Do you occasionally need to send or receive a fax? With free internet faxing service there is no need to invest in a fax machine and phone line or to waste your time and money going to Kinkos just to send or receive a fax. Since free fax service varies, here are a few things you need to keep in mind (or you can skip ahead to our list of providers.)
Free Internet Fax Service Features Overview
With all free internet fax services, you receive faxes in your email. Not all services provide you with the ability to send a fax, and even among those that provide this service, it is done differently.
There are three main ways to send faxes via the free internet services. One way is to send the fax by email. You email your service provider the fax with the fax number in the "to" or "subject" field. Another way to send faxes is with a web based form. With these you type the fax number and your document into a form on your provider's website. When you are done you just press submit and they fax what you typed to the specified number. A final way to send faxes is with special software provided by the fax service. This software allows you to upload your document to your provider, who then faxes it out for you.
The other thing to note is your fax number. With the different companies you will be assigned either a local number, toll-free number, or a number outside your area code. If the fax number is outside of your area code, then even local parties may incur long distance charges when faxing you.
Featured Fax Service Provider:
FaxWave, from CallWave, is a low cost alternative to a dedicated fax line. They give you your very own, private fax number that you can publish on your business cards and stationery. Sending a fax to this number is no different than sending a fax to a standard fax machine. FaxWave automatically routes your faxes to your e-mail inbox as an e-mail attachment so you can check your faxes through the Internet from anywhere in the world. One great feature is that you can have your faxes forwarded to your regular email account so you don't have to remember to login to your FaxWave email to check for faxes as you would with some of the other services.
Just like e-mail, FaxWave is always on so you won't have to worry about busy signals any more. Even if you already have a dedicated fax line, people could still get busy signals if you were already sending or receiving a fax. But with FaxWave, 20 people could be faxing you at the exact same time without busy signals.
Free Internet Fax Service Providers
This is a list of the best free internet fax services along with comments about each service's special features or limitations:
Efax
UPDATE: 1 Month Free Trial Only
Receive unlimited faxes in your Efax email (or you can forward your Efax email to another email account), but your fax number may not be based in your local area. Also get free voicemail over the phone or on the web.
JFAX.com Free Fax Plus
UPDATE: 1 Month Free Trial Only
This service gives you a free personal phone number (your number may not be in your local area code, so long distance charges may apply) you can use to receive voice messages and faxes right in your email. This service is available in the US and UK.
Xoip
Receive faxes on your Xoip number (Netherlands, Belgium, and United Kingdom numbers only) and it will be forwarded to your email address where you will be able to view it as a graphics (.tiff) file. This service also provides free voicemail.