Chances are, you’ll want to send (or receive) a fax or two this year. Right?
If you don’t do enough faxing to justify buying a fax machine and hooking up a separate fax line, here are your options:
1. Use the fax machine at work (…not always convenient, or private)
2. Use the faxing services available at places like FedEx/Kinkos (…for a fee)
Neither of the above options is very attractive if you just need to send a short fax to someone in a hurry.
There is a better alternative… and it’s FREE!
First, Why Online Faxing Services Aren’t Perfect
You may have heard about a number of different online faxing services that let you send OR receive faxes for free.
The catch: None of them permits free faxing both ways.
Either you can send for free or you can receive for free, but not both.
Good news!… Lee Seats at Freebies.about.com has done his homework and found the best options for sending and receiving faxes… for FREE!
Best FREE Online Faxing Services
“All you need to do is use two free services, one to send your faxes and another to receive faxes.”
#1 To RECEIVE incoming faxes without a fax machine… use eFax. I’ve used it for years. It’s simple and very quick.
When you sign-up for eFax (for FREE), you get your own “fax number.”
Whenever someone sends you a fax, it arrives in your inbox as an e-mail attachment!
The best thing about eFax:
- It’s completely FREE for 30 days.
- There’s no limit to the number of incoming faxes you can receive.
- It shows up in your e-mail, which you already check regularly anyway.
- There’s no need for a separate phone line just for faxing.
- There are no “busy signals”.
- You can organize all your faxes online.
- It works instantly, seconds after you sign-up.
- You get to choose a local or toll-free fax number.
Lee actually prefers to use FaxDigits (also FREE) for receiving faxes. When you use FaxDigits, faxes that others send you appear as a .pdf file in your email inbox. Like with eFax, there is no limit on the number of FREE faxes you can receive.
#2 To SEND outgoing faxes without a fax machine… use FaxZero.
“FaxZero allows you to send a limited number of short faxes for free. At this writing you can send two faxes per day of up to three pages each. It may not be high volume, but it can come in handy when you need to get few pages faxed out. The free faxes have an advertisement on the cover page. There is no registration required and you can send faxes for free to anywhere in the US and Canada.”
I actually haven’t tried FaxZero yet, but I look forward to trying it the next time I have to send a fax.
Another reputable computer guy who uses both eFax and FaxZero is Rick Broida from PC World. Here’s his review of eFax and FaxZero.
NOTE: One nice thing about these FREE online faxing services is that it doesn’t take long to sign up and start sending or receiving faxes. We’re talking a matter of minutes… so the next time you have to send or receive a fax, have no fear. Just sign up & go, without a lot of headache!
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