By: Tamara | Last updated March 29, 2019 
Traditional faxing is slowly but surely being replaced by online faxing. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, in this Internet-based era. The benefits of online faxing are indisputable, which is why more and more people and companies switch to it.
Why switch to online faxing?
One of the biggest advantages of online faxing is affordability. This communication technology is considerably cheaper than traditional faxing for several reasons: you don’t have to invest in a fax machine, because you can send/receive faxes over the internet without having a fax; you don’t need to buy paper and consumables such as ink toners and so on; you don’t need to pay for the phone line. All you need in order to send a fax online is a reliable internet connection, a subscription to an online fax service, a computer and a valid e-mail address.
Online faxing is also secure, fast and more user-friendly. Not to mention environmentally-friendly, because it doesn’t require paper, so less trees have to be cut for that purpose.
There are several aspects to consider when choosing an online fax service: whether it is scalable (does it offer multiple plans to choose from, so you can start low and upgrade as you grow?), whether it offers a mobile app, what kind of features does it offer, whether it offers international numbers or not, how secure is the service, what encryption does it use and more.
HelloFax – Is it a good option to consider?
HelloFax is an online fax service owned by HelloSign and it is one of the few services that offer a free plan.
Available plans and pricing
HelloFax offers a Free plan, a Home Office plan, Professional, Small Business and Enterprise.
The Home Office plan is the most affordable one. It costs $9.99/month and includes 300 fax pages per month.
The Professional plan is $19.99/month and includes 500 pages per month.
The Small Business plan is $39.99/month and includes 1000 pages per month.
The Enterprise plan doesn’t have a fixed quote and you have to contact HelloFax to receive a customized offer, both regarding the number of included pages and the monthly fee.
All paid plans come with a 30-day free trial, email to fax, secure cloud storage and international coverage.
The free plan includes only 5 pages, not per month but in total. Another limitation is the fact that you can only send faxes, but you can’t receive any. There’s no email to fax either. The free plan is only good if you want to try out the service, but you’ll most likely need to upgrade to one of their paid plans, if you need to send and receive faxes on a regular basis.
Useful features
One of the qualities of HelloFax is the fact that you can send and receive faxes internationally, at no extra cost.
Integrations are also generous when it comes to HelloFax. This online fax service comes with Google integrations and custom API available to corporate subscribers. One example is Google credential synchronization, which allows you to log in to HelloFax with your Google account’s username and password. There’s also a Google Docs addon that lets you instantly sign in and send faxes from Google documents.
HelloFax also offers unlimited storage for your sent and received faxes, as it also integrates with Google Drive.
As far as fax numbers go, HelloFax offers local US numbers, Canada and UK numbers. What is missing are toll-free numbers. HelloFax allows you to port your number and it will cost you $15 per number.
In terms of security, HelloFax is one of the most secure online fax services out there. It uses SSL encryption as well as physical protection of premises where their servers are located.
Overall, HelloFax is a trustworthy and secure online fax service, with an attractive set of features and a lot of plans to choose from. It is a bit expensive but it also offers a lot for the money, which makes it a great choice especially for large companies and corporations.
