving the fax through a normal land-line fax machine. |
|
How do you sign forms and documents if they are electronic faxes? |
|
Signing documents and sending handwritten notes by fax is one of the very few challenges you will end up facing with an internet fax to email service. Luckily, it is very easy to work around. Sign your name on a blank sheet of paper with black ink a few times until you are comfortable with one of your results. Use a scanner and your favourite image editor (Paint, Adobe Photoshop, or the freeware GIMP) to crop the signature you want to use and save it in a safe place. When you need to sign a document, load the page into the program and paste your signature overtop of it. When using Adobe Photoshop, you can make the background transparent by simply choosing 'darken' as the layer style for the signature layer. Of course, another option is to simply print, sign, and scan the fax back into your computer to send it back. This might sound complicated, but it is really the same thing you would be doing with a conventional fax machine. |
|
Will the company save a copy of my internet fax to be viewed later? |
|
Many providers will keep a copy of your faxes accessible to you via their website for archival purposes. You can usually view, download, or delete these faxes for a certain period of time after it is sent or received. Check the company's website or the plan comparison chart on this website to see how long faxes are kept in the archive as it ranges from a few days to indefinitely. |
|
Can I send and receive an Internet Fax if I use Linux/Unix or Mac? |
|
Of course! You can send and receive faxes from any operating system as long as it supports email in some way. You might want to find a provider, however, that will support the file types you intend to send most often. For example, if you run Linux and OpenOffice.org as your office software, you will probably want to be able to use the OpenOffice.org formats when sending the internet fax as an attachment in your email. Many providers support OpenOffice.org formats, such as FaxIt Nice. |
|
Can I try out a service first for free? |
|
Yes, most companies have a free trial period where you can try out their service at no cost. This gives you a chance to determine whether an Online Fax to Email Service is really going to work for you. Some may ask that you register your credit card with them first, however, they will usually not process payment until your free trial is over and you can generally cancel at any time. View our comparison chart to see which providers do offer a free trial offer. |
|
|
|
|
|
FAQs
