Internet Fax Can it Really Make Your Business More Competitive?
By: Titus Hoskins
Submitted: 2010-01-24 02:19:55 | Word Count: 714
In today s challenging business environment we hear a great deal about competitiveness among different companies or industries. More specifically, we hear about how certain companies are implementing different strategies to get a competitive edge or advantage over their competitors. One little known and perhaps surprising aspect to all this one upmanship is the usage of online or Internet fax by those companies looking for every advantage they can muster.
Surprising in the sense that we don t always think of something as routine and simple as faxing to be a competitive advantage or a marketing strategy. Online or Internet faxing is the same as using the old fax machine in the office isn t it?
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Wrong!
That s where many businesses and companies drop the ball. They have not adjusted or advanced with the times by adopting this new modern way of faxing.
Internet fax is simply using your current email system and your web connection to send and receive all your faxes. You sign up to an online fax service provider where you are given a local or toll free fax number(s) which you give out to all your clients. Your faxes are sent as email attachments, usually in Tiff or Pdf formats. You will get an online site or interface where you can check and send your faxes. Many companies also have a desktop application which you can use to send faxes directly from your computer desktop.
Right around now, you re probably asking the question: how can this make my company more competitive?
First, you have to realize the importance or significance of connecting all your faxing to computers and the Internet. You must realize how this is modernizing your business operations and bringing it up to date, mainly because now your faxes are available 24/7, 365 days of the year. Moreover, you and your business can be reached anytime, anywhere as long as you have web access and these days that s just about anywhere on the planet. Your business activities is no longer confined to the office setting or the 9 to 5 routine. Your company is accessible and open for business around the clock and if you depend on faxing to bring in sales or for contacting clients, then one can easily see how this can make your company more competitive.
Second, you have to realize Internet faxing is much more cheaper than the traditional way of faxing. You don t have the monthly cost of an extra fax phone line, nor do you have the costs of inks, toners and papers since everything is handled electronically. Plus, start up costs are less because most online fax services have no set up fees; actually with most services you have a free trial period where you can check out the quality of the service
before you buy.
Third, online or email fax gives you other advantages. You can send or receive more than one fax at a time or simultaneously, which can be an advantage if time is a factor in acquiring contracts or contacting clients. Plus, you have fax broadcasting where you can send a fax to large groups of people with one click of a button.
Fourth, most Internet fax services are completely scalable for businesses which means you can easily scale up or scale down your fax numbers/services depending on the business climate. Since you can do all this without adding additional hardware (fax phone lines, fax machines) your operating costs will be much less.
Fifth, online faxing is as easy as sending an email. There is much less hassle and trouble, just imagine no more missed faxes because of paper jams or busy signals. Plus, no more messy inks and toners to deal with on a daily basis. For these reasons, Internet faxing is often referred to as hassle free faxing.
Lastly, everyone realizes that our society, including many business activities, have become very mobile. We have countless portable devices such as BlackBerries, iPhones, Netbooks, Laptops... which allows us to take our communications as well as our business activities along with us, no matter where we go. Internet fax fits nicely into this mobile business environment and adds to the competitiveness of your company. So are you or your company using it?
