This might come as a surprise to more technologically oriented people, but there are still thousands of businesses out there that rely on traditional fax machines for everyday communications. It’s understandable that some small business owners are hesitant to get with the times given that faxing is still a safe way to transfer documents between offices. Unfortunately, though, refusing to embrace modern technology often winds up costing these businesses a small fortune in fax machine supplies and repairs.
There’s a better solution than continuing to repair, maintain, and replace outdated, legacy equipment. Making the switch to a fax to email service is a far more effective and efficient option. Read on to find out why.
1. No Need for Legacy Hardware
Some businesses hold onto legacy equipment because they’re worried about receiving incoming messages. The good news is that fax to email software doesn’t just allow users to send a fax by email. It also lets people receive faxes without the need for maintaining expensive hardware.
All it takes to get faxes by email is an internet connection and a reliable service provider. The provider will assign customers a toll-free virtual fax number. They can then give out this number to anyone who wants to send a fax, either using a machine or by email. The fax will be converted into a PDF document before it’s delivered to the recipient’s email address.
2. Increase Productivity by Saving Employees Time
Using a traditional fax machine creates a lot of wasted time. Employees need to check messages, wait for print-outs and interrupt their workflows every time they have to receive faxes, and sending them can take up even more time. Once the fax comes in, a paper copy needs to be filed away and, in most cases, scanned into a computer for digital storage as well.
All of the waiting around, printing and storing documents, and sorting through paperwork to find old faxes when they’re needed wastes far more time than simply opening an email or uploading a PDF file. Switching over to a fax to email service will reduce employees’ busy work and improve their productivity.
3. Adopt More Cost-Effective Communication Methods
Fax machines are expensive to maintain. They don’t just require specialized maintenance and repairs but also a seemingly constant supply of expensive ink and paper refills. Going digital and embracing modern fax to email solutions will eliminate all of those unnecessary expenses. The only expense associated with using a fax to email service is signing up with a provider, most of whom offer a variety of affordable plans to meet different customers’ needs.
4. Improve Security
The data contained in faxed documents are easy to secure while in transit, but the fax machines, themselves, create all kinds of security issues. Anyone walking by can sneak a peek at potentially confidential information, and there’s no way to guarantee that the right person will be on the receiving end. When workers use fax to email services, the documents will be protected in transit using end-to-end encryption and they’ll always be sent to the intended recipients, eliminating the possibility of unauthorized people viewing the messages.
Get With the Times
Faxing is still the most secure way to transmit information, but there’s no need to keep those bulky and expensive legacy fax machines anymore. Businesses that are still relying on traditional faxes to convey sensitive information need to get with the times if they want to remain competitive. Make the switch to fax to email services as soon as possible.
