Jump to content
ATX Community

Alternatives to efax?


BulldogTom

Recommended Posts

I have had efax for many years.   It seems to me that it is taking longer and longer to get confirmation emails from them.   I sent a fax to the IRS this morning and I am still waiting (over 2 hours and counting) for the confirmation email.   I was lucky that the IRS agent on the PP line was willing to check to see if the POA was on his machine.   I cannot deal with this anymore.  

Are any of you using a service that you get real-time confirmation of delivery for your faxing service?   Do I need to go back to a landline in my office and hook up an old fax machine?

I only send a couple of faxes every month, and at $16.95 a month, it is just starting to seem too expensive for too little functionality.

Thanks

Tom
Modesto, CA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pay the annual rate. I open eFax, Faxes, Sent Faxes, and see Completed with the date/time/# pages/etc. immediately. I don't send very many faxes and am happy with eFax. I do have it set to email me a copy of Sent faxes for convenience.

I will admit, though, that I also have an old fax/all-in-one machine (gift from a client who upgraded) on an AT&T/Frontier line. When we moved to Optimum years ago, we kept one AT&T line for power outages. We could plug an old telephone into the AT&T jack when we lost power and our cable services (phone/internet/TV) from Optimum. That $11/month plain vanilla line kept us in communication during power outages (we live in the boonies). Now, we have a generator so don't lose power, Optimum has gotten more reliable with generators around our area keeping Optimum services up and running, we all have cell phones, and that AT&T/Frontier line is now up to $23/month plus long distance. I'm tempted to drop Frontier, but the fax machine still is handy for documents that are not in my computer. I guess that's one of the decisions I'm making before tax season.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My question to Tom is - Is it Efax or the IRS?

I have been using efax for a long time and I do a lot of faxing to the IRS PPL while the agent is on the phone.  It is usually takes about 3-5 min. for a 2 page 2848.  Every once in a while there is no confirmation even after 10 minutes.  Then the agent will give me another fax number and the fax goes through smoothly.

The IRS computer system is notorious for technical problems with slowdowns and unplanned outages and this may also affect the fax system.

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, maybe I am doing something wrong.   I send email/Fax and I wait hours or days to get a confirmation email that the fax was successfully sent.   How are you getting these in minutes?   Or do I have to log into some website to see the confirmation?   I have never done anything like that.

BTW, I still have not received a confirmation email from the fax I sent that started this thread on Friday.

Please help.

Thanks

Tom
Modesto, CA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Confirmations show on the computer app almost immediately. I receive more faxes than I send, and receive those fast, per the church and a few others who are faxing me.

I just sent a fax from eFax to my stand-alone fax machine at 8:18+ pm and received it as the clock changed to 8:20 pm. At that time, it showed up in Sent on the computer app. My computer/eFax is on Optimum and my fax machine is Frontier; my email is Optimum/CCH SiteBuilder and viewed via Outlook. My email confirmation is also 8:20 pm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For $ 10/month (less if paid on an annual basis), MyFax provides such a confirmation email as well as such reliable service that I jettisoned my standalone fax and dedicated line 11 -- yes, eleven -- years ago.  MyFax assigned me a toll-free number, which helps persuade chintzy clients and their employers to fax me when necessary.  I'm authorized to send faxes from more than one email address -- I scan everything into PDFs in my office and simply attach those to a standard email address that begins with the recipient's fax number.

Not only that, but whenever I've had a problem such as an unreceived fax I've been able to reach live, human tech help no matter the time -- and a couple of times they conducted technical tests on my line and the recipient's.  I've never exhausted the limits on outbound and inbound faxes, which I just now looked up and found to be 200 pages in and 100 pages out per month.  There is an online resource such as LionEA described for eFax, which I've used to find faxes from YEARS ago -- apparently no limit on storage.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use RingCentral.  I usually get an email and a text within minutes when I send a fax, and an email quickly when I receive a fax.  I don't remember what the service costs offhand, but I have been pleased with it.  We just scan anything we don't already have on the computer to be able to fax it.  I switched when the last fax machine I had broke, and I have been very pleased. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...