eFax Review

eFax is a subsidiary company of j2 Global Communications Inc. The company is cloud-based and is located in Hollywood, California. j2 Global is a big multinational player in the online fax market, providing such services as virtual voice, hosted email and related marketing, online back-up and unified communications.

j2 Global Communications was formed over a decade ago in 1995, and has a significant and growing market. The company has over 11 million subscribers in every corner of the globe, serving customers based in 4,600 cities in 49 countries across six continents.

In terms of online faxing, eFax has pretty much every base covered in terms of the customers it caters for, with fax and email packages intended to appeal to individuals and small businesses, as well as customized Internet faxing services aimed at larger companies.

j2 Global Communications has acquired a B+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB has noted some areas of concern for the company with negative reports related to billing issues, problems with revoking customer accounts and delays with helplines. The BBB did report, however, that the company’s complaints procedure was run with particular efficiency.

eFax Features

eFax’s functionality is designed to cater for a varied collection of business requirements. Some of its features are as follows:

  • Previewing of faxes.
  • Fax search facility.
  • Sharing of large files.
  • Contact list with search facility.
  • Automatic storage of sent faxes.
  • Summary page.

    • Packages and Services Offered by eFax

    eFax established its eFax NEXT package in 2011. This suite adds to the usual features of faxing by adding more advanced functions, including document management, digitized signatures, document encryption and mobile apps.

    If you’re interested in any of eFax’s services, then it makes sense to take advantage of the 30 day free trial that the company offers, which spares you from having to pay the set-up fee, while allowing you 10 free inbound fax pages.

    The company also offers two separate levels of service provision. These are referred to as eFax Plus and eFax Pro. Both of these schemes allow you to assign either a free local or toll-free fax number to your company, and provide you with an indefinite fax storage facility. You can trim the expense of subscribing to any of eFax’s services by selecting an annual plan instead of the monthly ones that the company also offers. If your company is a heavy fax user, eFax also encourages you to negotiate your own specialist package with them.

    eFax Plus enables one to receive 150 inbound fax pages per month, and also provides a business or individual with a $15 credit which allows roughly 150 outbound fax pages to be sent each month. Any faxes sent or received in excess of this limit are charged at 10 cents per page. In order to receive this service, an annual payment of $169.50 is required, or the monthly fee is $16.95.

    eFax Pro enables one to receive 200 minutes of inbound fax pages per month, and also provides a business or individual with a $20 credit which allows roughly 200 outbound fax pages to be sent each month. Any faxes sent or received in excess of this limit are charged at 10 cents per page. In order to receive this service, an annual payment of $199.50 is required, or the monthly fee is $19.95.

    eFax’s Customer Agreements define fax pages based on a calculation of 60 second increments of connection time.

    The Bottom Line

    eFax would make an excellent provider for mid-sized businesses in particular, and they have put a lot of effort into ensuring that their faxing service is packed full of features. They are definitely worth a look for anyone other than the biggest businesses.