Short answer
Email is faster and more convenient, but it can be filtered out without your knowing. Fax produces a confirmation issued by the receiving device itself. The right choice depends on what your recipient accepts and what you will need to prove later.
What each channel offers
Email is the fastest and most convenient, but it can end up in spam or be filtered out without your knowing, and a read receipt is never guaranteed. Fax provides a confirmation issued by the receiving device itself, in one to two minutes and free of charge with MondialFax. Registered mail is the slowest and the only paid option, but it is the one the law frames most precisely.
The right question
The choice almost never comes down to “which is best”, but to two questions: what does my recipient accept, and what will I need to prove later? An organisation that publishes a fax number and no email address has answered the first; a legal deadline to meet answers the second.
Combining channels
For an important document, nothing stops you using two: a fax for speed and confirmation of transmission, backed up by an email or registered mail depending on what the applicable rules require. Keep the fax transmission receipt with a copy of the document sent.
Key points
- Email: fast, but can be filtered out without your knowing.
- Fax: confirmation issued by the receiving device.
- Registered mail: the most tightly framed by law, and the only paid option.
- Choose based on what the recipient accepts and what you will need to prove.