September 22, 2021  |   

E-faxing, or sending a fax through email, has quickly become the modern and reliable way to transmit documents by fax. It eliminates the hassle of having a fax machine at home or driving to the local UPS or office supply store to fax. All you need to send an e-fax today is your existing Internet connection, a free email program like Gmail, and an account with any reputable e-fax service provider. Here's a closer look at how it works.

Modern and Reliable: Sending a Fax Through Email

What's an E-Fax?

With your existing Internet connection and an email program, you're already two-thirds of the way to sending a fax via email. The next step is signing up with an e-fax provider. After that, sending a fax is simple: create an email, attach your document(s), and send that email to the recipient's fax number in the format provided by your e-fax provider. You'll also get a unique fax number from your e-fax provider that allows you to receive faxes, too.

Let's say you've signed up with a hypothetical e-fax service at “efaxprovider.com” and want to send a fax to a recipient with the fax number 555-555-1212. Create a fax in Gmail and attach the document(s) you want to fax. For the email recipient, enter “5555551212@efaxprovider.com”. Then hit send. Your e-fax service converts the email into a fax and sends it, just as if you're using a traditional fax machine. The recipient won't even know it was sent by email.

Supported File Formats

E-fax services typically support all modern file formats, like TIFF, PDF, JPG, and PNG. These common file formats make it easy to transfer documents and images through email. Services like aFax, for example, also allow you to send and receive faxes in other file formats like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Snapshot, HTML, and more. It's best to check beforehand about additional file formats before choosing your provider.

Security and Privacy

When it comes to security and privacy, reputable e-fax services are careful to ensure the confidentiality of faxes sent through email. Most e-fax providers use end-to-end encryption to protect the privacy of your faxes and ensure that only the intended recipient can access the information. They also have strict security protocols in place to prevent unauthorized access to your faxes. Additionally, services like aFax are HIPAA-compliant and offer the option to password-protect your faxes for added security.

Why Is Email Fax the Modern Alternative to Fax Machines?

The popularity of e-faxing has exploded in recent years due to four main reasons. First is convenience, as e-faxing makes the physical fax machine obsolete, saving both space and money. Second, it's much faster than traditional methods that require users to manually enter each number, wait for the fax machine to dial, and print out the document. Third, it's paperless and more environmentally friendly. Finally, it's more flexible because it works reliably anywhere that has an Internet connection.

Choosing an E-Fax Provider

E-fax services are offered by companies or websites that provide email fax services. There are several online providers to choose from, each with its own set of features and pricing plans. When choosing an e-fax provider, it's important to consider factors such as reliability, security, and cost.

Some of the well-known e-fax providers include aFax, MyFax, and eFax. aFax is a particularly good place to start exploring your options because it ticks off all the boxes in terms of reliability, security, and cost and because it's unique in offering a free trial that doesn't require you to enter any credit card information, as long as your fax is five pages or less in length.

As you can see, sending a fax via email is a modern, convenient, and reliable way to send and receive faxes without the need for an expensive physical fax machine. All you need is an Internet connection and a free email program to save space and money, be more environmentally friendly, and have a more flexible faxing solution than ever before. Ready to start faxing? Sign up for your free aFax trial today!