Online Faxing vs Fax Machines

Why would anyone still use a fax in the internet age? For most people today, fax is as relevant as carrier pigeons. But for many companies, faxing is still a necessity. There are various reasons for this, but it usually boils down to security. Since faxes are transmitted directly through a phone line, they’re far more secure than emails. Hackers are unable to intercept faxed messages, which is why faxing is still popular with law firms and the healthcare industry. Many regulatory bodies approve only faxing as a method of communication thanks to its ability to transmit signatures, which can turn faxes into official documents. Online faxing allows people to ditch their fax machine and still have all the benefits while keeping everything digital. But how does it compare to the real thing?

When it comes to which is the least hassle, there’s no contest: online faxing is far more convenient than traditional analog faxing. With machine faxing, everything centers around the location of the machine itself, which normally has to be close to a phone line. All your faxes need to be stored in files or folders, potentially taking up a huge amount of space, and anything you decide to discard becomes a waste of paper. There are files and folders for a digital fax inbox too, but as they don’t take up any physical space, it’s easy to organize all your faxes. The lack of paper also makes online faxing a far greener option. Finally, when you fax online you can do it from anywhere in the word, at any time – all you need is to be connected to the internet.

Perhaps the most important aspect for businesses is how secure faxing is. We know that faxing is much safer than email, but is that still true of online faxing as well? As mentioned, faxing is very secure, and unless you’re being wiretapped by the NSA, there’s no way anyone can intercept your faxes remotely. Of course, there’s nothing to stop anyone who has access to your fax machine from reading your incoming messages, but with online faxes this isn’t an issue. Only you will be able to access your fax, and a good service will provide two-factor authentication for added security. All your faxes will be encrypted end-to-end, so there’s no need to worry about them being intercepted.