The days of using a separate fax machine and its related consumables are over. With the advancement of internet technology, there are today a plethora...
The days of using a separate fax machine and its related consumables are over. With the advancement of internet technology,
there are today a plethora reliable web based services - both paid and free -that allows you to send/receive faxes using your computer.
You will not be required to invest in any special hardware. You will also no longer have to depend on a dedicated traditional landline phone to send a fax via the computer.
Most service providers will let you use the Internet to send faxes. Some service providers require you to install special software on your computer – but you have the choice of e-mail, web, or desktop software. When you receive a fax at a specially assigned number, it is delivered to you via your e-mail address or available for viewing on the Web.
There are several online or internet fax service providers who will assign you a dedicated fax number and any fax message that is received on that number will be forwarded to you as an email attachment.
If you wish to send a fax message from your computer to another fax machine, then you can send your document as an email attachment to the online fax service -who in turn - will forward it to the recipient’s fax machine.
Sending and receiving fax over the Internet is becoming more and more commonplace and businesses are opting for internet faxing because of its manifold benefits. You have the option of signing up online for availing internet fax services. The terms imposed by the service providers vary.
Some providers charge you fixed amounts while with others you can send and receive a fixed number of pages per month. There are other types of terms as well and you weigh the pros and cons before signing up with a service provider. Much depends on the volume of the fax messages you send and/or receive every month.
While sending fax via email, please ensure that the documents are in an appropriate format without any known bugs. Otherwise, it is quite similar to sending a usual email to a recipient. However, you need to remember the proper code to get to the right country.
There are many advantages of switching over to Internet fax dispensing with the traditional method.
1. There is no necessity to invest and maintain fax machine
2. You save the recurring expenses as no need to buy consumables
3. No wastage of paper as you can selectively take hard copies.
4. No messy operations and waiting indefinitely to establish connection.
5. No separate operator needed to handle the fax machine.
6. You can send and receive image files (e.g. JPG) and text files (e.g. PDF, Word) through just the click of a mouse.
7. Access your fax from anywhere –provided there is internet connection
8. If your fax is web based, you need not be tied down your office fax machine.
9. Internet fax services are ideal for field workers, mobile professionals and frequent business travelers.
10. If your fax requirements are insignificant there are inexpensive packages.
11. In most cases using internet fax is lot cheaper than communicating over the phone.
You are entering into an era of paperless offices using digital documents, and hence traditional fax methods will soon become obsolete and Internet fax will become the order of the day.
