If you need to send faxes in our modern world, you may be wondering where you can get your hands on a traditional fax machine, particularly if you’re WFH.
Wonder no more. With the introduction of online faxing, a wealth of faxing apps has sprung up for you to choose from.
The Top 10 Features of Faxing Apps
- Free
- Secure
- HIPAA compliant
- Multiple email addresses
- Digital signatures
- Group recipients
- Scheduled delivery
- Progress tracker
- Integration
- Archive
The Top 10 Features of Faxing Apps
So when you’re analyzing fax apps and trying to determine which is the best fax app, here are the top 10 features of faxing apps that you need to look out for.
1. Free
Most fax apps will have a free tier option which allows you to send and receive a certain number of free faxes a month. Or some will offer you 7 days of free faxing to try the fax app and see if it’s for you.
The free option may not be right for your needs, so don’t focus on getting something for nothing, instead focus on what added benefits your chosen fax app can give – the extra perks that will make them a preferred provider.
2. Secure
When you’re sending a fax online, you need to ensure that your chosen fax app is secure. Online faxing significantly increases the security of your documents and data, but only certain online fax apps, such as iFax, have end to end security, giving you full encryption, guaranteeing you peace of mind when you’re faxing sensitive data.
When you’re shopping for a cloud based fax provider, make sure that they offer outbound as well as inbound fax encryption. Some providers will even encrypt your delivery notification so that every aspect of your online fax experience is secure.
Prioritizing security when sending faxes online is particularly important if you handle health data, for example. You have to be sure you comply with the data security regulations as laid out by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996).
3. HIPAA compliant
Not every online fax provider is HIPAA compliant, and if you regularly handle patient sensitive health data, sending it or receiving it, you need to ensure that you’re HIPAA compliant. Make sure that the fax app provider you choose is HIPAA compliant or you run the risk of severe penalties.
4. Multiple email addresses
Don’t confuse this feature with multiple recipients. This multiple email address feature allows you to connect multiple email accounts to one fax line. This way you don’t have to create a standalone email address for your online faxing.
You can easily fax and receive faxes to your existing email addresses. And you don’t need to create new accounts for all your team members either. They can just as easily connect their own email address to your online fax account, all under one faxing subscription. Now that is a feature worth looking out for.
5. Digital signatures
One of the main benefits of traditional faxing is being able to send a wet ink signature when required. Which is why fax is admissible in court, whereas email isn’t. So you might think that with online faxing, the wet ink signature advantage is lost. Not so.
With digital faxing you get digital signatures, and yes, they’re just as legally binding. A digital signature will save you time and boost your productivity by negating the need to hunt down each signature, simply digitally sign and send.
You can drag and drop your digital signature or you can scrawl something similar each time with a stylus pen, the choice is yours. Just make sure your chosen fax app has this key feature.
6. Group recipients
Traditional faxing required you to punch in each number and send a fax, one at a time. With online faxing you can boost your productivity and send out fax blasts – bulk faxes to a large number of recipients, all at the same time.
No more sending the same fax over and over, and no, the recipient won’t get a CC notification. Their fax will come through as if you sent it individually. Improve collaboration and productivity all at the same time.
7. Scheduled delivery
You can schedule everything these days – from social media posts to when you want your newsletter sent out. The same goes with online faxing. If you work from home, you’ll understand how distracting small children can be, resulting in playing catch up after they’ve gone to bed. But not everyone works late at night. What if you want to send a fax before you forget?
With online faxing you set up the digital fax and schedule delivery at a more sociable hour. With schedule delivery you can always send the right fax to the right recipient at the right time. You don’t even have to be awake when it goes.
8. Progress tracker
If you’re ever sent an app and not known if you’ve sent it to the right place or if it’s been received, then you’re not alone. With online faxing you can keep an eye on the progress of your sent faxes with the progress and status tracker. You can see where the fax is, whether it’s been delivered and whether it’s been read.
9. Integration
When you’re trying to increase productivity in your team by cutting down on apps and tools for your small business, choosing an online fax app that can integrate with your preferred productivity platforms can reap so many benefits.
Connect your online fax app to Slack, to Trello, to your CRM, and integrate your online faxing service directly into your team’s workplace tools.
10. Archive
One of the most beneficial features of a great fax app is that it will archive all of your incoming and outgoing online faxes so that you can easily retrieve them at a later date. This extra feature not only helps you cut down on paper, because you no longer need to print out your received faxes, it will also make filing a lot easier.
With everything handled online, digitally, you can choose to either keep all of your incoming faxes in chronological order in your secure email inbox, or you can use a feature known as Fax Archive, whereby you get a dedicated file storage system in the cloud, for you to store all of your incoming and outgoing faxes safely and securely.
If this feature is important to you, check your chosen provider to see if they have unlimited storage of faxes, as you might need to pay for extra space. The advancement in faxing options and the availability of reliable fax services like iFax have made secure fax communications more convenient and efficient than ever before.
