Believe it or not, facsimile machines or faxes have been in operation since the mid-nineteenth century. However, it was not until the 1980s that the technology in faxes became sufficient and the cost was practical for widespread use among businesses. Although faxes are receiving tremendous amounts of competition from e-mail and other electronic forms of document communication, they are still in widespread use for several reasons including privacy and security.

30 year old fax technology still has a role in modern communication, but that does not mean businesses are stuck with outdated fax machines. Faxmail is the equivalent of attaching a fax image to an e-mail. Faxmail can be implemented through installing a fax server or is frequently offered through Hosted PBX or Virtual PBX services from Hosted VoIP providers.

Here are the top 8 reasons why businesses MUST throw away the old fax machine and start receiving faxes with Faxmail:

1. Stop Wasting Time Standing Over the Fax Machine. Have you ever been waiting on an important fax and wanted to know the moment it arrived? Or you wanted to make sure that it did not get lost. Likely, you stood next to or near the fax machine checking every fax that was received. Faxmail messages are delivered directly to your e-mail client immediately after they are received.

2. Keep Private and Confidential Information Safe. Faxmail messages can be directed to an individual’s e-mail client. As long as an individual’s e-mail client is secure, they will be the first to see and review any new faxes. Confidential faxes are secured by not laying openly on a fax machine’s output tray.

3. Faxes Do Not Get Lost. Busy fax machines that receive many inbound faxes may have several different faxes in their output tray at a time. Faxes can get lost on the back of other faxes as there is no means of automatically separating them. Faxes sent to Faxmail boxes are received and e-mailed one at a time. They are separated as distinct e-mail messages.

4. Faxes Are Distributed as Easily as E-mails. Faxmail messages are received as an image attachment to an ordinary e-mail. As an ordinary e-mail, they are distributed and saved as easily as any e-mail. They can be forwarded to an individual e-mail address or group lists just as any e-mail with an attachment. They can also be saved in folders for later reference.

5. Receive Important Faxes While Traveling. As an e-mail, Faxmail messages can be received anywhere e-mails are received. While on the road, faxes will not pile up in an inbox on a desk. Important faxes will not require a lookout waiting for the fax and having to find a hotel fax number to forward.

6. Receive Faxes While Sending at the Same Time. Have you ever been waiting on an important fax to learn someone was already using the fax machine to send one out? Faxmail messages are received on the fax server at the Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP provider. Inbound faxes do not use the company’s fax line or fax machine. Thus, fax line and fax machine can be used for outbound purposes and will never interfere with an inbound fax.

7. Receive Multiple Inbound Faxes at Once. Inbound faxes are received electronically at the Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP provider on circuits that can handle multiple calls simultaneously to one telephone number.

8. Faxes Can Be Delivered to Groups of People or Departments Instantly. Individual fax numbers can be forwarded upon receipt to multiple e-mail addresses with most fax services from Hosted VoIP providers. Each e-mail account in the list will receive the fax instantly after it arrives.

Although many technologies and forms of electronic communication compete with faxes today, they have an integral role in modern business. Receiving faxes on a commonly used fax machine is archaic and inefficient. Fax services through Hosted VoIP providers and fax servers are affordable and easy to implement.