Legal Tech: The advantages of using eFax

By Peter LaSorsa This is not meant to be an advertisement for eFax but rather an evaluation of the pros and cons of using an electronic faxing service instead of the traditional fax machine. I recently was in an attorney’s office for a deposition and noticed he had staff feeding pages into a fax machine and then calling the other side to discuss some issue related to the quality of the fax. I was amazed that people still utilize the old fax machine. I have been a subscriber to eFax for about five years now and can’t imagine not utilizing the service. First a brief primer on what eFax is. You pay a yearly fee and in exchange you receive a fax number (area code of your choosing), and unlimited faxes for the year.  You can also select plans that limit the amount of pages you can send or receive per month (and you pay extra when you go over that limit). Basically, you send a fax by opening the eFax software, selecting a document from your computer and typing in the other persons fax number — then hitting the send button on the computer screen. You can even have yourself cc’d on the fax. Receiving a fax is even easier. When someone sends you a fax, it shows up in your email inbox as a pdf file. The great advantage to receiving the fax this way is easy storage on your computer and the ability to forward the fax to your client — who probably doesn’t have a fax machine. It’s also great because I can get the fax on my Blackberry and review it while out of the office. Another great advantage is you can send a fax from your desktop, laptop or any other computer. So it’s great when you’re traveling and want to send or receive a fax. Additionally, I scan all my documents and keep my files electronically, so it is just more convenient to send and receive my faxes electronically.  Also, you don’t have to purchase toner and it cuts down on paper usage. And did I mention you don’t have to worry about the faxes getting lost or the fax machine jamming — always when you are in a rush and need the fax right away. For my money eFax is the way to go. Peter LaSorsa can be reached at lasorsalaw.com. He also publishes a blog at www.illinoissexualharassmentattorneyblog.com