THE WIKI COMMUNITY

Saturday, 2 October 2010

9 Top Ways Online Faxing Saves You Money

By Chris Haycox

A smart business owner or manager will always be looking for ways to save money or streamline costs. Sometimes expenses are obvious such as telephone bills or monthly office rental costs. There are also, however, many costs that go unseen that can quietly add up, such as the time it takes for employees to do tasks or the amount of consumables that you are using in the office. By taking a closer look at how you do things in the office, you can highlight areas where you can start to save money. One of the tools that you can use to help save you money is online faxing. Let's evaluate how it can do this.

Reduced Telecommunications Costs

With traditional faxing, the message was sent by dialing manually through a normal telephone line. This meant that every time you sent a fax it was the equivalent of making a phone call. With online faxing, you no longer need to dial up. Instead, you use a fax server to send the fax messages. The fax server uses your existing internet connection without adding to the cost of it. The result is that if you are using online faxing, your office telephone bill should come down substantially.

No Additional Fax Equipment Required

Many offices have a manual fax machine that they have either purchased or are leasing from a company. In terms of a business, office equipment devalues very rapidly as new technology becomes readily available. There is also the expense of maintenance on the fax machine. These are all costs that add up quickly. With online faxing, no additional equipment is required. The online faxing system uses your existing computer and software to send and receive information. This means no expensive lease on fax machines and no maintenance costs. You also don't have to replace the manual fax machine when it breaks.

Save on the Office Consumables You Use

Manual faxes operate on the principle that you scan in a printed page and then send it through the fax machine. When you receive a fax, the message is printed on a sheet of paper. Each time you print something, it costs you in terms of office consumables. You are paying for the paper and the ink used to print it. Print cartridges are notoriously expensive and printing consumables can increase office expenses unnecessarily. With online faxing, you can send information directly from your computer without having to print it out first. In addition, when you receive information, you can view and store the document on your computer screen without having to print it out.

Improve Work Efficiency

Online faxing allows you to send faxes without leaving your desk. This means that work time is optimized as you don't have to go and stand at the fax machine, waiting for it to transmit the message. Every time someone gets up from their desk or has to interrupt what they are doing, it affects productivity. Online faxing helps you to optimize your productivity which in the long run can save you money.

Execute Multiple Tasks at Once

Online faxing is a system that integrates with your existing computer and software. This means you can send a fax from one program and while that fax is transmitting, you can continue working in another program. The fax server operates in the background without affecting the window or program you are working in. Being able to do this also improves productivity and efficiency which will have a long-term impact on the costs and profitability of your business.

Improved Customer Service

Online faxing allocates a dedicated number to each user on the system. This means that when customers send a fax through to an employee, it will arrive on their personal computer. There is no more risk of faxes getting lost or collected by someone else at the fax machine. This will help to improve the customer service levels of your business. Happier customers equate to more sales, and less wasted resources on having to resend information or deal with customer complaints. In this way, online faxing can help you save money.

Improved Office Systems

Because online faxing works on a fax server, you can trace faxes being sent and received with greater ease. Now there can be no complaints that the fax was sent by one department and not received by the intended recipient. All faxes are logged in the system. By simply reviewing the log, you can easily check if the fax was sent or if an error occurred. This can save unnecessary phone calls between departments and improve office workflow. This will then be reflected in the costs you save on your bottom line.

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