Travel Technology - How do you get an efax?

The fax that converts incoming faxes into a scan and sends it to your email and one in which you can send something via email to a fax machine.

http://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/page/downloadOverview

You sign up for a free eFax account and free fax number at efax.com . Faxes magically appear in your email inbox where you can view, print, or save them.

For $15 a month you get a fax number in your choice of area codes, and unlimited incoming faxes. You also get the extremely useful software eFax Messenger which allows you to compose and mark up faxes and save them as tif or pdf files.

A similar and also extremely useful service is ViaVoice.com which records and transcribes your incoming voice mails, and sends you an email with an MP3 of the voicemail and a transcript.

For a trifecta, go to tollfreeforwarding.com for cheap remotely forwarded phone numbers worldwide at a fraction of the cost of doing the same thing through the phone company.

I'm not yet ready for earthclassmail.com

Mods: Now send this off to Travel Technology

The fax that converts incoming faxes into a scan and sends it to your email and one in which you can send something via email to a fax machine.

While you may want to raise this question in the Travel Technology (http://flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=169) forum, you can get an inbound-only fax account for free at http://www.efax.com. They also have outbound options (at a price).

I've used Efax for years and am quite happy with the service.'

I've used Efax for years and am quite happy with the service.'

Same here.
Not only is it convenient on the road, but all my faxes arrive in .pdf format and I can then file and save all faxes within my system, no scanning required because they arrived via email.

(EDIT) Oh, and I can easily fwd those faxes to anyone, anywhere via email

My recollection is that the free version only delivers in the efx format, which requires their reader. It takes a paid subscription to get the faxes in pdf/tiff format. Is that still the case??

I like eFax for receiving and it isn't horrible for sending, but I find that I do so very little faxing and anything I do need to fax would need a wet ink signature on it so that eFax (or any other faxing solution) really does very little for me.

I've used Efax for years and am quite happy with the service.'

What's a fax machine? ;)
Anyway, had eFax for about 4 years but dropped it due to non use really. I've got a portable scanner that's in my bag and can scan/email a PDF for a lot less than the eFax (even at its cheap $15/month cost). If you send a bunch of faxes, it's worth the investment. If you don't, you'll be sending some really expensive per page faxes.

How do you send a fax using eFax or others?

How do you send a fax using eFax or others?

Generally via email. There are some other ways to do it too, but generally via email or their web interface. If you need to send a wet ink signature you'd have to scan it to an image first and then eFax it.

How do you send a fax using eFax?
What sbm12 said.

From eFax FAQs (http://www.efax.com/help/faq):

Methods of Sending Faxes

As an eFax Plus or eFax Pro customer you can send faxes three ways; for more information, please click on one of the links below:

- Send faxes using your Email Client (such as Outlook)
- Send faxes from the eFax Website
- Send faxes using eFax Messenger for Windows

<SNIP> If you need to send a wet ink signature you'd have to scan it to an image first and then eFax it.
If you’re using Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can create a custom Stamp from a scan of you signature. No printing, scanning or ink needed.

Comments> Commenting Tools> Stamps> Create Custom Stamps…


EDIT: Forgot to add that I’ve been using eFax for several years now and generally like the service. I’ve had some issues with outbound faxes being stopped by my anti-virus program, but I get around that by just using the web portal in eFax Messenger.

If you’re using Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can create a custom Stamp from a scan of you signature. No printing, scanning or ink needed.

Comments> Commenting Tools> Stamps> Create Custom Stamps…

You can also insert an image in a Word doc or anything else, which is normally how I do it. But if I have a paper document I need to sign and fax I need some way of getting that paper doc onto the computer, and that is usually a fax machine. If the doc is already on the computer then there are other options.

Fax.com gives you 30 days free, and includes sending up to 300 pages.

You have to watch out with the limits on eFax. I had a free account for a year, and I was doing a house refi while out of the country, and went over the page limit by 5-6 pages. BAM!...no more free account.

I use trustfax.com Not bad. $5/month for a 800 number fax. 50 faxes/month incl. I get them via pdf.

I use trustfax.com Not bad. $5/month for a 800 number fax. 50 faxes/month incl. I get them via pdf.

50 incl outgoing and incoming? how does one send a fax?

50 incl outgoing and incoming? how does one send a fax?

Either via email (sending it to a certainemail address with a passcode in the sub and the message body is a fax or if you attach a document or file) or via their online account when you login you can upload different types of documents and fill out a form and it faxes it.

You have to watch out with the limits on eFax. I had a free account for a year, and I was doing a house refi while out of the country, and went over the page limit by 5-6 pages. BAM!...no more free account.

I had the free eFax for years. One month I received over 20 faxes and was cut off. I found Maxemail, which is a much better service anyway and is about 15.00 a year for the basic account. No limit, fax comes in as PDF if you want (can even read it on Windows Mobile phone). No outgoing--that is additonal. I have a multi-function device with a fax at home. I send outgoing faxes (when I do--rare anymore) with that. Hooked up to unlimited phone, so no phone charges. My issue was paying 25.00 a month for a fax phone line when I was hardly getting any faxes at all anymore (everyone sends email). Now I pay 15.00 a year for that same service for those few dinosaurs who still fax.

Can any of these services receive faxes in color (I'm hoping the pdf ones does)?

Can any of these services receive faxes in color (I'm hoping the pdf ones does)?

Why would you want to receive a fax in color?
While there have been some color fax attempts in the past, that technology was always subject to compatibility issues and these days is pretty much not a focus of anyone.

Why would you want to receive a fax in color?
While there have been some color fax attempts in the past, that technology was always subject to compatibility issues and these days is pretty much not a focus of anyone.


The tif that I used to receive at my previous job were often not clear, I am guessing color would be clearer.

I had the free eFax for years. One month I received over 20 faxes and was cut off.

I had the same experience, and while I got the email that I was cut off, it turned out that that wasn't the case. At least, the following month I was able to receive faxes. I use the service maybe once or twice a year (last time was to get a hotel bill for a no show charge).

The tif that I used to receive at my previous job were often not clear, I am guessing color would be clearer.

That would depend on the sending party having a fax that could send in color, and those pretty much do not exist. As noted above, it was tried for a while by some companies, but it never caught on as there wasn't an efficient standard that worked well. So even if eFax would send you a color image the source would still be gray-scale and just as illegible.

I've had eFax for a few years now. I pay the $16/month to have my fax number in my chosen area code, though come to think of it I use the service so rarely that I might as well stop paying for it...

Don't get me wrong - it works well; I just don't really need a fax that much.

Does trustfax have a program in which toll free# do not have an additional per fax cost? I tried to find, went upto the page where you enter the credit card#, but did not see any mention. It seems strange that a local and a toll free# is the same rate.

Ideally I would like a service with a toll free#, a fixed rate (within the alloted # of fax pages) and incoming voicemail sent to email - is there anything like this?

Does trustfax have a program in which toll free# do not have an additional per fax cost? I tried to find, went upto the page where you enter the credit card#, but did not see any mention. It seems strange that a local and a toll free# is the same rate.
But they aren't the same rate--the plan cost is more with toll-free than with toll.

The thing to do is acquire a toll-free number before signing up for a fax program. Park the toll-free # on a spare home or business land line. Then when you receive the fax number from whatever fax-to-email service you choose, ask the telco to port the toll-free # to your new fax line.

A few benefits to this is that your toll-free # becomes your “lifetime” fax #, since per FCC regs you own that #. Also, owners of toll-free #s have the right to see what the originating calling number is, since they are paying for it. In the past 5 years, the only fax # visible to the public on websites, trade directories, etc. has been my toll-free #. The folks that send out junk faxes avoid toll-free #s for obvious reasons, and junk faxes have become a thing of the past for me.

The folks that send out junk faxes avoid toll-free #s for obvious reasons, and junk faxes have become a thing of the past for me.

sorry for being dense but if someone can send you a fax for free since its a toll free# why would they hesitate?

deleted.

sorry for being dense but if someone can send you a fax for free since its a toll free# why would they hesitate?

because they can't block their callerid.

Another suggestion: callwave (homepage (http://www.callwave.com/landing/allProducts.aspx))

I am currently using free eFax. I've never used callwave for fax. But I was a happy customer using their internet answering machine when I was on dialup years back.

It seems they have a 30-day free trial promo for internet fax right now:
http://www.callwave.com/landing/wam_business_faxOnly.asp

Maybe others can chime in if they have used callwave for fax.

Another suggestion: callwave (homepage (http://www.callwave.com/landing/allProducts.aspx))

Callwave is okay, but they've raised their prices a lot free-->3.95-->7.95-->12.95

I just signed up, but during the process it never gave me an option to select a fax#. It just gave me a toll free#. No mention of extra charges.

How do I put multiple emails?

I just signed up, but during the process it never gave me an option to select a fax#. It just gave me a toll free#. No mention of extra charges.

How do I put multiple emails and how do I send a fax apart from going thru trustfax.com?
They have local fax number plans and toll free number fax plans.
Presumably, you signed up for one of the toll free number fax plans:
http://www.trustfax.com

I use myfax.com. $9.99 a month, able to chose a specific area code. Works great!