Comparing Online Faxing With Fax Machines
Exaggerating the benefits of new technology tends to backfire
, and faster than ever these days. For a few years there were virtual truckloads of online ads informing business owners they could save up to 90% on faxing by switching to an online fax service. Where does that number come from? Is it really true? What is the fair way of comparing online faxing with fax machines?As online fax services continue to grow in number and reach, they continue to use questionable claims about so-called paperless offices and cost savings. Since the truth is really quite convincing enough, going overboard (whether from excitement or actual desire to mislead) is counterproductive. People have been comfortable with fax machines for going on 50 years now, and as opposed to virtual faxing there is a machine sitting right there, clacking and buzzing to prove it's working. How can you compare that to the silent running of a computer program? First of all, by comparing apples to apples, and being honest and both methods' pros and cons.
Online fax service
A big benefit of using an online fax service is that your privacy levels are greatly enhanced. No one will be standing by watching as you send or receive a confidential fax, and woe if you don't get to the fax machine location in time and someone sees what they shouldn't. All the many benefits of computerization and so-called virtualization apply to online faxing, including the ease of making no-cost copies (soft rather than hard copy) and distributing them at almost zero cost.
If you are away from your business, with no access to your fax machine, you can lose revenue and customers by missing timely opportunities. If you can receive faxes at a Web site or via e-mail it can be as important as it is convenient, and this convenience makes for better business practices. One of the few serious downsides to online faxing is having a system for archiving the message going both in and out, so make sure to devise one before you are buried by virtual faxes once you get going. It is not difficult to do if you do it first and keep on top of it.
Fax machine pros and cons
Fax machines, frankly, still have some advantages, or no one would be buying them. They are very inexpensive now, use plain paper as opposed to costly thermal rolls and connect to dependable phone lines that have their own power supply. No, the fax speed is not up to information superhighway standards, but fax machines do not need to be that fast, just fast enough. An additional plus for fax machines is that they are bundled into low-cost, high-quality and very useful office all-in-one devices. This may have extended the fax machine's lifespan, since online services are growing quite quickly.
Yet there are downsides, too, which is why most people consider fax machines outmoded. They are far from green, as they say, and use paper, ink and electricity in addition to requiring new drums and other parts from time to time. If your power goes out, the fax machine is down but the phone lines are up, which means a battery-powered laptop can still get on the Internet and send an online fax. Fax machines in office settings are also low on the privacy and security scale, and are built-in excuses for employees to stand around perhaps a bit longer than necessary.
Charges and costs
You do need to monitor your charges and your usage plan with an online service, and do enough research in advance to make sure you do not sign up with a plan that has hidden fees and changing conditions. Sometimes you will interpret marketing materials and sales pitches to conclude that some part of the service is free of cost, when in fact there are limitations that you did not notice. Once you sign up for a service like this, charges can begin to add up as you may unknowingly exceed a certain limit on the number of faxes you can send or receive. You can do much to minimize this kind of occurrence by reading all the fine print.
Frankly, you can make an argument for either technology, although the trends are clear and hard copy faxing is slowly disappearing. It will be around a while longer, though, especially in parts of the world where stable broadband Internet service has not penetrated (Africa, the Middle East, some parts of South America and Asia). In the West, however, fax machines are transitioning into backup roles, while online faxing is surging ahead relentlessly. Stay abreast of the trend and do what is most effective (and cost-effective) for your company, but remember which way the tech winds are blowing!
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