It has been said more than once that traditional faxing is something of the offices of yesterday; a technology that is now obsolete and no longer has a place in the next-generation equipped offices of today.

While in many ways this is true, a new form of the technology has a very strong and growing presence throughout the world. Internet faxing — or online faxing — refers to a method of transferring a document over the Internet, from one machine to another. Such technology has been implemented to reduce costs and increase the functionality of faxing.

 

This technology enables companies to create and send professional faxes and broadcast them to multiple recipients whether they are in the U.S. or abroad. Many offerings also allow the user to block junk faxes, create custom cover pages, sign faxes electronically and attach documents.

Internet faxes can be sent via e-mail, an online account with an Internet fax provider, Microsoft (News - Alert) applications or even by phone. In this new age of faxing, senders no longer must wait for an available line, there are no busy signals or waiting for the fax to transmit.

When receiving faxes, Internet fax users generally can customize the method in which they receive faxes. Again the process will not tie up the phone line and busy signals will not prevent transmission of important documents. Faxes can be stored for future access either locally or with a provider.

Internet faxing provides significant advantages to the business — no matter its size. These advantages can include the elimination of an extra fax phone line; provision of paperless communication that can be integrated with e-mail; the ability to send and receive multiple faxes simultaneously; and a reduction in phone costs. 

One such provider is RingCentral (News - Alert). The company’s RingCentral Online service is a Web-based, affordable fax service that is specifically designed for professionals and small firms. The solution is not tied to hardware or landlines and is delivered through any traditional phone. It can also be accessed through any computer in the world, providing immediate connection to all mobile employees and remote offices.

 

RingCentral offers business telephone plans to include a toll free or local number, Internet fax functionality, Virtual PBX (News - Alert) features and Web-based features that cannot be found on traditional telephone hardware. Such features include online call management, call screening, advanced answering rules and mobile access to all system features.


Internet faxing provides businesses with the tools to present themselves to customers in a professional format that gives the impression of an established enterprise — even if it is a small company. Such presentation is essential for small businesses to compete in today’s market and will therefore help to drive the adoption of Internet faxing solutions.