eFax (for iPad)

You would think that email, FTP, instant messaging, and other methods of transferring files would have killed the fax machine, but the antiquated technology is still alive and kicking, especially in the business sector. Fortunately, you no longer need a dedicated fax machine (and the associated phone line and ink) to send and receive paperwork. The Editors' Choice award-winning eFax, an Internet-based fax service available in over 3,500 cities and 46 countries worldwide, gives you a real fax number that you can use to send and receive faxes from your tablet. The electronic faxing service's iPad app keeps most of the desktop version's functionality by letting the business-minded send messages from their iOS-powered iPad. Overall, eFax for iPad is a competent and capable business-friendly mobile app.

Simple Setup
Your eFax iPad app journey begins not within the app itself, but within a Web browser at efax.com?you can't create a new account from the mobile app. The company assumes that if you're interested in downloading the iPad app, you're most likely an eFax account holder. Fortunately, the setup process is as simple as filling out some fields, selecting a fax number, and receiving a PIN. The last two items are what you'll need in order to use the eFax iPad app.

The next step is to launch eFax for iPad, and log in with those credentials. I then arrived at the home screen that featured four main sections that are vertically stacked: "Search Faxes," "Send Faxes," "View Faxes," and "Sign Faxes." Each section's function is self-explanatory.

Cost
There are three different types of eFax accounts: Free, Plus, and Pro. The free account lets you receive (not send) just ten faxes per month, so it's a good match for those who very rarely fax. Next up the ladder is eFax Plus ($16.95 per month, or $169.50 per year), which includes 150 pages of incoming and outbound faxes, and a 10-cent per page overage fee (there's also a $10 one-time set up charge). eFax also offers a Pro model ($19.95 per month, or $199.50 per year) designed for large businesses and individuals with heavy faxing needs. The Pro version requires a $19.95 one-time set up fee, but with the higher cost comes 200 pages of incoming faxes and a cool voicemail feature that sends left messages to your inbox. There's also a 10-cent per page overage charge.

The Plus and Pro accounts are relatively expensive compared to Send2Fax' Home Office and Small Business plans which are $8.95 per month and $12.95 per month, respectively. MyFax has three plans, one of which starts at $10 per month for 100 faxes sent and 200 received.

The eFax Experience
Firing off a fax required that I tap "Send Faxes," fill out cover page info, attach an image of what I' like to fax (for example, a snapped photo of a document), add a contact's fax number, and bring a finger to "Send Fax." At the moment, eFax for iPad only allows you to send photos snapped with the phone's camera or stored within the image gallery?no other file types. So, if you want to send a document, you'd have to shoot it with your phone's camera and then send it. You can, however, use eFax's email-to-fax capabilities (outside the mobile app) to send files of any type.

The recipient contacted me stating that he received the fax two minutes after it was sent. When he responded with a fax of his own, it arrived in my inbox four minutes later?not bad considering the money I saved on a dedicated machine, ink, and paper. Faxes can be forwarded as faxes or email messages, but the new, special feature here is digital signatures, which lets you swiftly sign documents with a few icon taps. I was quite impressed that my iPad was able to operate as a mobile fax machine. Note: Fax quality may vary depending on your phone's camera.

Should You Subscribe to eFax?
eFax for iPad works because it makes the fax process simple?you don't need to own a machine or visit Kinkos. All that's needed is a Web connection, which means you can fax from nearly any location. eFax for iPad may only let you fax photos, but the new digital signature support gives it an extremely high convenience factor. All in all, eFax is a solid companion for the for business customers who want to save on paper and ink.

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