The operation of any company will usually entail many
decisions that will determine the success or failure of
your business. Choosing how you set up your company's
communication system will no doubt be one of those crucial
decisions you will have to make.
How your company communicates with its clients, employees,
business partners, suppliers, shipping agents... are all
vital to the running of an efficient business. Your
communication system should be integrated, seamless and
available everywhere.
Simply put: you must connect all your operations together
into one useful network where none of the patrons listed
above should be left out. Everyone should be connected and
easily reachable; no matter the time of day or the location.
One obvious component of any company's communication system
will be the Office Fax. However, the old traditional fax
machine is slowly being replaced by a new kid on the block.
For the reasons listed above and below, many companies are
choosing to go with Internet Fax as their preferred method
of faxing. If you're not familiar with online or email
faxing some background information might prove helpful.
Internet Fax is simply using the Internet and your email
system to send and receive faxes, anywhere anytime. It is
mobile, paperless, efficient and you won't get any busy
signals. Plus, there is no need for a second phone line.
Internet Fax is an extremely fast, convenient and simple
way to send and receive your faxes. In order to use
Internet Fax you have to sign-up to a Fax Service Provider
where you get a local or Toll-Free fax number and an online
site to send and receive your faxes. Your fax provider acts
as a mediator, handling all your faxes whether they are
coming from a standard fax machine or from another Internet
Fax user. Faxes are sent as email attachments usually in
TIFF, PDF or JPEG formats. Most services also let you store
your faxes online so they are available wherever you have
the Internet and these days that's just about everywhere.
Internet faxes are private and secure with SSL and PGP
encryption. Most if not all companies are compliant with
such privacy regulations as Gramm-Leach-Bliley & HIPAA in
the United States and PIPEDA in Canada. Your faxes sent and
received via email can be protected through PGP encryption.
Internet Fax also has some special benefits for companies
that work in remote locations or away from the office such
as real estate agents, engineers, onsite builders and
contractors, traveling sales agents... just to mention a
few.
Plus, keep in mind, Internet Fax is completely scalable to
meet your company's needs. You can have or expand to
different fax numbers for each department or salesperson in
your company without the cost of installing all those extra
phone lines.
Then there is Fax Broadcasting where you can send the same
fax to thousands of agents or clients quickly and easily.
This is not to be confused with JunkFaxes which are similar
to email spam. Fax Broadcasting can be a very important
factor in the competitiveness of your business.
If you do choose Internet Fax there are many well-known
online fax providers you can use such as MyFax, eFax,
RapidFax, TrustFax, and Send2Fax. You should also consider
some lesser known fax providers such as Metrofax out of
Seattle and Faxage out of Denver; sometimes going with a
relatively smaller company will give you better individual
service... you or your company won't get lost in the crowd
or in the large numbers.
Also, many companies and individuals like to consolidate
all their phone/fax services into one provider. RingCentral
is a popular choice since it gives you virtual phone and
fax services all rolled into one.
If you do use an Internet Fax services make sure you shop
around to find the best plan that is suited to your needs;
plans range from a very modest $20 a year to around $10-$15
a month. Each plan will have a different number of faxes
that you can send and receive. Rates are usually based on
minutes... so multiple page faxes will cost more with with
5 cent per minute the average cost. Keep in mind,
International faxes will usually cost more.
Since Internet Fax involves the web and computers, it can
be totally automated to meet your needs. It can be used to
connect and integrate your whole working network. Also
remember, Internet faxing is the wave of the future, if you
want your company to remain completely competitive in this
brave new computerized world you must have online fax.
Like any business decision, it really comes down to one
sticking point, it is not a matter of whether you can
afford to use Internet Fax but whether you can really
afford NOT to use it. It's Your Call?
----------------------------------------------------
For more information on Internet Fax Services try this
handy online Comparison Guide: http://www.onlinefaxguide.com
Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing
try here:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/internet_fax_service_guide.htm
Titus Hoskins 2008. This article may be freely distributed
if this resource box stays attached.
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