16 December 2010

How to Make Online Faxing Work for Your Business

Faxing has been an integral part of business for more than a decade. As technology advances, faxing continue to help businesses improve their work processes and efficiency. Online faxing provides a smarter, easier and more affordable way to fax documents. Because of this, it should be something that all businesses, both big and small, are incorporating into their operations. Let's look at a few ways in which you can make online faxing work for your business.

Understanding Online Faxing
Online faxing takes the basic principles of faxing and simply makes it more efficient. With traditional faxing, you would need a fax machine and dedicated telephone line in order to send and receive faxes. Also depending on the type of fax machine, you may also require special thermal paper, standard printer paper and ink cartridges. Online faxing works a little differently; instead of having a fax machine, you make use of a fax server. It works similar to an email server except it facilitates the sending and receiving of faxes rather than emails. On the fax server, each user is assigned a unique fax number. This fax number is the unique identifier that the person uses to send and receive faxes. The fax number is linked to the person's email address. When they receive a fax, it comes through as a PDF or TIF attachment to an email. The recipient can easily open and view the attachment and read the fax contents without having to print the pages first. When you need to send a fax using online faxing, you can do so directly from your computer. You do not need to print the documents first and you don't need a dedicated phone line. All you need is an internet connection and your login to the fax server.

Cost-Saving Benefits of Online Faxing
One of the most obvious benefits of online faxing is the cost savings. Your telecommunications costs can be greatly reduced. Some people may question if your internet connection usage will go up by much. In general, the fax server uses such limited bandwidth that it generally does not add much data usage on your bandwidth. Most often, you have a set fee for an allocated amount of bandwidth in any event. Most businesses have a higher allocation than what they need to ensure that they are never stuck without an internet connection. From a cost perspective therefore, online faxing saves you on your phone bill without adding to the expense of your internet bill. The second aspect of cost savings relates to the hardware and software requirements of online faxing. Quite simply, there are very few. The fax server interfaces with your existing email software and you use your existing computers. No additional hardware or faxes are required so your equipment and maintenance costs are reduced.

Make Your Business More Efficient with Online Faxing
Online faxing provides the ideal tool with which you can improve the efficiency of your business. Having a system that integrates with your existing software and computers can make life much easier for your employees. Instead of having to wait in a line to use the fax machine, they can simply send off information directly from their computer. If they are waiting for fax information to arrive, they don't have to get up from their desk to keep checking the inbox at the fax machine. They can simply continue working, knowing that the fax will come through directly to their computer. Small interruptions to the workflow can have a big overall impact on your company's efficiency. By using tools such as online faxing, you can minimize these interruptions and improve your productivity in the office.

Improved Customer Service Levels with Online Faxing
Any business owner will know how valuable it is to have a good relationship with your customers. When customers have an individual they can deal with in your organization, it helps to build that relationship with them. If customers know that when they send information it will be routed directly to that person, it helps to further cement the relationship with your customer. The customer knows that the information they send through will be kept confidential and that it will reach the intended recipient without delay. Often faxed information contains detailed customer information that may be confidential or sensitive in nature. When you can assure customers of a greater level of confidentiality, you will gain their trust.

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