When it comes to sending and receiving information, one of the most effective and secure ways you can implement in your business is faxing. An online fax service combines the ease and power of email with traditional faxing’s security. What’s more, you don’t need to use a physical fax modem or fax machine. With online fax services, you may streamline the faxing process and integrate the software you’re currently using. You can even send a fax directly to your client’s email, which means you’ll spend less time with faxing needs and more time growing your business.
Switching from traditional fax to online fax can help you in many different ways. You can quickly sign important documents electronically with just a click. Additionally, you can search, manage, and store your faxes in a single place. Another benefit of an online fax service is you can send and receive a fax on the go using a mobile device.
Because of the many benefits, there are now lots of providers offering online fax services. While there are many options to choose from, keep in mind that not all of them provide quality services. To help narrow down your choices, here’s a list of tips you can consider in looking for the right online fax provider for your business:
1. Assess The Reliability Of The Provider
No one wants to have missed faxes from business partners, business associates, and other important contacts. Aside from that, delay in sending or failure to deliver a message from your business to those you’re communicating with is the last thing you want to encounter.
To avoid this from happening, working with a reliable online fax provider like Metrofax and others is highly recommended. Check whether the services of the provider are operational with little to no downtimes. The provider should facilitate the deliveries of both outgoing and incoming faxes without hassles and delays.
One of the best ways to assess the provider’s reliability is to check some customer reviews. Because most customers tend to leave honest opinions regarding the service, they can verify whether they’re positive or not.
2. Ask For Free Demos
Some online fax providers give free trials or free product demonstrations to their prospective clients. As a business, you should make the most out of this benefit to assess the service before deciding to sign up.
Before you invest in this tool, you would want to know how efficient it would be. It’s a great thing there’s a free fax trial you can avail of before purchasing a plan for your business. This free trial will allow you to send 100 pages and receive 1000 incoming pages you can access from any device. There will be no delay in communication with your clients because you can save all the documents an access them anytime.
Demos will allow you to determine which online fax service is the easiest to use but can significantly help you in your business processes like sending and receiving important documents. This is crucial because there can be a considerable difference between two seemingly similar online fax services. Remember, you won’t know which is the right option unless you give it a try.
3. Know The Pricing Of The Online Fax Provider
Like other service providers, some online fax providers have unexpected and hidden fees that may negatively affect your budget, especially if you don’t factor them in when planning. Usually, the majority of online fax providers have websites where you can find their price lists. In fact, it may take thorough research to find out other expenses such as a long-distance fee, setup fees, and average costs.
So, before signing up, make sure to find out all the expenses involved, both disclosed and hidden ones. Always remember, whether you’re aware of the costs or not, the online fax provider will hold you responsible for all the associated expenses.
4. Be Aware Of Your Business Needs
Another key to finding the best and right online fax provider for your business is to know your business needs like how many faxes you need to receive and send monthly. If you only plan to send a few faxes, opt for an affordable plan with a low fax limitation every month.
On the contrary, if you have plenty of faxes to deliver, investing a few more dollars to increase the limit is a good idea to avoid an additional charge. Some online fax providers have corporate packages designed for businesses sending a higher volume of taxes. With that in mind, make sure to consider what you’d viably receive and send monthly and pick the package that perfectly suits your operations.
5. Learn More About The Features And Services Being Offered
If you want to make the most out of your money, you’ll need to maximize the features that come with online fax services. Thus, before choosing a provider, you need to ensure that the following comes with the service they’re offering:
- Electronic Signature
Choose an online fax provider that allows you to include an electronic signature to your documents, whether you’re using a personal computer (PC) or a mobile phone. This feature makes sharing and, at the same time, editing information much more manageable.
Electronic signature allows you to add a signature to documents efficiently and quickly. This improves your response period without printing anything, enabling you to close deals more rapidly. This also ensures security of documents being shared in your organization.
- Mobile Applications
Not all online fax providers have fax applications, but it’d be wise to pick one with it. These applications will allow you to attach and deliver faxes directly from your mobile phone, ensuring you read and send faxes more efficiently and quickly. Plus, instead of having to wait until you can use an available fax machine or computer, you can do it on the go.
- Easy Setup
When choosing a provider, don’t forget to assess how simple a particular online fax service will incorporate into your current system or communications infrastructure. For example, are you able to run it rapidly? Is there a learning curve? Is the online fax service intuitive? Remember, the ability to send or receive faxes easily and quickly, whether online or through email, will save you an amount of time and let you become more productive and focus on making more effective business strategies.
- Large File Sharing
With this feature, you can send big documents for emails like spreadsheets, multimedia projects, and high-resolution pictures. Not altering your documents from their initial format or size will make connecting with your team easier.
As a result, you’ll be spending more time settling deliverables and less time thinking about how you can send them.
- Unlimited Storage
Before, if you have faxes, you print them out and file them away, causing problems such as resending or rescanning documents that need to be sent to other businesses or back to the same party to correct. The good thing about online fax services is they change all that.
Online fax services will allow you to keep your fax digitally, so you or your team can access it easily without scanning or printing. When you choose an online fax provider with unlimited fax storage, you’ll be able to get rid of the time you spend looking for or requesting the needed faxes. Lastly, organization and convenience come together, so you’ll have better control of the faxes.
- International Fax Number
As your business scales globally and your personal network expands beyond states and cities where you work, some online fax providers have made it more cost-effective and easier to receive and send faxes from an international number.
So, if you’ll be receiving and sending faxes from different foreign contacts, make sure to opt for a provider offering international fax numbers. With such numbers, you’ll establish a strong presence where you’re doing your business.
- Customer Support
When picking an online fax provider, don’t neglect the importance of excellent customer service. So, take your time to find out whether the provider has 24/7 support. Is phone support or live chat available? Are the technicians on hand when it comes to resolving emergency technical problems? These are some of the most critical questions you need to ask before you make a decision. Getting stuck in the middle of a busy day can cause delay in many necessary operations. But a knowledgeable reply from an efficient live chat support can make a huge difference.
6. Choose A Provider With A Clear Canceling Policy
The majority of online fax service providers will require you to enter your credit card information. From there, they’ll automatically charge depending on your chosen plan. So, before adding any details about your credit card, make sure the provider’s cancellation policy is clear and you’re allowed to cancel at any time without any hassle. Also, see to it that they won’t ask for additional fees should you opt out of the plan.
7. Comes With High-Security Protocol
Fax sent and received will be encrypted using OpenSSL technology or a similar one, this way, only the designated personnel can read the contents of the document. This is especially important for highly confidential documents shared between two individuals. It’s also essential that the file can’t be edited so no alterations can be made without authorization.
Final Say
Choosing the right online fax provider for your business can be quite challenging, considering the available options. With that in mind, it’s vital that you ask as many questions as possible and then review your prospect provider’s track record. Most of all, look for an online fax provider that won’t only fit your budget, but is experienced, knowledgeable, and proven in your industry as well.
When picking an online fax provider, make sure to assess the needs of your business against what the service provider gives. Be clear regarding the fee structures of the provider. If you have questions in mind, you should ask for a free demo of the online fax service.
Hopefully, the tips mentioned have helped you find the right online fax provider for your company to run more smoothly and efficiently.
