metrofax Review

Detailed Reviews

Yet another internet fax service from J2 Global group, MetroFax was founded in 1997 and was announced to have joined the J2 Global family in March 2013. Though initially launched to offer internet access and services, it was only in 2005 that MetroFax actually forayed solely into the online fax services. The company is currently headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

Signing Up and Getting Started

You can either begin with a free trial or go with one of the plans straight away. In either case, begin with selecting your country (USA or Canada), state and area code (toll free or local number). You will be allocated a unique fax number, and you can start sending and receiving fax online using your linked email account. You can also use their online portal for faxing after logging in to your account with the credentials provided.

Core Faxing Features

Each MetroFax number can have up to 5 email accounts linked to it. It supports all of the popular file formats including TIFF, PNG, JPEG, PDF, text documents, and spread sheets. You can easily integrate your account with popular Windows applications like Outlook, Word and other programs. You can send fax simultaneously to multiple recipients through both, email service as well as MetroFax MyAccount. MetroFax also allows you to schedule your fax to be sent on a specific date and time. In case of failure, the system will automatically retry up to 5 times to send the fax.

Additional Features

You will receive an email confirmation as well as an SMS alert on successful delivery of your fax and also whenever you have any incoming fax waiting for you. While sending fax, you can also include a cover page for better communication with the receiver; there are various cover page templates to choose from, or you can even upload your own template. MetroFax has mobile applications for Android and iPhone users using which you can send faxes either using the camera of your phone or from cloud utilities like Dropbox. Their contact management feature too is quite efficient; it allows you to upload your contact list in CSV format to the MetroFax MyAccount.

Port Your Existing Fax Number

MetroFax can give you a toll free number or a local number in any of the states of USA and Canada. But you don’t necessarily have to change your existing fax number to reap the benefits of online fax. If you already have a fax number and want to continue using the same, MetroFax can help you seamlessly port it from your telecom provider. However, to be sure about the porting of your number, you should discuss it with their sales team prior to buying any of the plans.

Fair, Transparent Plans

You can’t call their plans the cheapest but they definitely offer a great value for money. The entry plan is moderately priced at $7.95 per month which further comes down to $6.63 if you go for an annual contract. That gives you 500 free pages that you can use for any combination of incoming and outgoing faxes. Pages beyond this limit are charged at $0.03 per page. There are no other charges for setup, activation, early termination or anything else.

Customer Support

MetroFax offers support through toll-free and local phone lines, email and online form submission. The support team consists of MetroFax employees based out of North America. They also have online resources you can refer to for FAQ, online demo, tutorials and downloads.

Conclusion

MetroFax allows faxing through your email, its web based portal, and/or any Android or iPhone smart phone. You get to have a choice of a toll-free number or a local number in most of the cities across all the states of the U.S. and Canada.
MetroFax would be a good choice for individuals and small businesses with faxing requirements limited to USA and Canada. Sending faxes to other countries would be quite costly since international rates would apply.