Internet Fax Server

Internet fax service basically means faxing documents via the internet, as opposed to faxing using ordinary fax machines. When you hear people talking about internet fax server, they are referring to a central computer to which several PCs, which are installed with fax server software and a fax board, are hooked up to.

People often refer to this whole setup as a LAN (short for local area network), network fax server or even an enterprise fax server.

Internet fax server is typically used by companies of a relatively significant size. For very small companies, it is not necessary to install an internet fax server. To web fax, just a computer and an internet connection will do.

But you may be wondering, why do big firms use internet fax server? Well, the main reasons are similar to why people use servers for other tasks. Management wants to have an "IT nerve centre" so that they can monitor all activities happening in so many company computers easily and effectively.

With a server, fax messages can also be stored in the server. This frees up disk space on the standalone computers. Since all faxes are stored in a central location, it would be easy for all authorized staff to retrieve needed information. For instance, if a staff wanted to fax to customer A, all he or she has to do is retrieve that particular fax from the server, key in the recipient's name and fax number, select the appropriate cover letter, and they are good to go.

An internet server for fax can be configured in many ways. For example, it can be setup in such a way that when it received a fax, it can automatically route it to the intended recipient and then notify the recipient that he or she has a fax. The same goes for fax sending routines.

So, in essence, a fax server brings with it several benefits as follows:

(a) It saves time and money. This translates to higher productivity.

(b) Because everything is centralized, having an audit trail is easy.

The key disadvantage of using a server, or any server for that matter, is that once you have an all-in-one equipment, once that piece of electronic gadget decided to call in sick, everything stops. This is unlike having multiple PCs. If you have PC1, PC2 and PC3, if PC3 is down, you can still use PC1 and PC2.

But in general, if an organisation has quite a number of PCs it is better to use an internet fax server to handle the fax sending process. Otherwise, the administrative tasks to manage and monitor all these PCs can be a very time consuming task.

Attan Denis writes mostly on family issues, education, information technology and pets. His latest works are send free fax online and send faxes online.