January 8, 2023  |   

These days, it only takes a few minutes to send a fax online. In fact, once you're used to the process, you can send a fax from Gmail in thirty seconds flat. Virtual faxing services have made faxing as simple and convenient as sending an ordinary email from your laptop or phone. Let's take a look at how to send online fax fast and how long delivery takes, too.

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How Long Does It Take To Send a Fax Online?

Send a Fax From Gmail in Minutes

First of all, you need to be using a third-party faxing service like aFax. When you've signed up, connect your Gmail address to your account with that faxing service.

Just type your email address into the outbound faxes section. Now, you're ready to fax from your Gmail.

Compose a New Fax Email

Open your Gmail account and compose a new email. Write a few words in the header if you like. Anything you write there will be printed on the cover letter when the fax prints out on your receiver's fax machine.

Attach Your Document

Next, you need to attach the document you want to fax. This is the same as attaching a file to an ordinary email. Your document should be in PDF format.

Enter the Receiver's Fax Number

Before you enter the recipient's fax number, you need to turn it into an email format. All you need to do is at a suffix with @ to the end of the fax number. Enter this into your email's “TO” box.

Send Your Fax

Finally, double-check the details of your fax and hit “send.” The automated processes of your fax provider will transform your document into an analog fax file and deliver it to your receiver's fax machine.

How Long It Takes To Deliver Your Fax

With most virtual faxing services, you can expect your document to take about one minute per page to be delivered. If the document contains graphics, it might take up to five minutes per page.

It helps to understand the difference between a faxed file and a digital file. With fax, the document is turned into base64 binary form so it can travel over the public telephone network. This effectively turns your document into a collection of sounds.

The machine at the other end interprets these sounds, converts the document back into a readable format, and then prints it out. This analog delivery system of fax is slower than sending digital files over the internet, but it is considered more secure.

Why Online Fax Is Safer Than Email

Data delivered via fax over the telephone network is sent directly point-to-point with no stops along the way. This makes it practically impossible to intercept and read without direct access to your fax machine or computer.

Email, on the other hand, travels via the internet. There are various stops along the way, such as servers, ISPs, and firewalls. At each of these points, hackers have an opportunity to intercept and read the email's contents. These days, end-to-end encryption negates most of these security risks. But fax is still perceived as safer and many organization use faxes for this reason.

The best way to learn about online faxing is to send your first Gmail fax. Test Drive Our #1 Recommended Choice!