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HelloFax features reviewed

Kelly Avatar By: Kelly | Last updated November 9, 2020

fax being sent on the internet


Introduction

A fax machine has been an integral part of our corporate life for decades. Sending and receiving documents through fax is a ubiquitous thing to do no matter in which corner of the globe you are working in. The machine itself has gotten a lot better throughout the years. It gets more compact, the printing process is faster, and the documents also getting clearer.  

But creating a document on a computer, then print it out, sign it, scan it, and finally send it through the fax machine has felt somewhat archaic, redundant, and most importantly, time-consuming. Why not send it from the computer in the first place?  

And that's where an online faxing company like HelloFax comes in and solves that problem for you. 

About HelloFax

HelloFax is an online document sharing company that enabled its users to share, edit, and sign faxes through their platform. Hellofax allowed you to send documents directly from your computer to a fax machine, to emails, and to cloud storage like dropbox, google drive, etc. 

Cofounded by Joseph Walla and Neil O'Mara in 2010, HelloFax has slowly but surely taken on the pole position when it comes to online faxes thanks to its easy-to-use interface, affordable price, and indispensable features.   

This San Fransisco-based company has always had an eSignature feature on its platform but as their business grows, they realized that eSignature is not just a feature, it is an entirely different product. So in 2012, the HelloFax cofounder launched HelloSign, a digital signature service. 

In 2019, Dropbox acquired HelloSign for USD230 million, its largest acquisition to date. Dropbox has been a long-time partner to HelloFax thanks to their integration as one of the cloud storage solutions to HelloFax's users. But when HelloSign came to be, Dropbox said that this particular product is essential to their long term expansion plan.  

Josep Walla also said that this acquisition would allow HelloSign, and consequently HelloFax, to gain a lot more exposure thanks to it being the official digital signature provider for millions of Dropbox's users. So it is a mutually beneficial decision for both companies.  

Features of HelloFax
  • Send and receive faxes online. The goal of HelloFax is for the corporate world to ditch the paper-based documents and transition to the much more convenient digital online media. With HelloFax, the customers now can send and receive faxes online, effectively eliminating papers, fax machines, and the wasted time of conventional faxing. 
  • Email to fax. HelloFax allows you to send an email to fax. All you need to do is attached the document to your preferred email client and send it to [fax numbers]@hellofax.com. HelloFax will make sure to instantly deliver the documents to the designated fax number. 
  • Edit and sign faxes electronically. HelloFax sends and receives faxes as PDF documents that could be filled and edited as necessary. Signing those documents digitally is also very easy to do thanks to the integration of the HelloSign technology. 
  • Fax multiple recipients at once. HelloFax allowed you to send the same fax to multiple recipients at the same time. Just like with email, all you have to do is listed the fax numbers of the recipients and simply send it.  
  • Choose local numbers or port your current numbers. When registering for their paid plans, HelloFax let you choose an area code (they only support the US, UK, and Canada for now) and they will assign a new fax number for you. Alternatively, you could use a pre-existing fax number and they will port it to your HelloFax account but you have to contact them about it first and there will also be a small fee for that particular option. 
  • Unlimited, secure storage. HelloFax offers unlimited storage for all of your faxes. In addition to that, they also have a highly secured, bank-grade encryption to protect your document from any possible leaks or hacks.  
  • Sync with your cloud storage. You could sync your faxes to all of the major cloud storage, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Onedrive, and even Evernote. 
  • Signing in with a Google account. HelloFax allows users to choose either to create a new account using your preferred email and password or to sign in with the pre-existing Google account.  
  • Affordable pricing plans. HelloFax has three levels of subscription plans that cover all of these premium features that I just mentioned above. Other than that, each plan differs mostly on the number of faxes and the teams you need in any given month. The plan ranging from USD9.99 for 300 faxes per month and five senders to USD39.99 for 1000 faxes per month and twenty senders. 
Benefits of using HelloFax

Other than the features that I have mentioned above, these are two other benefits of using HelloFax compare to other similar companies within the industry. 

  • Ease-of-use. HelloFax has a clear and straightforward user interface that makes it easy for everybody, even the non-tech-savvy people, to navigate its menu and functions since the first time they see it. The sleek and modern aesthetic of its design also pleasant to look at.  
  • Free plan and Free Trials. Other than its tiered paid plans, HelloFax also offers a free plan and a free-trial period. The free plan allowed you to send five pages a month. You'll have all the benefits such as international coverage or secure cloud storage but you won't be able to receive inbound faxes.  
     
    If you think the free plan is too limiting, then you could always try any of the paid plans for a 30-day free trial period. During that time, you could enjoy every benefit of the plans that you choose and when the time is up, you could decide either to join the paid plans or to opt-out entirely.  
Who is HelloFax perfect for?

If you are a small to medium-size business that uses faxes a lot, then yes, you should use HelloFax. Not only will HelloFax saves you tons of money but you could also streamline your workflow so you could do your business much more efficiently.  

But if you are simply an individual who occasionally uses a fax machine, then I don't think HalloFax is the right fit for you. Using the conventional email client paired with the free digital signature service from HelloSign would prove to be more cost-effective for you in the long run. 

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