As if Internet fax wasn’t mobile enough already, online fax services are enhancing their features by providing smartphone applications. These smartphone apps essentially put a fax machine in the palm of your hand by making wireless faxing possible with your iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android smartphone.

Top 5 Online Fax Services With Mobile Apps

Online Fax Versus Smartphone Faxing

Online fax makes it possible to fax from anywhere with any device that can connect to the Internet. With Internet fax, you can send and receive faxes from an application on a computer, a fax machine, a mobile device, or a Web interface through an online fax service.

Mobile app faxing takes it one step further, making it possible to fax from a smartphone by using cell phone network technologies to accommodate Web based functions, such as mobile faxing. With smartphone faxing, you can use your mobile phone to create a fax and send it, receive a fax and manage your faxes. The best mobile fax apps allow you to do all this without the use of a browser or having to log in to your Internet fax provider account.

Different Ways To Mobile Fax

Mobile faxing from your smartphone differs from one Internet fax service to the next. For example, while all the Internet fax services with smartphone apps offer fax from iPhone capabilities, not all have fax from BlackBerry and fax from Android apps. Likewise, not all mobile faxing apps work in the same way or offer the same features when it comes to sending a fax with a smartphone app and receiving a fax with a smartphone app.

Here are overviews of the top five online fax services with smartphone apps along with information on how they work and the features their mobile fax apps offer:

MyFax - offers an online fax app for iPhone only that sends and receives faxes. The app gives users the option of typing fax pages directly on their iPhone or using the iPhone camera to take a picture of a written document or photo to send as a fax. A slider control allows users to adjust the brightness of the text photo to enhance its readability. The MyFax app links to default cover pages or offers the option of creating a new one. Up to eight pages can be sent in a single mobile fax. Faxes can be received directly to the iPhone. From the app, users have easy access to fax details and all faxes received.

RingCentral Fax – has online fax apps for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android that enable users to receive Internet faxes, view them and forward them to others in their contact list. Although users are unable to create and send a fax directly from the RingCentral app, they can use their smartphone browser to access their RingCentral account and conduct faxing activities.

eFax – provides mobile fax apps for iPhone and Android smartphones that allow users to create and send faxes by taking a photo of the document and attaching a default or customized cover sheet. With the eFax mobile app, users also have the option of sending an email fax. The app’s technology automatically enhances the text photo for clarity and, if more than one page is in a fax, combines multiple text photos into separate fax pages. The app’s user interface also incorporates a digitized signature into a fax. The Internet fax app also converts received faxes into searchable documents so users can search and view faxes from their smartphone, or forward them by faxing or emailing. The app also gives users the ability to assign search tags to faxes and archive them for easy access at another time.

Popfax – offers apps for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones that enable users to send faxes from their smartphone, receive faxes directly to their mobile phone, and download or forward the fax to email or some other fax number. With Popcompanion Mobile, fax cover pages can be personalized and contact lists managed.

MetroFax – provides smartphone fax capabilities for iPhone and Android. To send a fax, users take a picture of the document using their smartphone camera and the MetroFax Mobile app automatically optimizes the image for clarity. A fax also can be sent by accessing a file from the cloud, with Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net and SugarSync are supported. Received faxes can be viewed and forwarded to an email address or another fax number.

Getting a Mobile Fax App

If you want to use a particular fax app, you first need to open an account with any of the Internet fax services offering the best smartphone fax apps to meet your needs. The website of the online fax provider has a link that brings you to the iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android store, where you can download the latest version of the mobile fax app. Once you have an account, mobile fax apps are free of charge.

Top 5 Online Fax Services With Desktop Applications/Downloads

Faxing Application and Printer Driver Differences

A desktop fax application works very differently from a fax printer driver. Here’s how:

Desktop fax applications: Allow you to receive and send faxes directly from your computer without having to sign on to your online fax service. Usually an activation wizard takes you through the desktop application download process. Other Internet fax providers include a download tab on the control panel of the member’s account. In either case, the online fax applications put a fax icon, task bar, or panel on your desktop, giving you all the functions of a fax machine right on your computer screen. It makes online faxing more efficient because all you need to do is click the icon on your desktop to conduct Internet faxing activities.

Fax printer drivers: Enable you to fax from any software program, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, simply by clicking on the print option from the task bar. The fax printer driver appears as one of your printers in the print dialog box. Once selected, a pop up window allows you to enter recipient names and fax numbers, and select a default cover sheet or create a new one.

Features of Desktop Faxing Applications and Fax Printer Drivers

Online fax services have developed their own desktop faxing applications or fax printer drivers to complement their service plan features. Most function in the same way, but there are differences from one online fax provider to another. Here are some examples:

Ring Central – Its RingCentral Call Controller allows you to manage incoming and outgoing faxes directly from your desktop computer. Among its features are making notes on or signing your faxes electronically, using a fax icon or dragging and dropping the document to be faxed in the call controller box, receiving a message on your desktop that you’ve received a fax and using your Microsoft Outlook contacts to broadcast faxes.

Popfax – Its PopCompanion desktop application for sending and receiving faxes runs minimized in the background. Its general screen menu bar with Inbox and Outbox folders navigates faxing actions, such as previewing a fax, sending a fax, mark as read or unread, moving a fax to another folder and deleting a fax. A separate screen on the menu bar allows contact list management. The features-rich application also has a search field for finding and sorting faxes, and keyboard shortcuts synched to menu bar functions. Popfax also offers a printer driver for Windows that enables users to fax any type of document directly from the application.

MetroFax – With its MetroFax Printer, users can send faxes from any Windows application the same way they would print a document. MetroFax also has a download that integrates specifically with Microsoft Office applications. Users can send faxes from all Microsoft Office programs by selecting the File menu on the program’s task bar.

Sfax – Sfax Driver is the printer driver that works with any desktop application or software with print capabilities. Sfax Sherpa is an inbound faxing desktop application that receives incoming faxes. Users designate a folder for received faxes, preferred file type and how often they want their faxes retrieved. When a fax arrives, Sfax delivers it according to these parameters. Both the HIPAA compliant fax printer driver and desktop application include a digital signature feature.

FaxFreedom – The FaxFreedom software installs a desktop printer driver so any type of document or file can be faxed using the print menu option. After selecting FaxFreedom as the designated printer, recipient fax numbers can be selected in a pop up window.

Choosing an Internet Fax Service with Desktop Applications/Downloads

When considering online fax services with desktop applications/downloads, closely review what the online fax desktop application does and the functions of the Internet fax printer driver. Narrow down your choices until you have found the best Internet fax service with the desktop faxing application that most closely meets your faxing needs.

Service Plans Offered

Some online fax services offer just one fax plan, while others have more than one to accommodate the diverse faxing needs of individuals and businesses. While one fax service plan may meet your faxing requirements now, think about whether it will serve your future needs. If you expect your faxing volume to change in the near future, it might be best to select an Internet fax service with fax service plans that grow with you, allowing you to stay with one company and switch from plan to plan as your faxing needs change.

Other differences can be found in the service plans themselves. The price of a service plan is based on the number of fax pages allowed per month before overage charges are incurred. The quantity of fax pages included in a plan and the fee for fax pages over the monthly limit differ greatly among Internet fax service providers. Other service plan differences are charges for setup fees and the need for special equipment and its cost.

Faxing Options

A good number of online fax services are fax by email. However, there are several providers that feature faxing via one or more of the following methods: email, Microsoft applications, the provider’s secure Web based control panel, mobile phone or other Internet enabled mobile device, smart phone app, or fax machine. Typically, fax by email is sufficient for individuals or small, Web based businesses that don’t fax much. Other types of businesses generally use online fax services with multiple faxing options to accommodate their diverse work environment.

Free Faxing Zone

With most Internet fax services, fax plan prices only apply to faxing in the United States and Canada. Faxing to any other country typically incurs additional international rates. However, many online fax providers include other major countries in their fax service plans. If you often fax to a destination outside your origin country, it may be more economical to select an online fax service that includes a vast number of international countries in the monthly fee of their fax service plan.

Number of Users

Although an online fax service assigns you a fax number or ports your existing fax number to their service, there are limitations to how many people can fax using that number. For example, VoIP service providers typically offer the option of either having one fax number for use by all employees or dedicated fax numbers for each employee. Others allow only one email address per account for sending faxes, but permit a certain number of users to receive notifications of sent or received faxes. Many online fax services allow a user to fax from multiple email addresses, with the limit typically five.

Service	Ringcentral	Nextiva	eFax	MyFax	RapidFax
Screenshots
Our Rating	Our Top Pick	Best Deal	Popular	Good Platform	Good Value
Plan Reviewed	Fax 500	Single User	eFax Plus	Best Value	Individual
Incoming Faxes	500	500	150	200	300
Outgoing Faxes	combined	combined	150	100	combined
First 30 Days Free
Customer Support	24/7	24/7	24/7	24/7	M-F
Reviews	Small business focused, instant activation, robust tech platform. Read Review	Most cost effective, very simple to use, reliable and convenient. Read Review	Pioneer online fax service ideal for small scale internet fax use. Read Review	Excellent platform, reliable, for personal and small business faxing. Read Review	Convenient email fax service – send and receive faxes from email. Read Review
Price	$6.59 / mo	$4.95 / mo	$16.95 / mo	$10 / mo	$9.95 / mo
Overage Cost	6 cents	3 cents	10 cents	10 cents	8 cents
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How Fax to Email Works

An online fax to email service uses a secure, automated email to fax gateway to transmit faxes using Internet protocols. For the user, sending an email fax takes only five quick steps:

1. 1. You log in to your email account and create a message.
2. 2. You attach any documents to your message using the file attachment icon on the email message screen.
3. 3. You address your email to the recipient(s) fax number(s) followed by the extension of your online fax to email service.
4. 4. When you click send, the fax gateway quickly converts it to a fax and delivers it.
5. 5. You receive an email confirmation that your fax was delivered.

Receiving a fax sent from a fax machine to an email is equally efficient and easy for the recipient to access. Here is the quick process:

1. 1. The sender enters your fax number.
2. 2. The fax server of the online email fax service digitally converts it to a computer file.
3. 3. You receive an email message with the fax as a file attachment.
4. 4. You click on the attachment and it opens via an application installed on your computer, for example Adobe Reader.

Would Fax to Email Benefit You?

For many homes and businesses, fax to email is a sufficient faxing option with considerable savings attached to it. It is an attractive option for home based businesses, professionals, independent contractors who work away from an office, Web based only businesses and small businesses, but medium and large companies also utilize its advantages. Here’s a look at some of them:

• Service plans are less costly and include a greater number of fax pages in the monthly price.
• Greater delivery success because incoming faxes are going directly to the recipient’s email address.
• Easier access since you only need to sign in to your email account and you can fax from any computer or mobile device.
• Option to send faxes to the recipient’s email address or fax machine.
• Easier to manage your faxes from your email mailbox because you can quickly view each fax and decide which ones are priorities.
• Can save and store faxes in your email account for as long as you like.

Making The Decision

When deciding whether a fax to email service is adequate for your business faxing needs, consider the following:

Is it currently confusing for your work environment to have multiple faxing options?

Would your work processes be more organized if everyone was using the same faxing method?

Are you frequently connected to your email when away from the office?

Does your type of work require you to have immediate access to faxes?

Would the privacy of your clients be better served if faxes were sent directly to the fax number of the individual with whom they are doing business?

If you answered YES to most of the above questions, then it is likely that fax to email is the right choice for your business.

Case Study #1:

Business Challenge – Office fax machines were not keeping up with the volume of documents being faxed to busy automated data collection and forms completion firm. As a result, faxes did not arrive in a timely manner, causing delays in serving customers’ priority needs.

Business Solution – An online fax service that enables the company to use a Web based interface or their email account to send and receive faxes. Because Internet fax uses the power and speed of a broadband connection, fax volume was no longer a challenge. Not only did the company receive faxes more quickly and send faxes more cost effectively, its employees were able to more promptly meet the immediate needs of customers.

Case Study #2:

Business Challenge – A manufacturer needed to distribute a significant number of sales orders, contracts and other paperwork daily between various departments in its four plants and 10 sales offices located throughout the United States. The current use of a fax machine is causing delays in the distribution channel, creating scheduling, manufacturing and product delivery inefficiencies.

Business Solution – An Internet fax provider where every employee has their own fax number, can fax through their email address and receive faxes that are automatically converted to a format, such as PDF, that is acceptable companywide. As a result, faxes are managed and acted upon more efficiently.

Case Study #3:

Business Challenge – Privacy issues were brought to the attention of a mortgage company with satellite offices throughout the United States because office fax machines were located in open, unsecured areas where anyone could access personal and financial documents faxed by mortgage applicants.

Business Solution – An online fax service was implemented companywide whereby confidential information faxed by mortgage applicants goes directly to the desktop computer or email account of their loan officer.

Case Study #4:

Business Challenge – A healthcare facility comprised of several physicians was not pleased with their outsourced faxing company because doctors were unable to review and add comments in real time to faxes. While they needed a secure, mobile, reliable and 24/7 accessible way to fax time sensitive lab results and diagnostic reports, patient records, medical claims information and policy applications between health organizations, they also needed a way for physicians to add comments to the information.

Business Solution – An Internet fax service that provides security and privacy protocols that meet HIPAA standards and includes the feature allowing the healthcare staff to annotate electronically on incoming faxes before routing them to their next destination. Doctors who have rounds at hospitals are able to access faxes on their mobile devices and add their comments so the workflow process continues in a timely fashion.

Case Study #5:

Business Challenge – Real estate agents in a regional office were unable to immediately access offers they received on houses they showed because they were faxed to the office fax machine after office hours.

Business Solution – With an online fax provider, realtors now receive faxes instantly from wherever they are and respond to offers faster, wowing their clients and getting the home selling process underway quicker than before.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nextiva, Inc. is a venture of UnitedWeb Inc., a global company that provides products and services to small and mid-size businesses. As a cloud based voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone systems company, Nextiva specializes in unified communication services, including VoIP phone, online fax, hosted PBX, SIP trunking and Web conferencing.

Founded in 1996 by Thomas Gorny, Lukas Gorny and Tracy Conrad, all of whom continue to lead the company, Nextiva’s mission is to make big business telecommunications features available to small businesses at an affordable price. Nextiva incorporated in the state of Arizona in 2007 and the privately-held company employs between 51 and 200 employees.

Since 2008, Nextiva has been a Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited business and has an A+ BBB rating.

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Nextiva Fax Features

Nextiva’s vFax services include the following features:
• The option to keep an existing fax number or select a new local or toll free fax number;
• Up to 5 additional people can be designated to receive faxes under the fax number;
• The option to send and receive faxes by fax machine; email; cell phone, PDA, or other mobile device; home or office computer; Microsoft Office; or Nextiva’s online control panel;
• The ability to send and receive faxes from any Microsoft application;
• Attach files using just about any file format;
• Fax retrieval from cell phone or other mobile device;
• Fax delivery confirmation;
• Fax storage;
• Anytime, anywhere access to all sent and received faxes from Web-based account.

Unlike other cloud based VoIP providers that lease their equipment, Nextiva owns and operates its own network infrastructure, including telecommunications and data equipment. As of 2012, Nextiva serves more than 1 million small businesses in 150 countries.

Nextiva Fax: What They Offer

Nextiva’s Internet fax product is called vFax and its services and price plans are designed to grow with a business. Nextiva offers six service plans. They are:

Basic Annual – Designed for a single user and priced at $59.40, the pay in full yearly price includes 500 fax pages a month. A free trial is offered with this plan.

Basic Monthly – Available on a monthly payment basis of $8.95, the single user plan includes 500 fax pages a month. This plan comes with a free trial.

Premium Annual – Geared towards small businesses, this plan offers 1,000 fax pages each month for a yearly price of $155.40 when paid in full.

Premium Monthly – The pay by month plan for small businesses offers 1,000 fax pages each month for $17.95 per month.

Max Annual – Offering 3,000 fax pages a month, the plan accommodates larger small businesses or businesses that do a lot of faxing. It costs $359.40 a year and must be paid in full.

Max Monthly – Available on a monthly payment basis of $34.95, the plan includes 3,000 fax pages a month.

Nextiva does not charge a setup fee for any of its vFax plans. All price plans define fax pages as either incoming or outgoing faxes. An overage fee of 3 cents per page is charged for each fax page that exceeds a plan’s monthly limit.

Get the NextivaFax Offer.

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The Company

Located in San Mateo, California, RingCentral has been in the telecommunications business since 1999. RingCentral has been an accredited business of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) since 2004. The online fax company has an A+ rating with the BBB.

According to the BBB, RingCentral employs 550 employees and is led by President and CEO Vlad Shmunis. As a company offering business phone systems, RingCentral also offers other office and mobile telecommunication services to complement its Internet fax offerings.

RingCentral Fax Features

RingCentral incorporates comprehensive fax functionality into its online fax platform. Among the features are:

• Choice of a local or toll-free number;
• Option of sending and receiving faxes from any fax machine, computer, or from email;
• The ability to fax from any Microsoft Windows application;
• Fax editing software for designing custom cover sheets, making edits to faxes, signing faxes electronically, and previewing and printing faxes.
• Password protected and encrypted fax transmission environment;
• Fax alerts linked to a mobile phone or PDA;
• Detailed fax logs.

RingCentral Fax: What’s Offered

RingCentral Fax offers four service plans featuring fax to email capabilities. Three of the plans – Fax 500, Fax 1000 and Fax 2500 – allow a business to share one fax number between multiple employees, while the Fax ProUnlimited plan provides a dedicated fax number for each employee. All plans offer the option of adding additional fax numbers or a vanity fax number for an additional fee.

Fax 500 – Includes 500 free fax pages each month for $9.99 if paying month-to-month, or $95.88 if paying for the year in full (equates to $7.99/month for a $24 savings). A 5.9 cent fee is charged for each fax page over the monthly limit.

Fax 1000 – Provides 1,000 free fax pages a month for $24.99 on the monthly payment plan or $239.88 annually in one payment (equates to $19.99 a month for a $60 savings). The cost for additional faxes over the monthly limit is 4.9 cents each.

Fax 2500 – Includes 2,500 free fax pages each month for $59.99 if paying month-to-month or $599.88 if paying in full for the year (equates to $49.99 a month for a $120 savings). Additional fax pages over the limit are charged 3.9 cents each.

Fax ProUnlimited – This corporate plan features unlimited fax pages and includes two fax numbers plus administrator controls. The plan price is $49.99 if paying on a monthly basis or $479.88 if paying in full for the year (equates to $39.99 a month for a $120 savings).

RingCentral calculates a fax page according to how long it takes to send the fax, with an average document page faxing in one minute.

Get the RingCentral Online Fax Offer.

Review of eFax: j2 Global’s Online Fax Flagship

eFax is a leading online fax company with fax to email services geared towards individuals and small businesses, and customized online fax solutions for larger enterprises. In 2011, the company introduced eFax NEXT, which complements its basic sending and receiving fax features with broader services, such as document management, digitized signatures, document encryption, mobile apps and more.

eFax: What They Offer

eFax offers a 30 Day Free Trial that waives the setup fee on both its service products and includes 10 free inbound fax pages. The two levels of service are: eFax Plus and eFax Pro. Both plans include selection of a free local or toll-free fax number and lifetime online fax storage. Additional savings can be realized by paying in full for an annual plan rather than month to month. Customized price plans for larger enterprises can be obtained through eFax’s corporate services division by completing an online form.

eFax Plus provides 150 inbound fax pages a month and includes a $15 monthly credit for 150 outbound fax pages per month (based on most faxes sent within the U.S. and Canada costing 10 cents per page). Faxes over the inbound and outbound limits cost 10 cents per page. eFax Plus has a $10 one-time setup fee and costs $16.95 month to month. The annual payment is $169.50, which comes out to $14.13 a month, a savings of two months.

eFax Pro features 200 minutes of inbound fax pages a month and includes a $20 monthly credit for 200 outbound fax pages per month (based on most faxes sent within the U.S. and Canada costing 10 cents per page). The overage fee for inbound and outbound faxes is 10 cents per fax page. eFax Pro has a $19.95 one-time setup fee and costs $19.95 a month. The annual payment is $199.50, which comes out to $16.63 a month, a savings of two months.

According to eFax’s Customer Agreement, fax pages are calculated based on 60 second increments of transmission or connection time. For example, a one page fax that takes 30 seconds to transmit is charged as one fax page, whereas one fax page that takes one minute and six seconds to transmit is charged as two fax pages.

eFax Features

eFax service plans include features designed to meet diverse business needs. Among the features are:

• Fax preview
• Searchable faxes
• Large file sharing
• Searchable contacts
• Send storage that automatically saves sent faxes.

eFax Summary

eFax is one of several cloud-based companies operated by j2 Global Communications. Headquartered in Hollywood, California, j2 Global provides online fax, virtual voice, hosted email, email marketing, online backup and unified communications around the world.

j2 Global Communications has a B+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), with most complaints in its BBB report pertaining to billing disputes, difficulty canceling accounts and long wait times to speak with a customer service representative. However, the BBB indicates that j2 Global Communications promptly responded to each complaint and took the appropriate action to satisfy the customer.

In business since 1995, j2 Global Communications serves more than 11 million subscribers and growing, in 4,600 cities and 49 countries on six continents.

Get the eFax Offer.

Fax87 is the only online fax provider this reviewer has found that offers a low price guarantee. If you find someone who beats their price on the same plan, they will offer you a better price. They also go out of their way to let you know they guarantee your satisfaction 100%.

Fax87.com is a subsidary of FarFani.com, based in Bellevue, Washington. Farfani is a software company which creates business communication tools like Fax87. Fax87.com is listed with the Better Business Bureau, has no complaints on file and has a B rating because the company is relatively new.

Fax87 offers three plans with multiple price breaks.

The Basic Plan is very basic. With only 10 pages per month at a cost of $6.99 monthly and a 10 cent overage cost, it doesn’t make much sense. You can get it much cheaper by paying for three years in advance. In that case you’re paying $2.99 a month. You get a local or toll-free number and all the other features mentioned below, which is worth something if you need a fax number but your incoming and outbound faxing is very limited.

The Best Choice Plan has two price points, $8.99 monthly and $71.88 annually ($5.99 per month). This plan offers 1000 pages of incoming or outbound faxing. Pages sent or received over your allotment will cost you only 3 cents per page.

The Pro Plan also has two price points, $9.99 monthly and $119.88 annually ($13.99 per month). The Pro Plan gives you 2000 pages and a 3 cent overage cost.

Fax87 Features

Fax87 has a few features that set it apart in the online fax industry.

   • Unlimited email addresses for sending and receiving
   • Forever fax storage online at no extra charge
   • Toll-free or local fax number included
   • No setup fees
   • No contract
   • Port your existing fax number to Fax87
   • Take your number with you if you leave
   • Money-back guarantee

Beyond this list you have the normal email sending and receiving, online account portal for account management and sending faxes, cover page customization, contacts online (great for sharing with co-workers), delivery confirmations and multiple document types that can be faxed as file attachments.

Fax87 deserves your consideration if you are looking for an online fax service.