Put the Bat Away: Fax Machines are Dead and the Internet Killed Them

The day a purchased fax machine lands at the office is the final day that it's top of line. It's also the final day that it's full of ink and paper until more money is expended to maintain it. It's all downhill from there—a paper-wadded, buzzing, beeping, headache-inducing tumble downhill. But thanks to the emergence of online services such as online fax services that can replace expensive office equipment, the small business owner can actually take a baseball bat to his fax machine with a clean conscience.As the pertinence of email develops and the business world insists on holding on to fax machines, bridge technologies like online fax services are becoming more and more common. There are currently lots of fax providers in this industry ranging from five-employee shops to Fortune 500 companies. Some of these fax providers include MyFax, RingCentral and TrustFax. J2 Global Communications is a Fortune 500 company that controls several internet fax service brands, such as Rapid Fax and Fax.com, but their most well known brand is eFax.Faced with a wide selection of service providers, fax users may find the task of selecting a provider to be an added stress to their schedule. The recent lack of unbiased comparisons regarding internet fax services compelled ChooseWhat.com to offer online fax service reviews. After much unfruitful searching, ChooseWhat.com co-founder Leo Welder signed up for an online fax service that he later had to cancel because it was missing some features that were essential for the company. This experience convinced Leo that the online fax service industry was a perfect arena for an unbiased comparison site. Further confirming the need for helpful comparison and reviews was the discovery that eFax, the market's most well known leader, charges 70% more than the ‘Market Standard' and includes fewer pages than their top competitors.‘Market Standard' for an online fax service is $10 per month for 300 pages with no start up fee, a 30 day free trial and overage pages for $0.10 per page or less. At those prices, six months of service fees will cost substantially less than most traditional fax machines. In addition to its ‘Market Standard,' ChooseWhat.com provides thorough eFax reviews and other eFax comparison information, including ‘need to know' comparison data regarding eFax service fees. As almost all of the marketing for these services is done on the internet, most of the information regarding online fax services is listed by the vendors themselves. Internet faxing will certainly benefit businesses in the future. And by discovering more about this contemporary business tool fax senders can maximize benefits and minimize cost.As Leo Welder puts it: “With great options like MyFax and RingCentral, unwitting consumers paying above market service fees is clearly the result of a lack of information. We hope to provide that information on ChooseWhat.com.”