It seems like not that long ago, fax machines were essential pieces of business equipment. However, the reign of the fax machine as an office essential was short lived. Thanks to internet fax services and smartphone faxing apps, the fax machine appears to be going the way of the dinosaur.
Why should home – based professionals consider getting rid of their fax machines? For one thing, fax machines require an additional telephone line. Lose the fax; lose the monthly fee for that line. In fact, if you live in a household where you do not want or need a landline telephone any more you may want to disconnect your landline telephone service completely. You already spend plenty of money on cell phones and internet access for your family and your business, so why not save some money where you can. Also, a fax machine is a piece of hardware. Hardware can break, and it eventually becomes obsolete even if you have a fancy or expensive machine with lots of features. If you switch to using internet fax software and apps, there is no hardware to worry about and also no toner and paper to buy. Are you ready to ditch your fax and the accompanying additional telephone line yet?
When you are ready to leave your fax behind, it is time to think about how you will replace it. Internet fax services like eFax, HelloFax, MaxEmail, and others let you create documents on your computer and “fax” them through email. When you are out and about away from your computer, you can use an internet fax service like HelloFax (which also has a mobile app), combined with a document storage and retrieval app like Dropbox, to access, edit (including adding a signature), and “fax” documents right from your smartphone. Each internet faxing service has a variety of pricing options, so be sure to compare them before selecting the one that best meets your needs. No matter which one you choose, you will be surprised at how much less it costs than traditional faxing.
Have you and your home – based business made the leap to internet – based faxing yet?
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