Even over a decade after the advent of the “paperless office,” faxes remain common in the workplace. There are simply too many documents that require a signature, too many hand-written notes and too many hand-filled forms for fax systems to be eliminated. But even as faxing endures, the fax machine itself is becoming rare. Online faxing, which uses a PC and the internet rather than a separate physical device, is growing in popularity, and dedicated internet fax services now boast millions of subscribers. Here are the top five reasons to reassign your fax machine to door-stop duty.

1. One less physical hunk of metal and plastic in your office. Even if desk space isn’t scarce, you’ll appreciate not feeding a fax machine toner and paper, dealing with it jamming or having to get it serviced.

2. Send and receive from anywhere. If you can get an internet connection, you can send a fax. Fax from the coffee shop or from home in your pajamas. There’s no need to make a special trip to the office or the copy store just to send a single page.

3. Alerts let you know when a document has arrived. You can be told via email or text message that you’ve received a fax. Know right away, wherever you are, that the document you’re waiting on has finally arrived.

4. Maintain electronic copies. Need a copy of that contract you signed three months ago? Internet faxes can be stored and retrieved just like your other digital documents. And with fax logs, you’ll be able to see both senders’ information and the result of each transaction.

5. Fax directly from your word processor. There’s no need to print out a document you want faxed. If your faxing service supports your word-processing or number-crunching software, you can fax right from your computer without even having to get up. Online faxing might not get you the paperless office of your dreams, but it will reduce the amount of time you spend shuffling papers back and forth.

Photo credits: Abhisek Sarda, anomalous4