Faxing has become somewhat of a relic, at least by reputation, and it’s easy to assume everyone has moved on to emails or cloud storage. But for some industries, fax transmission never actually went away. Healthcare providers, legal firms, financial institutions, and government agencies still rely on it daily because fax maintains a level of legal standing and security that email and file-sharing platforms can’t replicate as cleanly. And while the concept of faxing hasn’t changed, the infrastructure to support it has been brought into the 21st century (so to speak) with cloud faxing. In short, it lets businesses send and receive documents over the internet, without a physical machine or a dedicated phone line. So let’s dive into whether you should be looking to get a cloud faxing setup for your company.
Why Businesses Still Use Fax
Fax transmissions are point-to-point by nature. Once a document leaves your machine, it travels directly to the recipient without passing through a server where it could be accessed by a third party. That architecture is precisely why faxing is a preferred channel in regulated environments that focus on document privacy and delivery confirmation.
Fax signatures are also legally recognized in some jurisdictions where electronic signatures may still face scrutiny in certain document types. Contracts, prescriptions, court filings, and financial authorizations are routinely handled by fax for exactly this reason. That practical staying power is reflected in the global fax services industry being valued at $3.3 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $4.47 billion by 2030. And it’s no surprise that cloud services are leading that growth.
How Cloud Faxing Actually Works
Traditional fax relies on analog telephone lines to transmit documents between machines. Cloud faxing replaces that infrastructure with an internet connection. You send a fax from your computer, email client, or mobile device, and the cloud fax platform converts and delivers it to the recipient. This works regardless of whether they’re using another cloud fax service, a traditional fax machine, or anything in between. When you receive a fax, it works the same way in reverse, with the platform just making a document that can be accessed on your online drive or printed out.
Just like with “regular fax,” cloud faxing services assign your business a dedicated number, so the transition is seamless from the recipient’s perspective. If you make the switch, your clients and partners can just continue to fax the same number they always have. The difference is entirely on your end, since you don’t have a machine or dedicated phone line sitting idle for most of the day. If you go fully digital, the fax isn’t actually reproduced physically either, but moved directly to your PC or cloud storage.
Why Make the Switch
The cost argument for cloud faxing has become increasingly compelling in recent years. The Federal Communications Commission has allowed telecom carriers to move away from traditional Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines. As such, those service lines are increasingly becoming deprecated and providers are trying to “force” users to move away by driving up subscription pricing for the analog lines that conventional fax machines depend on.
Then there’s the issue of newer devices not always coming with a dedicated fax feature. Instead, they can only use cloud services (which requires separate routing to be faxed which is precisely solved by cloud faxing), or use a PC to connect to a dedicated fax device to send out faxes.
Cloud faxing eliminates those line costs entirely, along with the hardware, maintenance, and consumable expenses that come with physical machines. Most providers operate on a subscription basis, with pricing typically structured around the volume of pages sent and received each month. Additionally, most service providers bundle cloud faxing into the broader IT or managed print solutions, which set up the printing infrastructure exactly how you need it.
Of course, it’s important to mention the ongoing flexibility benefit. With cloud faxing, your team can send and receive documents from anywhere. As such, a remote employee, a field rep, or someone working from home can handle fax communications just as easily as someone in an office sitting next to a machine. Considering that many businesses have adopted hybrid or remote working arrangements, implementing cloud faxing means everyone gets access to important documentation and the same suite of security features.
A traditional fax also gets printed out at any point during the day because the machine immediately accepts the connection and produces the piece of paper. From then on, it’s visible to anyone who passes by until it’s picked up by the intended recipient. By contrast, a digital fax can be set up to require receipt authentication before getting printed out. A digital-only system bypasses this entirely by keeping the documents in online storage. While this does add a potential point of failure where the information could technically be accessed online, that’s exactly why a professional service provider needs to set up proper cybersecurity measures in the first place.
How to Decide on Cloud Faxing
Somewhat unfortunately, you might not have a real choice here.
If your business uses fax regularly and needs it to abide by industry regulations, switching to cloud faxing can save a lot of money and hassle when working with outdated devices and the supported infrastructure. Given that phone lines themselves are getting deprecated, it’s only a matter of time before they get fully replaced by internet cables and you’re basically forced to switch anyway.
On the other hand, businesses that have already eliminated fax from their workflow entirely and have no clients or partners requiring it have little reason to reintroduce faxing. Even in online form, cloud faxing is still a system that needs to be set up, monitored, and maintained.
How to Get the Best Cloud Faxing Solutions for Your Business
If your business still relies on a traditional fax machine, KDI Office Technology can help you evaluate whether cloud faxing is the right move and match you with a solution that fits your workflow, your compliance requirements, and your budget.
If your business is based in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware, contact KDI Office Technology today to find out how we can help you modernize your document workflows.
