MetroFax is a web-based online fax service that heavily focuses on convenience and ease-of-use. Features are robust enough to handle most small business needs, and price points are affordable, which is perfect for companies on tight budgets that can’t afford to overpay for outside 3rd party services. What’s more, the company’s dedicated mobile apps make it possible to fax on the go.
MetroFax’s versatility with regards to file types supported makes sending and receiving faxes a breeze, and the variety of customization options for the faxes themselves means that companies can maintain the integrity of their branding, a feature that many other cloud-based fax services do not offer.
What Types of Features Does MetroFax Offer?
MetroFax provides a clean and straightforward web portal and user interface. Information is displayed clearly and intuitively and focuses on simplicity. In fact, there are only four buttons on the main screen:
- View faxes
- Send faxes
- Make changes to your account
- Search for help topics
Sending faxes requires the end user to either enter data by hand or import the relevant information from third-party software providers like Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Comcast, Hotmail, and/or AOL. Options provided include specifying the fax’s destination, as well as adding up to 50 recipients and 10 documents. Users can also choose the quality of the fax, but unfortunately, there’s no option to upload a unique cover page. Security is also lacking. There’s no two-factor authentication and accounts are protected with just a four-digit passcode.
Faxes can conveniently be sent via email, which requires nothing more than simply uploading the required documents (or typing your own information into the message field) and sending it to [email protected], where xxx would be replaced with the 10 digit phone number the user is faxing to. There’s also an option to add tags to faxes, which will organize them into different groups.
Signing up generates a dedicated fax number in the area code of the user’s choice, and toll-free fax numbers are available at no additional charge. Users can also port their existing fax numbers into the platform if desired.
File types are handled in a number of different ways:
- Incoming faxes arrive as PDF or TIFF files
- More than 50 file types are supported for outgoing faxes, including rarely-seen formats such as WordPerfect, Star Office, and Photoshop .PSD files
MetroFax has both iOS and Android apps, both of which send notifications when a user has received a fax. In addition, the apps allow subscribers to access their faxes stored on the Wweb, tag and search through the data vault, view their contacts list, and even send faxes. The apps also provide the functionality to digitally sign fax messages, which requires nothing more than the user using their own finger to write their signature on the screen of their smartphone.
How Much Does MetroFax Cost?
All 3 of MetroFax’s plans come standard with the ability to both send and receive faxes from up to 5 different emails, and the international fax rates to more than 170 countries are competitive.
- The Essential Plan covers 500 fax pages and costs $7.95/month
- The Value Plan covers 1,000 pages and costs $12.95/month
- The Professional Plan is good for up to 2,500 pages and costs $35.95/month
All 3 plans are available at a discount of 2 months off of service if paid annually, and a 30-day free trial is available for the Essential Plan.
All 3 plans also offer free access to customer support, overage fees of 3 cents, and the potential to use the allocated numbers of pages in any combination of ingoing and outgoing fax messages.
Does MetroFax Offer Customer Support?
MetroFax offers a variety of ways to contact customer service, including phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, and instant chats. Unfortunately, however, customer support can be difficult to reach and response times can be unbearably slow, even though the company says they’re available regular working hours, Monday to Friday. A “Demo and Tutorial” Center is available, but topics are limited and basic in nature. For more advanced troubleshooting, users will have no choice but to contact support.