j2: One of the Best Services on the Web
Written: Jul 12 '02 (Updated Jul 12 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Site Ease of Use: |
 |
|
|
Pros: receive faxes and voice mail messages via email FREE OF CHARGE!!
Cons: very few; two "promotional" emails a month and a banner ad in j2's software
The Bottom Line: This is the perfect service for consumers looking for these needs: receiving faxes, and to a lesser extent, voice mail messages. FREE OF CHARGE!!
|
|
|
| brad's Full Review: j2 |
Hello. I’ve been using online fax services for about two years now, including eFax.com and j2 (formerly jfax.com). I’d like to share my experience with j2, as well as compare my experience with j2 to that of eFax.
About two years ago, I found a need to receive faxes. My family has a fax machine, but we only use it to send faxes. We have only one phone line (our Internet access is wireless). eFax.com offered me exactly what I wanted: the ability to receive faxes, without needing my own phone line, fax machine, or any of the other “hassles” of doing the fax process.
Between eFax and j2, the concept is the same: you sign up for an account, obtain a personal fax number (no extension), and the faxes are processed by the provider (from here we’ll call the “provider” j2). The provider receives the fax at your number and with its technology, sends the document to you in the form of an email attachment. For example, if someone faxes me a document, within seconds I’ll receive an email message from the provider. The message contains details of the fax received, including the attachment, which is the fax document. The fax document is opened using the provider’s proprietary software.
The concept is brilliant. You have a fax number, you get your faxes delivered to your PC, and then you can print the fax with your PC printer. It’s that simple. The best part of it all is that this process is free (only in the case of j2).
j2 calls itself a “communications” company. eFax does the same. Another tremendous utility of these services is the ability to receive voice mail messages. Once again, the provider takes the messages, from your “fax/voice mail” number, and sends them to you via email. The email message contains an attachment, which is played thru the provider’s software. In this case, you simply play the file thru the software and you hear the voice message thru your computer audio.
Really, I think I’ve made more use of the voice mail feature of these providers than I have the fax service. In any case, both services are brilliant; technologically, and really benefit us (the consumers), because they are FREE (again, only in the case of j2).
I had to ditch eFax about eight months ago (late 2001), because it no longer offers the free fax and/or voice mail services. Frankly, I’d have been satisfied with only receiving faxes for free. But, eFax went its own route, and so I sought an alternative.
The honest truth is, I can barely tell the difference between the services of eFax and j2. Each respective provider’s software seems identical to me, as do the services involved. eFax began to slack a bit, in terms of how soon the messages (faxes or voice messages) were delivered, in the latter stages of its free offerings, but j2 has been absolutely tremendous. Faxes or voice messages are delivered to my email account within SECONDS that it (j2) receives the information. The technology is very impressive; ditto for the service.
So, if you want to receive faxes via your PC without a fax machine, without adding another phone line to your residence, and whatever else is keeping you from doing so, head over to j2.com. j2 has been a real blessing for me, and with their continued loyalty to the free offerings, I might eventually pay a nominal fee for their services.
Finally, the cons. Well, there aren’t many. About bi-monthly (twice a month), j2 will send you, what I will call, “promotional” messages, including inducements to upgrade to their pay-service, and of course, third-party advertisements. The only other “con” is a traditional-sized banner ad placed within the header of the proprietary software (you might see it while viewing faxes or listening to voice messages). In any case, the tiny banner ad is hardly worth worrying about. As for receiving the SPAM (twice a month), it seems j2 has been very good about remembering that we (the consumers) don’t want to be overly bothered. I don’t believe j2 has sold my address, but even if it has, that can be quickly changed (I have mine set up via a Yahoo! Personal Address system, whereby I can change the username of my primary or any alternatives).
Conclusion: you can hardly go wrong with j2. Receiving faxes via email is a cinch, a true tribute to the Internet. The same goes for the voice messages. Remember, with j2, you get your own telephone number, without any extensions (in other words, 999-999-9999), for receiving faxes or voice mail messages, FREE OF CHARGE. Head to j2.com for your own account.
Always yours, brad.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
brad
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Brad Engelmann
Location: Helen Township, MN
Reviews written: 161
Trusted by: 94 members
About Me:
brad@engelmann.us (email address)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.