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: Online Fax
Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing
try here: Internet Fax Services.
Titus Hoskins Copyright © 2008. This article may be freely
distributed if this resource box stays attached.