Summary
Two criteria decide: the channel your correspondent accepts, and what you may eventually have to demonstrate. Email travels instantly but can remain stuck in an anti-spam filter; the fax, for its part, comes back with a transmission report produced while the two machines talk to each other.
The strengths and blind spots of each
Sending by email costs nothing and drops the document into the recipient’s inbox, yet spam filters can stop it without notice and no read receipt is guaranteed. Faxing instead needs only one or two minutes, with our systems checking that each page lands intact; with Faxeroo the initial page costs nothing, and the transmission receipt can be ordered for €2.99 including VAT. Registered mail is slower and dearer, though it gives your documents the strongest legal safeguards.
Two decision criteria
Which channel is your contact using? A company that prints a fax number has already responded to you. What evidence needs to be provided, and by when? Some deadlines, whether legal or contractual, require a specific format — often registered mail. The comparison of fax, email, and post examines each situation.
Combining the channels
Nothing forbids doubling the send: the fax for speed and its report, then email or registered mail if a text demands it. Keep the receipt and the exact PDF: content dispatched and date will remain demonstrable.
Key points
- Email: speed on one side, filters on the other.
- Fax: report tied to the arrival machine.
- Registered mail: the clearest legal framework, at the price of slowness.
- The choice follows the channel accepted and the proof to be produced.