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What To Look For In An Online Fax Service
Smart consumers know better than to make a decision on any purchase based solely on price
. You cannot compare apples with apples unless you establish a standard measure for the product or service. When it comes to shopping for online fax services, then, the monthly fee is just the beginning. There are likely other charges you should know about (sooner is better than later), and you need to know what you get for the money, too, so you can make an accurate comparison.If you were only planning to use an online fax service temporarily, say a month or two, you would need to pay particular attention to the setup fees. These are typically paid with the first bill and not spread out over a few months, although in a long-term contract arrangement you may be able to negotiate this. Some companies charge no setup fees anyway, while several will bill you in the neighborhood of $10. If you are anticipating using the service for some time, this may not make much difference, but most of the following considerations will affect your decision.
Other fees
If you already have an existing virtual/online fax number with a particular provider, you can keep this number when you establish a new account with another company. However, a slight majority of leading companies does charge for this service (as much as $50), which may tilt your decision toward the ones that do not. Again, this fee will have to be factored into the entire formula, so even a $50 transfer fee does not have to be a deal-breaker. It depends on the big picture, and you are still only halfway there, at most.
One of the most important things you have to consider is the number of fax pages you will be sending and receiving. Some providers will set a monthly quota for total pages, or total bandwidth, regardless of the direction of the fax. When you opt for a plan that has a stated quota, you need to consider what the company's overage charges are. There are some companies that will offer options for setting incoming and outgoing quotas separately, and there are also pricing plans in most firms for unlimited send/receive. Again, you have to work all this into your decision formula after considering your likely usage.
Feature comparisons
Different companies handle other features in various ways, and you will identify the best firms by their flexibility, number of options and willingness to negotiate certain terms. For example, it may be important for you to send and receive faxes from different e-mail addresses, so you need to find out if a particular provider offers that functionality. Remember, you can probably custom-design a fax plan with a number of leading firms, so if you feel you are getting stuck in pre-arranged, cookie-cutter plan, you have not shopped around enough yet.
One of the greatest benefits of online faxing is the immediate, automatic and highly configurable way in which your incoming and outgoing faxes are saved to your specific account. Although most providers will store the documents on their own servers, some firms give you the capability of archiving your messages locally, too. One major difference among service providers is the length of time they will store your documents on their servers, a period that is usually around one month, although some store them for up to a year. This should not be subject to any extra fee, and if it is, once again you have not shopped around enough!
Service and support
Some of the service perks are similar to program features, and they cross boundaries at times. For example, if you wish to make it easy for customers to remember your fax number, some providers allow you to choose vanity phone numbers. Since this is something you will likely do once and then move on, it is not really an ongoing feature that you should pay for, and therefore should be free. It is a service you want to provide for your customers, as well as a service your online fax service should provide for you. Finally, if you wish to have some leeway in scheduling the sending of faxes, you should choose a provider that empowers you to do so. This is a real efficiency booster, too, since you can enter and schedule a day's or week's faxes in one sitting and the service provider will take it from there.
Although all leading fax services offer phone support, they differ in the hours that live operators are available, and some make you go through their online FAQ lists before giving you a phone number to call. If you believe you may need assistance with technical issue during off hours, you should seek out a provider offering 24/7 customer service. This may be in the form of e-mail, chat or phone, but you should hold out for live phone support if it fits into your budget. Once again, you must quantify and qualify all of these features and benefits so that you can make an overall decision. Do not forget to read reviews of the services from real people and real companies, and do not be afraid to ask for references, either. Any leading online fax firm will be glad to oblige, and the ones that will not should be dropped from consideration.
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