Fax or email, which solution is better? The answer seems like an easy one, but things have changed over the past few years. Now, businesses must contend with matters of data security, privacy, efficiency, and speed.

While email is widely used, is it more effective than fax? A long-time email user would likely say yes, but many industries still use fax technology to send important documents. Here, readers will learn how fax beats email and why there's no need to drop one in favor of the other.

Why Do Users Send Faxes Instead of Emails?

Years before email became a form of inter-office communication, faxing were the go-to way to send documents. During that time, there was a fax machine in almost every office. These machines were regarded as necessities, especially in the legal and business fields.

Thanks to recent technological advances, however, the process has been simplified. When users switch to fax technology from mFax, they can receive and send faxes from anywhere there's an internet connection.

Is It More Secure to Send a Fax Than an Email?

Fax or email? As far as security is concerned, conventional faxing comes out on top. Fax machines use telephone networks to send and receive information, making them less vulnerable to cyberattacks. Online faxing is also very secure; it protects transmissions with end-to-end encryption methods. Even if a message is intercepted, it would take years to decrypt it.

Quick Creation of Hard Copies

It's easy to send a document via fax—simply put the hard copy on the fax machine and press a few buttons. With mFax, it's nearly as easy because of our e-signature tools and built-in document scanner. When handling hard copies via email, however, the process is a bit more involved for the sender and the recipient.

Compliance and Security

Organizations and businesses must consider their compliance with laws like GLBA and HIPAA. It's a must for most companies, especially those involved in finance and healthcare. Most email providers aren't completely HIPAA-compliant and using them to send confidential information can put a company at risk of hefty fines and stiff penalties.

Unfortunately, most email services are not encrypted. This makes it easy for third parties to intercept and read sensitive information. Using mFax's cloud fax service is more secure than sending an email because it uses encryption to transmit messages.

Transmission Reports and Delivery Receipts in Real Time

In terms of efficiency, fax is the clear winner in this contest. Generally, email services don't offer features that let users confirm whether messages have been sent or delivered; the only way to know for sure is to wait for a delivery failure notice.

By contrast, online fax lets users know immediately after their messages are delivered. It's easy to keep track of faxes with delivery reports, as well as printable and downloadable transmission receipts. These documents are very useful, especially in cases where users must provide records of exchanges.

Less Chance of Message Rejection

If you're planning to send an urgent document, it's better to send it by fax rather than email. With cloud faxing, your message is guaranteed to reach its recipient. With email, there's always a chance that they could miss it.

While online faxing comes with certain blocking features, they're not quite as robust as those that come with email services. It's much more likely for an email to be sent to the spam folder than it is for a fax message to be blocked.

Fast Signing of Documents

The business world is moving at a faster pace by the day, and time is always of the essence. With cloud faxing, getting documents signed is faster and easier. While legally binding documents can't be transmitted via email, online fax services allow users to receive, sign, and send documents with digital signatures. With an mFax account, it's easy to add an online signature to any kind of document.

Legality

For documents to be legally binding and admissible in court, their authenticity must be ensured. This is yet another advantage online faxing has over email, which can potentially be manipulated, intercepted, or hacked. While emails can be submitted as evidence, they're subject to increased scrutiny and are more likely to be disallowed.

With virtual fax, on the other hand, users can be assured of a document's authenticity and admissibility in court. Try mFax today and send or receive documents that are legally valid and acceptable for most business transactions.

Unlimited Storage

When comparing storage limits, fax is again the clear winner. Today's email providers, as a rule, do not offer unlimited online storage—and when they do offer increased capacity, it comes at a cost.

With cloud fax, storage options are greatly improved, which will benefit high-volume users and large companies. By purchasing an mFax plan, you'll get secure cloud storage at no additional charge.

Effective Organization

Users receive dozens of emails each day and organizing them can be challenging. If you've ever had to search your inbox for a long-ago document, it's easy to attest to that fact! With mFax, all your files are archived, so it's easy to find them when necessary.

Fax and Email: Getting the Best of Both

The fax vs. email rivalry has gone on for years, and it shows no signs of stopping. There's good news, though: users no longer have to pick a side. Thanks to mFax, you can send faxes via email, and receive them straight to your inbox.

The Verdict

In light of the continued rivalry between email and fax, many believe that they must choose one or the other, but in reality, most people use both. While email is best for messages that don't require encryption, fax is ideal for sensitive information. It can also be used to transmit documents on a large scale. With mFax, you truly get the best of both worlds. Click here to chat with an online fax expert or call today to discuss plans and pricing.

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