Deciding to use a web fax service instead of a traditional computer fax modem is really not that difficult of a choice for most of us. Below we will briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of web fax services and computer fax modems. You will find that in most instances, using a web fax service makes much more sense than sending a fax from a computer modem.

For the past twenty years or so fax modems have been the way computer faxing was done. When they appeared in the 1980’s, they were a fairly expensive option for your computer. Now days, you can buy the necessary hardware to have a virtual fax service for next to nothing, whether it is a USB dongle or a PCI card the plugs into your computer’s motherboard.

Despite the past popularity of computer fax modems, they have been surpassed recently by the best online fax service that allows you to send and receive faxes without any additional hardware. Computer fax modems have a really bid downside. They require you to use your existing voice phone line, or purchase a dedicated fax phone line, in order to send and receive faxes. However, web fax services do not require anything other than an Internet connected computer to have full fax capability.

You have a choice when it comes time to fax from computer. You can use a traditional computer fax modem that needs a copper phone line connection, or you can use a much more advanced fax over the Internet that uses your existing Internet connection. Most people choose to use a web fax from computer service instead of the traditional computer fax modem, and it makes sense why.

These newer web fax services offer you much of the same faxing capability that once was reserved for large corporations, all for pennies a day. Web fax services, unlike a computer fax modem, require no software to be installed on your computer as they are completely web based. You can send and receive faxes via your email client or by using the simple online web interface accessed via a web browser.

There are many advantages to using a web fax services over using a computer fax modem. All you need is an Internet connected computer, anywhere in the world, and you can send and receive faxes via the web. You receive new fax messages directly in your email inbox, and you can even edit and sign fax documents without needing to first print them out. Web fax services are the 21st century answer to the computer fax modem.