eFax vs RingCentral Faxing: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Features, Pricing, and More

Though email, instant chat messaging, and team collaboration software are all popular ways to share business files, faxing is still far from obsolete.

In fact, a recent IDC study found that over 80% of companies have seen an increase in the number of faxes they send per year. Faxing creates a paper trail, lets users copy and scan documents with ease, and is sometimes required by industry regulations.

This head-to-head comparison of eFax vs RingCentral Faxing compares the features, pricing and plans, and user experience of two of the most popular tools on the market.

Table of Contents:

• The State of Faxing Today
• eFax and RingCentral Faxing Pricing and Plans
• RingCentral Faxing vs eFax Features
• eFax vs RingCentral Faxing User Experience
• Alternative Virtual Faxing Providers

A Brief Overview of eFax and RingCentral Faxing:

The State of Faxing Today

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If it’s been a while since you’ve sent or received a fax, the thought of doing so likely calls to mind a bulky fax machine that’s always breaking down, failing to properly send faxes, or taking too long to send them.

The truth is that fax messaging today is nothing like it was in the past.

Today, you don’t even need a machine to send and receive faxes. Instead, you can send faxes online and via email from your smartphone, your desktop computer, or your tablet. Virtual fax platforms also integrate with today’s popular large file sharing and storage apps like Google Drive and Dropbox.

What other features do Internet fax services offer? Capabilities like:

• Local and vanity phone numbers
• Electronic signatures
• Delivery confirmation
• File sharing with multiple simultaneous recipients (as opposed to having to fax people separately)
• Online storage
• Custom fax cover sheets

Which Industries Benefit The Most From Virtual Fax Tools?

Given that roughly 90% of healthcare professionals communicate via fax, medical doctors, nurses, insurance providers, and healthcare admins will see some of the biggest benefits of switching to online faxing.

Virtual fax platforms make sending/receiving medical records, patient consent and health history forms, and even prescriptions much easier. Plus, online fax storage means essential health records are accessible and organized, eliminating the need to dig through countless old paper files.

Real estate agents use online fax lines to send contracts and offers, copies of inspection notices, floor plans, and more.

Finance professionals are also sending 17% more faxes now than in the past. Their clients can send/receive loan applications, copies of financial statements, or even digital signatures faster than ever.

Especially in the time of social distancing, educators can easily send reading materials, handouts, tests, and transcripts to students with the click of a button.

Legal professionals can quickly send essential case files, copies of billing statements, and any forms to each other, the courts, or their clients.

Though online fax provides excellent security and privacy, familiarize yourself with industry fax regulations and security standards before investing in a fax tool.

eFax vs RingCentral Fax Prices and Plans

Since the average traditional fax machine costs anywhere from $100 for a more basic model to over $500 for a more advanced option, virtual solutions offer great cost savings from the start.

Below, we’ll outline the prices and plans of both providers, so you can compare costs, add-on features, and more.

eFax Prices

eFax offers three paid plans for multiple users, meaning that the cost is calculated based on the number of pages per month you’d like to be able to send and receive.

Each plan includes:

• One free local or toll-free fax number
• Unlimited storage
• Electronic signatures
• Fax editing
• Email to fax
• Fax to more than one recipient
• File sharing up to 3 GB
• Android app and Apple iOS app
• Searchable faxes
• 24/7 online customer support and phone support

The below table outlines the price structure and features for each plan.

Each plan provides a maximum of ten local, toll-free, or international fax numbers, in addition to allowing for number porting.

Note that eFax offers two free months of service for those who choose the annual plan. Additionally, if you go over your page limit, there’s a 10 cents per page charge when faxing to the United States and Canada.

RingCentral Fax Prices and Plans

RingCentral Fax is priced much differently than its competitor, as it allows you the option to purchase a standalone fax plan or the complete RingCentral Office software which includes fax, VoIP phone lines, and video conferencing functionality

The below table breaks down the two available plans.

Note that additional pages are available on the Fax plan for 4.9 cents per overage page to the US and Canada. Additional 800 and vanity phone numbers can be purchased for a $30.00 one-time fee, while additional fax numbers cost $4.99/user per month.

RingCentral Fax vs eFax Features

The table below offers a quick side-by-side comparison of e RingCentral vs. eFax features.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the specific capabilities that each provider offers.

eFax Features

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eFax lets users send and receive faxes through the Messenger desktop online portal and via email address.

However, its standout feature is its Android and Mac iOS smartphone app, which makes sending and receiving faxes on-the-go simple.

The mobile app also lets users electronically sign documents with their fingertips or sign by uploading a photo of their signature (users upload a photo of their signature on the desktop app.) Users can also add notes/text to faxes on smartphones and review recent fax history including the date, time, number of pages received, and the number that sent the fax.

It offers unlimited lifetime storage and Online Retrieval capabilities that let users search for specific saved files from within their password-protected portal on desktop and mobile devices.

Users can also upload files on the desktop and mobile devices from popular cloud storage apps like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, and Box.

This feature is especially useful on mobile devices, as it means you no longer need to save photos of documents you need to fax to your smartphone to be able to send them from the app. Instead, you can upload the files to the fax just as you would an email attachment.

Multiple file formats and types are supported, including Powerpoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Adobe PDFs, JPEg and PNG images, and email/web HTML and plain text files.

Additional features include:

• Fax search according to keyword, recipients, date, or via tags
• Send faxes to up to 20 people simultaneously
• Address book and contact list integration
• Local numbers and toll-free vanity fax numbers (800, 877, 866, and more)
• Custom cover pages
• Fax markup and editing tools
• Fax delivery confirmation
• SSL and End-to-end encryption

RingCentral Fax Features

RingCentral Fax lets users send/receive faxes from the RingCentral Phone desktop softphone, the Android and Apple iOS mobile application, the online account portal, and via email.

Faxes can be viewed online or sent and received as PDF email attachments, and users can send faxes via any Microsoft Office application or via a physical fax machine through an analog adapter.

Users can choose from local, toll-free, and vanity numbers, or they can elect to port in existing numbers.

One of its best features is its notification system. Users can opt to receive real-time push notifications on their desktop computers, within the mobile app, via SMS, or via email when they have incoming fax. Users can also set their preferences to automatically print out any fax once it’s received.

Additional features include:

• FaxOut feature to send outgoing faxes to 50 simultaneous recipients
• Integration with Box, Dropbox, and Google Drive
• Support for multiple file types (Word, Photoshop, Powerpoint, PDF, etc.)
• Storage of up to 200 faxes in a password-protected online portal
• FaxEditor for editing and customizing fax cover pages
• Dedicated company number
• Fax blocking for numbers with no caller ID

Note that unlike eFax, RingCentral offers fax capabilities as a part of its larger RingCentral Office Unified Communications platform.

Office allows users to access all of the above features, in addition to:

• Business VoIP with unlimited US and Canada calling
• Team chat messaging and file sharing
• Audio and video conferencing for up to 200 participants
• CRM integrations
• Real-time analytics

eFax vs RingCentral Fax User Experience

Based on available features, prices, and reviews from real customers, we’ve evaluated the overall user experience of both eFax and RingCentral.

eFax Pros and Cons

eFax is best for small to midsize companies that work out of traditional offices and only occasionally send outbound faxes.

They may use another business communication solution and collaboration software that does not offer fax capabilities and are therefore looking for a standalone fax solution. It’s also a smart choice for companies that are on a bit of a budget, and who therefore need multiple users to be able to access the account.

Its users have no need for fancy features since faxes aren’t one of their primary modes of communication. However, they do use fax providers to send secure documents, collect and send signatures, and store essential files they need to frequently send to clients.

The below table explores other pros and cons based on user reviews.

RingCentral Faxing Pros and Cons

RingCentral Fax is ideal for primarily remote teams that send/receive a high volume of monthly faxes, as well as large and mid-size businesses that need additional team collaboration and communication tools outside of fax capabilities alone.

It is likely not a good fit for small businesses, as it is more expensive than eFax and offers features that younger companies simply won’t need.

The majority of customers will see the greatest benefit from using the tool if they plan to make RingCentral Office their primary platform for business communications, including but not limited to faxes.

Common pros and cons from customer reviews are outlined in the table below.

Alternative Virtual Faxing Services

Though RingCentral Fax and eFax are two of the most popular fax tools today, you may still wish to explore other options.

Looking for additional information on alternative online fax providers?

Our interactive table on the best online fax services offers information on additional software from Nextiva, MyFax, and MetroFax.