free fax to email service

How to Receive Faxes Via Email and Why?

You’ve likely heard of people receive faxes via email. If not, I’ll explain the benefits of doing so because I believe that the value of one’s time far exceeds the time spent waiting to send or receive faxes “the old fashioned” way. In fact this type of feature has been around for several years, but the cost was pretty prohibitive even just a couple of years ago. This is typical when it comes to technology that when a new service becomes available, the costs are high, few people use it and the company providing the service either goes out of business or they drop their prices … significantly.

That’s where we are with the ability to receive faxes via email. First, let me explain the process and how it works. Typically, you will sign up for an online service that will provide you with a “fax number.” This number is really not a number in the traditional sense, but a “virtual number.” Now, of course, it is a number that someone who has an “old fashioned” fax machine can send fax pages to, but it’s not necessarily hooked up to an actual telephone, like, say your home telephone.

That provider of the faxing service will then associate your “fax number” to an email address that you provide to them. This is where the magic of faxes via email comes into play. When somebody sends you a fax document, that document goes to the fax provider’s server and then gets translated into “bits” that gets relayed to your email address as an attachment. You read the email and attachment like you would any other email.

Conversely, when you want to send a fax, you simply attach a document to an outgoing email. The “recipient” in the “TO” line in your email client is the fax # of the recipient PLUS an appended domain of the fax service. For example: 123456789@rcfax.com. The appended domain is a “catch all” where the server is awaiting a fax to be received. Once the fax is received from you, it gets translated into a “faxable document” and then forwarded on to the recipient’s fax line. Now, that fax line could be a real fax machine or even another “virtual fax.” Brilliant!

The benefits of being able to receive faxes via email are quite extraordinary. Think about Hawaii, Cozumel, Bahamas … AH yes.  The biggest benefit of this capability is the fact that you don’t have to wait for a fax to arrive … turn on your fax machine … nada. On the flip side of that you don’t have to be AT a fax machine or look for one if you are say, on the beach! Yes, I have literally faxed documents … even from my iPhone … from the beach. How’s that for living a document free life?

If you want to know more pros and cons of why receive faxes via email or if you want to learn more virtual office tips and tricks visit my website.

About the Author

David Chan is a small business owner who is passionate about leveraging great technology to create truly virtual offices. He believes that these solutions save small businesses money and provide tremendous value. David reveals tips about how to receive faxes via email tools that will help you grow your business and save you money!