Hey Gail,

I having been using this service for 2 yrs and can't live w/out it now.  It is such a nice way to operate.  You don't use as much paper because you can just save the email and then forward it to the necessary party.  Plus if you work in a big office w/ rude co-workers you don't have to worry about your fax not getting put in the right place.  I have used efax and they are one of the original companies.  The fee varies depending on how many pages per month. I think I pay for the whole year up front $139 and get 100 pages/mo.......then .10cents per page for any more............either way I can name at least 3-4 times per month it saved me a drive back to the office.............or when you need something you can just go back thru your emails to find needed info............plus if you are in a bind for scanning info you can fax it to yourself then forward it to a client.............I use a local number but you can have several numbers(local or 800)...............and the service will send the info up to 5 different email address' so you can also get it to your office asst or what not..............

I think this is a huge plus for any realtor and anyone who doesn't have it should really consider it...............

I haven't shopped around lately and there could be another company w/ a better price.............but efax has been around the longest................that brings up another point............I can name several times our office fax was down, jammed, out of paper etc..... and I wasn't because my efax number worked just fine.............

Good luck w/ your decision................ck out www.efax.com

Justin Stranere

RFW Realtors

RapidFax.com. $10/month for 100 pages sent, 200 received (or maybe it's the other way around, I don't remember). Extra pages are cheap, and plans with more pages are available. INCLUDES a toll-free number!!

Couldn't live without it!

Our Board provides us with MONGO Fax free of charge and I have been very VERY happy with that.   But then "If it's Free, It's for me!!!"

Gail,

Someone on here pointed me to Callwave....30 day free trial and 7.95 per month...it is great so far

Here's one more to check out.  PCmag rated them back in 05.

Realtor, Columbus Ga

 "If you send a lot of faxes, MyFax offers the best value in this roundup."

www.pcmag.com

July 29, 2005  

Try MyFax FREE* for 30 Days!

I have been using MyFax for three months and I wonder how I got along without it!

It's a great service and includes the toll free (North America) number.  

There are various packages depending on usage.

I just wanted to thank Gail for this post.  This is something I have never thought of, but I am absolutly signing up now...what a time (and paper) saver!  

A good idea I just read on one of the sites is to forward your existing fax number to the number they assign...I believe I will be doing that with my home fax - then I will still have the ability to easily send outgoing faxes that are already in paper form without having to scan them into a file.

Thank you for a great tip!

Hi Gail,

I use accesline.com - one phone number  handles everything.  It takes faxes and routes callers to my location.  It's an 877 number so it's toll free for my clients. Runs between $25 to $50/ month depending on business and best of all it's my number.  

I've been using the free efax service for incoming faxes for about a year.  I've been very satisfied with it.  To supplement it I use a free download pdf995 and pdfedit.  They will convert the fax to a pdf so I can save it or email it to someone.  Then I delete it from efax so I don't run out of space.  With the free account you only get 10 faxes in your inbox at a time.  I don't want to switch the phone number they gave me because it's very close to my cell # and I can remember it easily.  (I have those senior moments :))  I still keep a fax machine handy so I can send them out to someone that requires it.  With the paid accounts there are outbound fax capabilities.

I'm still new in the business so have to cut costs where I can.  This has become an excellent free solution for me.  

CallWave all the way.   Works with VOIP or anything else you got!

8 bucks a month.  Makes working with a contracts a breeze.

What's VOIP?

I will put in another vote for Callwave.  I have used them for years and have always been happy with their service.

I've been using call wave for a year now and I am very happy!

Gail,

I have used efax for the past year and a half.  Decide the other functions you need.  With efax I receive the fax in PDF and a copy in my email inbox so I can attach the PDF file to to my client in my ACT database.  It will also email you fax transmission receipts for sent faxes.  This is helpful to make my business more efficient and paperless.  Less paper to lose and I can go right to the client in my database for the latest fax or an earlier fax.  I have the ability to email my clients any updated faxes for their records for FREE and email documents to lenders and title companies.  I still have an old fax machine to fax out if I need to, but as long as I have an internet connection I can always get to my faxes no matter where I am!!!!!  That has saved a lot of time and money.

Hi Gail:

I've checked them all out and MyFax.com is by far the best deal!  Reliable, free 900 number, no spam faxes to date.  If you pay for the full year upfront, they give you one month free.  I've used this service for two years and has paid for itself many times over.  I do not run contracts to title companies, lenders, etc., I email them.  I do not have to buy file cabinets!  I store my transactions to CDs.  I did $18 million in sales last year and have all my transactions in one little case on my desk!  I signed up online and had my toll-free number within 30 minutes - I was up and running.  

Good luck in your search, but unlimited pages is not always the best - you get what you pay for...

Carole

Gail, sorry I'm late to the party, working all day, but myfax is great, send pdf attachments to any fax number, clients love faxing toll free back if they can't scan and email, you can resend the docs to where they need to go quickly, no standing around the fax machine as the paper crawls through, and best of all, no telephone line, it pays for the service right there. All the talk about voip, we don't even have a landline in our house, my wife and I are just use our cell phones. And by the way, forget about *** Tracy, our cell phones will replace the desktops, laptops, tablets and whatever very soon (if blackberry doesn't have another major failure like last night).

I am not sure if the other products offer this, but MyFax allows me to fax directly from Microsoft Word and Outlook.  It is one of the "send to" options - "recipient by fax"

I don't have to do the extra step of initiating the fax program

I am enjoying these responses!  I am a low volume agent (right now) and business is picking up and this fax by email sounds great for me.  I really like to stay away from long contracts with vendors and the lowest cost would be benificial for me.  Thanks Gail for all the research you started!!!

Christy

Gail

If you have a scanner you would not need your home line at all to fax.  

I use myfax.com and it is great!  You just Email the documents to the fax number you are sending it to.

The big advantage is having access to your faxes anywhere there is a computer.  No need to go check the fax machine - just check your email.

I love www.kall8.com.

I use them to put 800 maksks over my standard business lines.

The great thing about them is that they are entirely web based so you can manipulate numbers on the fly.

In fact, I have a 800 number routed to my cellphone.

The other nice thing that I like about the service is that they will record voicemail messages and accept incoming faxes and route them both to your email. You can even opt for text messages to be delivered to your cellphone based on various activities.

The cost is minimal and has really been beneficial!

Hi Gail,

Myfax can provide you with a package that is (out/in) 100/200, 200/400, 1000/200, 200/1000

p.s. I think the "***" in "Tracy" may have been censored by ???

Another feature ... with MyFax you can login to their MyFax Central and send/receive faxes ... great if you don't have your computer with you!

yup ... there is some censoring going on by the blog software the "***" is actuall kcid spelled backwards

Mary - thanks for the tip on pdf995!  I've been using free efax and thinking I'd have to upgrade to get PDF output.  Just got pdf995 and it does the job.

Whichever efax service you pick, you'll wonder how you managed without it.

RapidFax has other, higher page packages available. Our our of state clients LOVE the toll free number. Remeber, YOU may have free long distance, but they may not.

200/100 pages covers about 8 transactions a month (with our contracts and addendums). It's enough for us. For now. We've gone over a couple of times, but I think overages are like 3 cents a page, so it's not too bad (overage rates may have increased since we signed up)

Hello Gale -

I forget not everyone who blogs doesn't talk tech.

Basically Kall8.com works like this -

If you already have established telephone service in your home, business or cellular, you sign up for their services at a monthly charge of $2.00 per toll free number issued. You pick the toll free number you like out of the selection or request a novelty number.  There is a per minute charge that is about $0.03 cents per minute for actual usage. Much better, in my mind, than $0.07 - $0.20 from the telephone company.

The real benefit is that the toll free number becomes active in a few minutes as compared to days or hours. Going through the web site, you can "move" the toll free number pointer to another telephone line. I often switch the toll free number from ringing at my cell to my home office while I am there. For instance, you can call (866) 625-4460 now and my homeoffice phone will ring. Tomorrow my cell will ring after I make the change on the website and redirect the calls to my cell number.

The clients don't see any difference because they are still dialing the same toll free number.

Kall8 offers voicemail as well. The benefit here is that they convert the voicemail to MP3& WAV files and forward them through email to you. If you have webmail service (webmail.point2agent.com hint, hint) like hotmail or yahoo, this is invaluable because you can listen to messages from any PC with an Internet connection.  If you prefer not to have it forwarded, the service retains all the sound and fax files on their site for free.

For faxes, their system recognizes the fax signal as part of the incoming call so it will automatically switch to receiving mode. Again, the fax gets sent to your email once it gets fully received. Once again, any PC with an Internet connection.

For $2.00 per month and about $40.00 in monthly usage, I found this a lot better than software. <<----- And I developed software for 17 years.

Many people may not know this but every Windows operating system already has a fax utility built into it. Before WindowsXP, it was very basic but still does a fine job.  If you are using XP, you may be surprised at how well the inherent Windows fax utility works. I am in favor of Internet faxing as described above but for many people that can get confusing when you are talking about performing tasks in an intangible virtual world.  Time and time again I have seen people panic at the very suggestion that the fax didn't go through I-Net fax services simply because the Internet connection timed out or the net link got interrupted. You are at the mercy of whatever Internet carrier you have - and the speed at which you connect -  in that scenario.  I choose to stick to more traditional methods - other may not.

My final note: I have sen a lot of talk about being able to fax from Word, Excel and Adobe. You can do all that already from the Fax program Microsoft provides. It's a cheap alternative for people who are maybe starting out and don't want to invest a ton in software they may not use for long.  

I hope that is more informative.  

Sorry Gail - I got it wrong.

Apologies.

Gail:

Sorry for the type - free 800 number!  Also, the biggest benefit is to be able to read the faxes!  

It was $18M myself - no transaction coordinator either.  Yes, excellent year!  There is no way I could have produced that much without this service as I emailed documents everywhere.  Even cross-country transactions!  Having clients nationwide, one really needs a service like this.  And if you have that volume of sales, a few cents per page is nothing.  

I used Callwave several years ago for free long distance (before my real estate career) and wasn't impressed; however, it could have improved over the years.  I have a degree in computer science and one in accounting, so upon evaluation a couple years ago, I went with MyFax.  

Other things you may want to check on - support - can you reach someone if you have a problem.  - do they retain the faxes & how long, can you retrieve them online should you be away at the time?  This way you do not have to tow around a fax or pay for expensive pages.  As long as you have access to a computer and printer, you've got it made!

Good luck with your decision!

Carole

My vote is for calllwave.com $7.95 month for local number

or you can get toll free number if you want.

Free 30 trial...........I've been using it for years.

have fun!

WOW! Yesterday I swore I would never blog again. I thought it was just self promotion and SPAMMERs trying to sell you stuff. Today I learned a lot. Thanks to all. This is what I thought agent blogs were suppose to be and more.

I have used Trustfax (trustfax.com) for about 2 years now and am very happy with it.  My package is no longer offered but I think the closest thing to it is $18 or 19 a month for 250 pages, sending and receiving total.  It is a toll free fax number.  I also scan documents when I need to capture a signature with the software that is embedded in my printer software (HP7310).  Faxes received are in PDF format.  If I'm working on a document or whatever, I can "print" to a file in pdf format using Win2PDF.  Very inexpensive ...it only cost me a total of $35 to buy it.  I use both every single day and I have been saved countless trips to the office after hours!

Another thing I forgot to mention. I receive an email notification when I receive a fax with the fax as an attachment but you can choose to receive just the notification and then go to trustfax to retrieve the fax.  I also receive a billing notice when they deduct the monthly fee from my account.  You will also receive a "success" or "failure" notice on faxes that you send.

Hi everyone.

My email fax service is k7.net.

i haven't paid anything to use it

Hello -

Here is what I can offer as personal experience.

I let the Kall8 service handle all incoming faxes that are routed to the toll free number; they get sent to my email.

On a plane, on a train, in the rain - it gets them all and I don't have to lift a finger - it all happens automatically.

I run a private mail server for incoming fax mail so document storage and availability is not an issue. I go get them whenever I need them for review, print, whatever. It's IMAP so all the mail is distributable no matter where I am.

You asked about costs:

Per standard set of inbound sale ppwrk, 32 pages = approx. 4 minutes in actual fax send/receive activity over a standard telephone line.

Cost = $0.12. x (# of faxes) = $$$.

Outbound faxing : Find a method that suits your budget and plan for flexibility in case you will not have unrestricted Internet connectivity at a client site.

Incoming toll free calls = roughly 1600 minutes per month.

Cost = $48.00

MS Fax:

I am not suggesting anyone use MSFax except as a sending vehicle and only as a viable backup/alternative to Internet based fax services. Internet services are great if you are constantly connected.

After doing tech support for many years, people "want" but often times don't spend the time learning the "how" to make "want" happen successfully with continuity. Although setting up the services is not difficult, take one non-technical person + one laptop/desktop + software that has to be installed and configured with Dependant services required (Internet) and it can often spell frustration and disappointment when something doesn't work due to an unforeseen disruption.

I will say this again, the one downside of any Internet service is that there is no guarantee that an Internet connection will be available when you need to get something out. I made the MS Fax suggestion as an option that is already available in 85% of the PC's out there and only if there are serious cost considerations. In my laptop experience, telephone lines are easier to locate than network ports with unrestricted Internet connectivity. Otherwise, if you never move from a place where you can get Internet connectivity, the Callwave option is the best. However, think about the downside of loosing Internet connectivity for a few days due to an unforeseen outage and then what do you do?

Being a techno skeptic-

For me, I am big believer in Bluetooth so I actually set my laptop to use my cellular phone as the modem I need to get outgoing fax calls made.

My original comments were to address the 800 number statements.

Coming from a development background, I prefer not to be dependant on Internet connectivity for anything essential outside of email. As it stands today, in the worst case scenario, wherever there is cellular signal of any strength, I am able to do business. I have been on I-80 in rural Pennsylvania and still been able to do business from a rest stop along the road. That is something you loose when you rely too much on Internet connectivity to handle such rudimentary functions. Again, not a suggestion if you are not technically able to do the setup between phone, laptop and fax software. It's tricky.

Some other suggestions:

Along time ago, I made a full set of Adobe documents out of all the Illinois forms needed to transact any type of business. I have separate document "packets" with all the forms for sale listings, rental listings, land listings, lease listings, you name it.  

I carry these "virtual document packets" around on my laptop (and thumb drive as backup) so all I ever have to do is initiate a fax call (or plug into a desktop USB) and get/send what I need. Whatever the situation, I am ready to produce a full set of paperwork with minimal time lost.

It has dramatically improved my ability to respond to client requests especially when I have to produce the blank papers PDQ. I specifically like the inherent fax option in these scenarios because it demonstrates preparedness and responsiveness without having to find an Internet connection.

Online fax services don't allow you to store Adobe docs for repeated use.  This is something that I will offer up as a helpful trick that has saved me time a bunch of times.

I use www.trustfax.com and it is great!

I would be happy to help if needed.

I use http://www.extemefax.com Love it. $7.99/month for 300 pages in or out going. Comes with a toll free number as well. Been using them for about 2-3 years!

Good luck.

ok I posted the wrong web address...sorry  http://www.extremefax.com

That should get you there.

www.greenfax.com..... think it's about $15 bucks a month.  Could not live without it.  Only complaint with greenfax is that it only stores 30 days worth of faxes.

I use Pfax it is only $3.95 per month for unlimited incoming faxes directly to your inbox.  You have the choice to receive your faxes in either Adobe PDF or Windows TIF/TIFF format. Use the following promotion code to get one month for free fiprn22388.

Ok, I may be really late to the game, however, I am using a service called FaxMicro.com

I did quite a bit of research, and here is what I discovered about my needs....I needed unlimited incoming and was not worried about the outgoing.  I work from an office where I am fortunate enough to have a fax line right in my personal office so I fax OUT from the company's faxline and my fax/printer stamps the header as my toll free fax number and not the company's fax number.  

They have 2 different plans.  One is $4.95 per month with unlimited incoming and $.05 per page outgoing.

$9.95 per month with unlimited incoming and $.05 per page outgoing, with an 800 number.  You can choose an 800 number from the list they had, something they had similar to my cell phone number.  Originally, I paid to have a vanity 800 and then decided not to go through with it.  I made the 800 number have the same number as my cell phone number and then thoughts of people trying to fax to my cell phone changed my mind quickly.

Either way...like I said, I was not concerned about the outgoing.  If many of you have access to a fax machine for outgoing, then this is not a problem for you.  When you do need to fax with the service, it is very inexpensive.  I can say that I have needed to fax outgoing a few times this past month.  This happened because I was home and someone asked for me to fax over the disclosures for a property that I had listed.  Well, I dont have a fax at home...well I do, but the document was on my laptop and the computer that I could print from crashed so I couldnt print...long story....anyways.  Instead of needing to hop into my car and go back to the office to fax, I just log into the faxmicro account, type in the fax number, fill in the cover page info and then attach the document and then POOF it is off.  You will get an email confirmation that it has been sent.  

Only thing I didnt like is you cant turn off the cover page (or I have not found a way) so you always have that one extra page.

So, to send out this document that was 2 pages long, it cost me $.15, which was much less expensive than driving across town, so the outgoing cost for occasional outgoing faxes is worth it to me, but the unlimited incoming is PRICELESS.

http://faxmicro.com?qagent=727

Check it out for yourself

HTH

Donna

Oh yeah...I have/had a K7.net account as well.  Even though it is free, the only number they offer is a Seattle, WA local number, so even though the service is free, if you dont live in Washington, anyone that would need to fax to you would need to fax to a long distance number.

I dont think this plan works into my grand scheme of things

Wow, what great commenting by everyone. The comic character's first name got censored because it is a bad word but he wore a watch that did a lot of things but nothing like the technology we'll see in the future. Don't buy the cheapest, you always get what you pay for, buy the best.  

I can honstly say that not having e-fax lost me my first customer. They sent me a fax that I could I not get to for about two hours. By the time I got to the office to get it, it was unreadable and I needed them to send it to me again. However they were not going to be home the rest of the night and could not do that. Long story short the next day somebody submitted an offer on the same property and it was accepted and my client lost the property. After that I swore no matter the cost I would never let that happen again.

Jason R. Anderson

www.dfwelitehomes.com

Is there a per minute charge with FAXMINGO?

I use MyFax - 20.00 per month for 400 incoming faxes.  Works great, can access from any computer, or email program.  Like the cell phone, you'll wonder how you lived without it!

I can't believe I just read every comment in this thread....

Good stuff!

Wow this was awesome information! I read all of it also and wanted to print it out I have been meaning to do this research on my own thanks everyone for the excellant help!

You all rock!

Your link 2 real estate

vicky riley

888-link2re

888-546-5273

Gail -

Since you can send any document as a fax by attaching it to your outgoing email, I assume the easiest way to send things would be to scan them as a word, excel or pdf file and attach them.

One of the attorneys I work with has a 100% paperless office!  If we hand him anything on paper he IMMEDIATLY scans it and shreds it.  All of his forms are electronic - which he completes online and emails...and he takes notes on his PDA and syncs then into his computer...I have literally never witnessed him working with any paper...and he can always find everything and his office is pristine!  Subscribing to one of these fax services seems like a great start.

Thank you for putting the thought in my head.

Hi Gail,

We had mongofax at our last office.  I have a few computer only clients and they want their docs emailed to them.  With mongofax you fax the docs to their number and they email it to your clients.  If this is what you are looking for they seem to have two websites www.mongonet.net and www.mongonet.com - if you google mongofax you will see some offices are advertising the service.  Interesting.

Jana

Okay, I called CallWave and here's what I learned.  Yes, unlimited incoming; no toll-free numbers; NO outgoing faxes.

I agree with you, Gail, that the purpose of outgoing seems obsolete (yes, I do the scan, email thing), however, I still get the occasional client who says fax only.  Had one just last week.  Also encountered couple months back on vacation.  What a pain to have to wait at the lobby.

I am leaning towards MyFax because 100/200 in/out works for me (add'l pages $0.10).  No software, can schedule delivery (which would be nice at midnight when I'm ready but my client is sleeping), personalized fax covers, Office/Outlook/ACT integration, delivery confirmation, etc.

Thoughts?  This is a great post.  I've delayed this too long and am ready to pull the trigger...I'm bailing for the weekend and would love to not have to hang out at the lobby again.

I signed up for MyFax (30-day trial).  For those of you that don't want to peruse this entire thread, $10/month.  A nice surprise was the toll-free number provided matches the last four digits of my office phone.

Hi Everyone:

Last blog - got to get back to work!  

Gail - there is a tutorial for MyFax at their site.  From reading all of the blogs, they have "hidden" costs for certain things or no 800 number, etc.  It does sound like most are similar in cost.  Maybe you should call these companies to see who actually answers the phone...customer service is important, too!  What is the difference of saving $5 per month if you can't get in touch with someone if you have a problem?

Brian:  Don't they have Zipforms out there?  I have all the forms downloaded to my computer for free, along with an application that manages each transaction.  I type the client/property information into the contracts, listings agreements, etc., into the Zipform application and export the form(s) as Adobe documents, then EMAIL them to my clients, skipping the first fax!  *Tip: Be sure to type in all caps on the documents as they are much more legible.  When I open the Zipforms program on my laptop, it also asks if I want to check for updates (i.e.recent document changes).  It is provided to agents in Arizona for free through our dues paid to our board, AAR or Arizona Association of Realtors.  Check it out at www.Zipform.com or ask your Board if this is a service they do/can provide.  I used to keep a briefcase full of forms for every need...and they became outdated.  Scanning them was also nice and I did that, but you can't type in the information.  Zipform is the way to go!  

Good luck to all!

Carole  

I'm so glad you asked this question!  I've been wanting to make a change in my electronic fax provider, and you've done all my research for me!

I've been using efax for a couple of years and I'm really not thrilled with it.  You can get a free number for incoming faxes, but it won't be in your area code.  I have the efaxPlus plan, which gives me a local incoming fax number, and I think I pay close to $20/month.  I use it mostly for incoming faxes, so it was important to me to have a local number.  I think the regular price for a local number is $10/month, but I somehow let them talk me into the "" plan...must have been a weak moment!  I don't even know what the plus plan offers that the $10/month plan doesn't!

Even tho efax says they filter for junk fax, I still get a HUGE amount of junk, which annoys me!  I'd say I get at least 5-10 junk for every 1 legit fax.

I rarely send out efaxes...most of my outgoing faxes have signatures on them, and by the time I scan them into my computer and send them out, I find it easier to just fax the old fashioned way!  Or if I'm sending out new contract docs, I save them in a folder as pdf files and attach them to an email.  I'm not sure I get ANY free outgoing faxes anyway!

What I do like is that efax sends incoming faxes to my email as a pdf attachment,  and I can have them sent to my partner as well.  I'm thinking of employing a virtual asst, so I like the idea of being able to have faxes emailed directly to the VA.  I would not select an electronic fax provider that didn't provide that email service.  It's easy to rename and save the pdf document.

That's about all I can think of to share!  I think you've done more for me than I have for you!  :-)

Thanks again!