Online Fax - How It Can Automate Your Home Business or Office
The key to running a successful home office or business is automation. This will often require signing up to an online fax service or using a virtual PBX program to run and automate all your incoming and outgoing messages and faxes. Just as we saw email take over much of our snail mail transactions, computer/web based faxing has largely replaced the old traditional facsimile machine in the office.
Basically, what is taking place here, is the gradual shift to using computers and the web to handle most common workplace chores or tasks. Obviously, using computers will not only speed things up, but it can be easily automated to make all these tasks much simpler and much more efficient. Perhaps, the greatest time saver here, is your ability to access your faxes/messages anywhere, anytime. Moreover, your faxes will now be in digital form, so they can be easily filed and stored on your computer and/or in your online account. Retrieving that all important fax now only takes a few clicks of the mouse.
Mainly because these services are in the clouds or a form of "cloud computing", where all your data and services are hosted on a third party site or with an online provider. For example, in the case of online fax, once you sign up to the provider of your choice - you're given a local or toll-free fax number and an online account where you can log in to send and receive your faxes. As long as you have access to the web, you can send and receive your faxes anywhere; you are no longer confined to just the office sitting.
Besides this complete mobility, another major selling point of these services, are their cheap rates or prices. Online faxing is much cheaper than conventional faxing for many reasons:
- you don't have to buy a fax machine
- you don't need to install an extra dedicated fax phone line
- you don't have to buy any inks, papers and toners
- you don't need to have a fax machine running 24/7
Plus, the monthly rates can be specifically tailored to meet your specific needs. In other words, you can buy the cheapest plan which suits your purposes. You can even get a "pay-as-you-go" fax plan which will really save you money. However, there are numerous plans and providers which you can choose from, so picking the right one for you won't be that difficult. Monthly prices on average, run around $8 to $10 and will give you around 300 to 500 (incoming/outgoing) faxes per month. In most cases, you can save money by going with a yearly payment plan. There are also some unlimited fax plans but you will have to pay more for these plans.
In addition, many savvy business owners opt for a more robust virtual PBX service, where faxing is just one component. By going this route, you also get more features such as voice mail, mail forwarding, even a virtual receptionist to handle all your messages... all the services you need to run and automate your home office or business. Regardless of which system or provider you choose, opting for these computer based online communication services can be a smart business move in these uncertain economic times. Are you or your company using them? It's your call.
Basically, what is taking place here, is the gradual shift to using computers and the web to handle most common workplace chores or tasks. Obviously, using computers will not only speed things up, but it can be easily automated to make all these tasks much simpler and much more efficient. Perhaps, the greatest time saver here, is your ability to access your faxes/messages anywhere, anytime. Moreover, your faxes will now be in digital form, so they can be easily filed and stored on your computer and/or in your online account. Retrieving that all important fax now only takes a few clicks of the mouse.
Mainly because these services are in the clouds or a form of "cloud computing", where all your data and services are hosted on a third party site or with an online provider. For example, in the case of online fax, once you sign up to the provider of your choice - you're given a local or toll-free fax number and an online account where you can log in to send and receive your faxes. As long as you have access to the web, you can send and receive your faxes anywhere; you are no longer confined to just the office sitting.
Besides this complete mobility, another major selling point of these services, are their cheap rates or prices. Online faxing is much cheaper than conventional faxing for many reasons:
- you don't have to buy a fax machine
- you don't need to install an extra dedicated fax phone line
- you don't have to buy any inks, papers and toners
- you don't need to have a fax machine running 24/7
Plus, the monthly rates can be specifically tailored to meet your specific needs. In other words, you can buy the cheapest plan which suits your purposes. You can even get a "pay-as-you-go" fax plan which will really save you money. However, there are numerous plans and providers which you can choose from, so picking the right one for you won't be that difficult. Monthly prices on average, run around $8 to $10 and will give you around 300 to 500 (incoming/outgoing) faxes per month. In most cases, you can save money by going with a yearly payment plan. There are also some unlimited fax plans but you will have to pay more for these plans.
In addition, many savvy business owners opt for a more robust virtual PBX service, where faxing is just one component. By going this route, you also get more features such as voice mail, mail forwarding, even a virtual receptionist to handle all your messages... all the services you need to run and automate your home office or business. Regardless of which system or provider you choose, opting for these computer based online communication services can be a smart business move in these uncertain economic times. Are you or your company using them? It's your call.
