Despite the rise of email and cloud storage, fax is still the communication standard in healthcare, legal, and financial services. The problem isn't fax as a concept — it's the hardware fax machine, which jams, runs out of toner, leaves documents unattended, and requires its own dedicated phone line. Virtual fax (vFax) keeps the fax number and the document exchange process but eliminates every piece of hardware.
How Virtual Fax Works
Virtual fax converts incoming faxes into PDF files and delivers them to your email inbox. When someone faxes your number, the transmission is received by cloud infrastructure, converted to a PDF, and sent as an email attachment within seconds. You can receive faxes on any device — desktop, phone, or tablet — wherever you happen to be.
Sending a fax works the same way in reverse. Attach a PDF or Word document to an email and send it to your recipient's fax number (formatted as a specific email address, like 8031234567@send.broadtela.com). The cloud system converts your attachment to a fax format and transmits it to the recipient's fax machine or virtual fax inbox.
The Hardware You'll Never Need Again
Virtual fax eliminates:
- The physical fax machine (typically $200–$800 to buy, plus maintenance)
- The dedicated phone line for faxing ($30–$60/month)
- Toner cartridges and paper ($50–$100/month for a busy fax line)
- Maintenance contracts for machine repairs
Broadtela's vFax service costs $10/month per fax number — including free porting of your existing fax number. The savings are immediate and significant.
HIPAA Compliance for Healthcare and Legal
For medical offices and law firms, the compliance advantages of vFax are as important as the cost savings. Traditional fax machines are a HIPAA risk: incoming documents with patient PHI sit in an output tray where any unauthorized person can read them. There's no audit trail of who accessed what documents.
Broadtela's vFax platform is HIPAA-compliant by design. Transmissions are encrypted end-to-end. Access is controlled — only authorized users receive faxes in their secure inbox. Every fax is logged with a complete audit trail. And we sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with covered entities as part of standard onboarding.
Can I Keep My Existing Fax Number?
Yes — and this is where businesses often hesitate, thinking they'll have to change a number that's been printed on forms and given to hundreds of medical offices, courts, and clients. You don't. We port your existing fax number to our platform at no charge. During the porting window (typically 3–5 business days), your old machine continues to receive faxes normally. The moment the port completes, faxes start arriving in your email inbox instead.
Who Uses Virtual Fax?
The industries we see adopting vFax most rapidly:
- Medical offices — for receiving lab results, referrals, and prescription authorizations securely
- Law firms — for court filings, opposing counsel documents, and client communications
- Financial services — for loan documents, insurance forms, and regulatory filings
- Real estate — for contracts, disclosure forms, and title company communications
If your business sends or receives faxes more than a few times per week, virtual fax will measurably improve efficiency and reduce compliance risk. At $10/month, the ROI is immediate.