These days, it can seem like sending a fax has gone the way of the Pony Express. However, sending a fax has simply evolved over the years, like other technology. Many businesses still rely on faxing for their daily workflows, and now there are more ways than ever to fax documents for professional and personal use.
Even if you don’t have a fax machine, offline faxing, or traditional faxing, is available in a number of brick and mortar stores. For example, The UPS Store, FedEx, and Staples all offer in-store offline fax services. Their services might be a little on the expensive side, with rates at around $2.00 per page.
Faxing from a store is a good method to use when:
You have a physical piece of paper that you don’t feel comfortable scanning
You’re not comfortable with the technology of electronic faxing
There are major drawbacks to faxing from a physical machine, however. Before opting for an offline faxing service, keep these potential issues in mind:
Typically, each page must be faxed separately, rather than as a stack or complete document
There are fewer stores that have a fax machine service than there used to be, and it can be difficult to find one
Confidential information must be taken to a public location and many stores do not allow you to send the fax yourself, but require you to give documents to an employee
In addition to traditional faxing, you can also take a more modern approach to faxing documents. Your mobile phone can do most anything, including help you send a fax. There are several apps available that allow you to send a fax from your phone on both iPhone and Android.
When faxing from an app, you can choose between free and subscription-based services. Using a free faxing app is a great option for a one-off fax job or if your faxes don’t have complex requirements. If your business requires frequent faxing or managing communications to a large contact list, a subscription may be a good investment. Many of these paid faxing apps allow you to sign documents in the app, upload cover pages, and easily transfer documents between devices.
Of course, your phone relies on your data service or internet connection. If you don’t have good coverage in an area, or you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, your fax may not send properly.
There are many services online that allow you to send faxes. Using an online service from your computer gives you more anonymity, the flexibility to schedule your fax to be sent, and generally a more reliable connection than a faxing app from your phone.
With an online service, such as Fax Rocket, you simply upload your document, put in the receiver’s information, and send it. You receive a confirmation as soon as the fax has been delivered, and the process is as simple as sending an email.
For users who send faxes regularly as part of an everyday workflow, many online faxing companies offer a subscription service. You pay a certain rate for a set number of pages, depending on your plan.
If, on the other hand, you seldom send faxes, you can use an online fax service that allows you to pay per page, like you would at a store. Either option can be a good fit, depending on the type of user you are and the needs of your business.
Sometimes a fax is the best way to send certain documents. Fortunately, as technology has evolved, so has sending faxes. Any of the above methods can make sending faxes secure, affordable, and convenient.
