eFax Internet Fax Review
eFax
- eFax is one of the most oldest internet fax services and has grown to 9,000,000 users - mostly for the free version. (Free users accept advertising / spam in exchange for getting a fax number.) The company is part of j2 Global Communications, a publicly traded company.
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Best for: Faxers with little usage and willing to accept ads.
Phone numbers: eFax offers both toll free and local numbers. (eFax charges an additional fee for toll free numbers.) Excellent international support - if you need a number in Europe eFax is a good choice.
Prices: eFax has a number of packages to fit your needs. It even has a completely free package for light users.
- eFax Free - receive up to 20 fax pages per month. You will be assigned a non-local phone number and cannot send faxes. Great for people with occasional fax needs.
- eFax Plus - choose a local or toll free number. You get incoming faxes and pay $.10 per page for sending faxes. There is a $.20 charge per page for receiving faxes on your toll free number (most internet fax services with toll free numbers do not charge an additional per page fee). Be careful with the terms - efax advertises 'unlimited' incoming faxes but forces an upgrade if you exceed a certain level. eFax Plus costs $12.95 per month plus a $12.95 set up fee.
- eFax Pro - this package is similar to eFax Plus but your faxes are saved online for a year (eFAx Plus saves them for 30 days).
File format: eFax requires you to download proprietary software to view faxes. This is unusual. Most internet fax services offer options like .pdf attachments. Some levels of service may offer additional options like .pdfs sent to your PDA.
Customer Feedback: Faxbeep feedback is the most negative of the major internet fax providers, especially concerning forced upgrades and surprise charges.
Final analysis: eFax is the grand-daddy of internet fax services, and its reputation for poor customer support is catching up with it. Choose it for international numbers, but if you are in North America then other internet fax services are better.