There is a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where workers are collecting the bodies of plague victims. As they toss one body onto a cart pile high with others, the person lifts his head and says, “I’m not quite dead yet” and goes on to add that he’s getting better.
The same could be said for faxing. Many people in and out of small businesses have a perception that in this era of e-mail, social networking and instant messaging faxing has become all but obsolete, a remnant of the 1980s like parachute pants and personal CD players.
That may be true in some industries. But for estate agents, insurance brokers, healthcare organisations, lorry drivers, solicitors and many others, the fax is alive and well. In fact, according to estimates its use is growing overall.
This, of course, creates somewhat of a dilemma for small business owners. As long as faxing is still used in business you have to have the capability to send and receive faxes. Yet when you add up the cost of a fax machine, a dedicated telephone line for it (because you don’t want to tie up your main voice line with faxes), the electricity to run it 24/7 in case a fax comes in, paper, toner, etc. you’re looking at a great deal of expense – whether you use it frequently or not. It becomes rather a Hobson’s choice.
It doesn’t have to be, however, because there is an alternative that allows you to send and receive faxes without the expenses associated with a fax machine: an internet fax service. With an Internet fax service you can use your PC, laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA) or an internet-enabled phone to send and receive faxes electronically. Faxes are sent and received as attachments through your e-mail account, or online across a secure server. There they can be read in preview mode, forwarded, deleted, or saved to a hard drive or network.
An internet fax service works anywhere you can get an internet connection. It also removes most of the up-front and ongoing costs. And, it’s greener since you only print the documents you choose to print, saving both paper and toner.
The fax may not be quite dead yet. But the fax machine certainly should be.
Steve Adams is vice president of marketing for Protus