Back in the 90′s people were scared of online faxes. Nowadays people cringe at the thought of sending the fax to a “standard” fax machine. Using an online fax is really the best way to go these days. Trying to setup WinFax or one of the other “computer-based” fax software is complicated and you have to always have the machine turned on. With the cost of online numbers being below $10 a month in most cases, why wouldn’t you have an online flexible number?

Whether sending a few pages or replacing that gigantic Ricoh machine, each service offers small plans that can expand as your company grows.

Once you have an online fax service I’m sure you will agree your favorite part is the fact that you don’t need to think about the maintenance items that come with a traditional fax machine. You only need paper for the faxes you print. Your machine is running 24/7 and not in your home or office. These service companies have hired employees simply to watch the fax servers and make sure your faxes are delivered complete and on time.

If you have an email account you can get your faxes online. Using a web-based email is usually best because you can get them in a internet cafe or anywhere there is internet access. More and more people are trading the office cubicle for a hot sandwich and easy chair at the neighborhood Starbucks. Your fax will arrive in either a proprietary file format or more commonly as a .tiff or .pdf format. Your PC will come with the .tiff reader already installed and a .pdf format is available for free on Adobe.com

If you want to add a signature to a fax the best way I have figured out is to use a product called Snag-it by TechSmith. I open my autograph and then copy it. Then I open the fax and simply paste it into the page where I want to place it. Then I send to PDF using Primo PDF. This produces a new original PDF with my signature in place. Say goodbye to printing, signing and scanning.

To choose which fax service is correct for you, you don’t have to look much further than www.fax-number.net. This is really the best place to start. They provide an easy to read comparison chart detailing the features, benefits and costs of each service.