Eliminate Your Fax Machine: Use Your Computer

Not all offices have fax machines these days, but some businesses still find them absolutely vital. A fax can be a fast way to get a signature on a contract or another important document. Even if your office is one of those that relies on faxing, you don't have to give up a big chunk of your desk for a fax machine. You can use your computer to send, receive and even organize your faxes.

Fax and Save

The cost of having a fax machine has come down from what it used to be: You can purchase a fax machine for under $50. Some telephone providers, especially those providing VoIP services, offer free fax lines if you already have a telephone line. But there are still plenty of costs associated with owning a fax machine. You'll still need to buy paper and ink cartridges on a regular basis and keep it plugged in. Over time, those costs add up, especially when you consider that most offices are using their fax machines less frequently.

Your computer provides an alternative. There are many sites that provide faxing services online, providing you with the ability to send a fax directly from your computer as easily as you might send an email. You can also get an online fax number that allows other people to send you faxes, which will arrive as computer files. From there, you have the option of printing them or archiving them. If you don't need to print your faxes, you not only save on paper costs but your office will be a little greener.

Most online fax services base pricing on the number of faxes you need to send or receive in a given month. Even for relatively heavy users, the prices can be less the price of purchasing and maintaining a standalone piece of equipment. But many offices send a fax perhaps once or twice a day at most - and online fax services can be especially cost-effective for such lighter usage.

The Benefits of Switching

Some online faxing services can offer features beyond what your standard fax machine can. Since many fax services treat the documents you send and receive in the same manner as your email is processed, you can fax on the go. Whether you're in the office or at a coffee shop with your laptop, your ability to fax is just the same. With some services, you can even fax from a smartphone.

Online faxing also provides more security for sensitive faxes than a standalone machine can. With a fax machine in the middle of your office, it's easy for someone to see information they aren't supposed to have access to, just by standing next to the fax machine. But online faxing provides privacy, as well as more advanced security measures, like offsite back-ups and secure transmissions.

The best faxing solutions integrate entirely with your email system. With Fax2Mail, for instance, your faxes aren't just handled like email - they are email. You can send documents as email attachments and the service delivers them to your recipient's fax machine.

If you're interested in trying it out, Fax2Mail provides 40-pages of faxes for all OA Silver Members (the subscription also includes about 5 hours of teleconferencing minutes, 500+ templates, access to the OA online library, and more). Learn more here.