By: Kelly | Last updated February 10, 2020 
When you first think about faxing, you might associate this technology with older times and consider it outdated and useless. I mean, after all, it was invented more than 170 years ago. Traditional faxing was a huge success in the 1980s, when the Japanese from Canon came up with the first compact fax machines. They started to become highly popular, for both personal use and business purposes.
But nowadays, people seem to mostly rely on the internet for everything, including communication and data sharing. But that doesn’t mean that faxing is dead. It’s just been upgraded to be able to keep up with current technology. Legal, important documents are still sent via fax nowadays. However, a new faxing technology has been developed and continuously improved, and it’s got nothing to do with the PTSN anymore.
Faxing has too become digital, just like mostly everything around us. There are countless terms used to describe this new technology of sending/receiving faxes using the internet: internet faxing, online faxing, digital faxing, web faxing, cloud faxing, virtual faxing, e-faxing and more. All these names describe the same technology though: that of sending faxes using internet protocols instead of regular telephony. Sending a fax via internet is basically the same as sending an e-mail, only you have to add in the attachment the document you want to fax.
Is internet faxing really worth it? What are the benefits?
In order to use internet faxing you have to subscribe to an internet fax service and have a device that is compatible with the service (any computer/laptop will usually do). You also need a reliable internet connection. The good news is that this is pretty much everything you need, which is what makes this technology so popular and widely used. You no longer need a fax machine to be able to send and receive faxes online, which helps you save a lot of money and headaches in the long run. You don’t require paper anymore, you don’t have to continuously replace consumables such as toners and ink and so on. You no longer have to feel guilty about all those trees getting chopped down for paper production and you don’t have to get your blood pressure up every time your fax machine is moody and needs tweaking and maintenance.
All online fax services offer the essential features such as digital signature, top-notch security and mobile apps.
Is TrustFax a good service? Should you sign up for it?
TrustFax is an online fax service offered by J2. J2 is a renowned communication services provider with experience in the industry and a good reputation. The company has been around for more than 24 years. Internet faxing is one of the services offered by J2 and there are several online fax services owned by them: TrustFax, MetroFax, eFax, MyFax.
TrustFax is one of the most appreciated ones. It operates in all 50 states and offers toll-free number and local numbers. You can also opt for international faxing with TrustFax.
How much do you have to pay for TrustFax?
TrustFax is pretty straightforward when it comes to its plans. There are only two options available: a monthly subscription and an annual one.
The monthly subscription is priced at $12.99 per month.
The annual subscription will cost you less: $10.83 per month ($129.90 per year).
TrustFax also offers a free 30-day trial that gives you the chance to test the service.
What are the benefits of TrustFax online fax service?
As we’ve already mentioned it, this service offers local numbers in all the country (all 50 states). You can also opt for toll-free numbers if you want. But the biggest selling point is their international faxing option, which is not something you find in all other competitors.
International faxing is not included in TrustFax’s standard offer, so you have to pay extra for this feature. The quote is per minute and you are allowed to send faxes to more than 200 destinations worldwide.
TrustFax includes cloud fax storage for a period of 30 days. If you want to keep the faxes longer than that, you have to pay for them $0.03/message/month. There is a better offer for customers who pay for the entire year though, because they will get cloud fax storage for the entire year, without paying extra after the first 30 days.
When it comes to the number of fax pages included with TrustFax, you get 300 sent and received fax pages per month. You can go over this limit but it will cost you extra: $0.10 per any additional page.
TrustFax supports all the common file formats: docx, PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF and more. Digital signature is included, as well as the ‘fax to email’ feature found in most online fax services out there.
One shortcoming of TrustFax is the lack of a mobile app, which in 2019 can be a deal breaker for some people.
