Online Fax - Why Has It Become So Popular?

Even after you consider all the benefits and advantages of using online fax instead of the traditional fax machine, the extreme popularity of web faxing is still a little puzzling. Why are so many individuals and businesses turning to this new more modern way of faxing?
First, lets get the obvious reasons out of the way... online fax is totally portable, very convenient, very accessible and it is much more cheaper than the old traditional faxing system. Plus, you have no more messy inks and toners, you have no more missed faxes because of busy signals and of course, since everything is web-based, you don't need an extra fax phone line so your start-up costs are just about nil.
However, in order to find the real reasons why online faxing has become so popular, you will have to dig a little deeper than these obvious surface points. One of the underlying reasons has to do with the whole issue of how "wired" our world has become and how depended we have become upon computers and the Internet. Our workplaces and environments have become just as "wired" as the rest of the world, perhaps even more so, when you consider the great productivity which can be achieved with computers.
Why has this made online fax more popular? Mainly because by using a faxing system that's directly connected to computers and the web, you're totally marrying all the parties involved into one communication system. Online or Internet fax is simply using your computer, your email system and your web connection to send and receive all your faxes. It directly connects all your faxing to our brave new "wired" world.
But you have to take this point even further, our workplaces have also changed in this new computer world. We are no longer confined to the office, the factory or just one work space. Because of the Internet, our workplace has expanded to include many places outside what we have traditionally known as the office or workplace. We have also taken our work home with us so we need a fast and quick way to communicate with our employer, our fellow employees and of course, our business clients or contacts.
Online fax is a very convenient communication tool which came along at the right time to fully benefit from all these changes in the workplace. It has provided us with the technology to fully take advantage of these new workplaces, further increasing its own popularity in the process. Basically, since all your faxes are sent as email attachments, online fax lets you take full advantage of your email system. And we all know how much email has changed not only our workplaces, but our lives in general.
To fully understand the popularity of web faxing, we have to still dig a little deeper into the whole nature of the current business climate. Needless to say, times are tough, especially in the United States, which is still recovering slowly from a very deep economic depression and near collapse. Many economists don't like the word depression and say this is/was a recession but in the minds of many ordinary citizens, depression is the right phrase for it.
Now, due to this economic downturn, many businesses and companies are looking for ways to first, cut costs and second, to make their companies more competitive. This is where online fax has entered the picture, it is not only cheaper but it is also much more efficient. It can make your workers amd your company more efficient, especially if you rely upon faxing to advertise your products, to help make sales and to communicate with clients and/or employees. Having a business and workforce that's available and accessible 24/7, 365 days of the year - can have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.
There is also one last point why online fax has become so popular. It has to do with how increasingly mobile our whole society has become. We have cell phones, netbooks, PDAs, laptops... and just look at how much commotion the Apple iPad has caused in recent weeks. We want to be connected to our friends, our family and places of work at all times. We also want to be connected to the Internet, no matter where we are; like it or not the web has become an invisible crutch for the majority of us, a wired addiction we just can't break. We simply have to be connected and in the mix of things at all times.
Well, online fax is just another product of this wired addiction, one that is growing in popularity as more individuals and companies experience its great advantages and benefits. So if you or your company don't already have an online fax number, chances are almost 100% certain, you will have one in the near future.