This page answers common questions about sending faxes online over the internet:
- What’s the difference between faxing online and faxing with a fax machine?
- How can you fax online?
- How do you fax a document over the internet?
- How can I fax paperwork online without a fax machine?
Fax Machine vs Faxing Online
Traditional faxing became a mainstream way to share information in the 1960s and 1970s, when big, bulky facsimile machines entered office culture. They were about the size of a copy machine, and they required a telephone line (AKA landline) to operate. In smaller offices and homes, the fax machines shared lines with actual telephone lines, requiring everyone to be hands-off when receiving or sending a fax. Fun times.
Modern versions of fax machines are often integrated with printers and copy machines as all-in-one technology, but they still require a landline to transmit faxes from one machine to another.
The value of faxing is in its security. Because the data (facsimile of documents) is sent over telephone lines, it is still considered one of the most secure ways to transmit information. Although faxing may seem outdated (those bulky machines definitely are), it’s still a preferred method for sharing documents, especially in the medical, legal and financial fields.
The difference between online faxing and fax-machine faxing:
- Technology: Traditional faxing uses fax machines. Online faxing requires an internet-connected device, which you already have if you’re reading this!
- Equipment and supplies: Older fax machines required special thermal paper on rolls. Modern fax machines use traditional copy paper and ink. Internet faxing requires no paper or ink. Download and save to your device or cloud-based storage.
- Security: Phone lines can be intercepted, but generally they are considered to be safe and secure. Online faxing is also considered to be secure; the level of security depends on the fax service provider’s level of encryption, as well as your own ISP’s security practices.
Quick Hits About Internet Faxing
Can I/we fax online? Yes.
Is internet-based faxing as reliable as a fax machine? Yes
Do I need to download software to fax online? No. Fax.Live is 100% sent through an internet connection.
How do you fax something online? Faxing from the internet is easy. Try it today. Send a fax.
More About Fax.Live’s Fax Services Online
Internet faxing, also known as online faxing or e-faxing, is a way to send and receive faxes digitally, using the internet instead of a traditional phone line.
Sending internet faxes
To fax stuff online, you first need to convert your document into a digital format (PDF). You can use an online PDF converter. Apple users can download DocScan, an easy-to-use app that scans documents and converts them to PDFs.
Set up an account with the internet fax service provider Fax.Live. Why do we require an account? We need an email account to send confirmations when your faxes have been sent and received. We offer several internet fax options for single use, regular use and enterprise-level uses.
Transmit faxes over the internet
When you set up an account with Fax.Live, you’ll get your own dedicated fax phone number, which is yours as long as your account is active. You can use it to receive and send faxes on the internet.
The internet fax service sends the document over the internet to the recipient’s fax service or fax machine. This process bypasses the need for a physical phone line for you, the sender.
Does your recipient need to have a fax machine? Faxing via the internet was designed for people who don’t have a traditional fax machine (the hardware required to transmit faxes). If your recipient has a physical fax machine, Fax.Live’s fax service will work. If your recipient has their own online fax account, such as with Fax.Live, we can fax directly to that number as well.
Receiving a fax
When someone sends you a fax, the process can work in a couple of ways.
If the sender is using an internet fax service like Fax.Live, they go through a similar process to convert the documents into PDFs and forward it to your fax number. You’ll get an email when faxes arrive.
If the recipient has a traditional fax machine, the sender enters your Fax.Live-provided number, and transmits the fax over a phone line (using the service provider’s own infrastructure) as it would if you had a traditional fax machine.
Digital fax storage
One of the advantages of faxing by internet service is the ability to store received and sent faxes digitally. With Fax.Live, you can easily access, organize, and archive faxes without needing physical storage space. We offer unlimited fax storage as long as your account is active.
Internet faxing is popular because it combines the widely accepted legal and business processes associated with faxing with the convenience and accessibility of email and digital documents. It eliminates the need for fax machines, dedicated phone lines, and the physical storage of documents, reducing costs and improving efficiency.