There are many reasons why you would want to sign your small business up for an online fax service. To better understand why some have made the switch, we sought out and discussed the topic with individuals from companies that have done so.
For Ryan Turner, co-owner of 3Prime Web Solutions, the decision to switch from a physical fax machine to MyFax came down to efficiency.
"Managing a traditional fax machine seemed ridiculous to us, and having to segment the phone number or, worse, get a dedicated line seems wasteful," he said.
Though he is considering looking into a different service since his business doesn't send as many faxes as it used to, Turner said his company has "never had an issue with [online fax]. We create documents and upload them to fax. It's much easier to work with than the fax machines I remember."
Similarly, Alex Kovalenko, director of IT recruitment at Kovasys, said the switch hinged on how much his company was paying for an extra phone line to operate a traditional fax machine. "We no longer need to pay a separate line for faxes, which would cost us around $40 to $50 a month, when online fax only costs around $10 a month."
While a cost analysis may prompt one company to make the switch, Burial Insurance Pro founder Matt Schmidt said ease of use and accessibility was important to his team's needs.
"Our faxes now come into our email system and can immediately be downloaded into our sales system," he said. "This also allows us to immediately send off the documents to the appropriate party, without any further scanning or downloading."
As these services reduce the need to purchase ink and paper, some environmentally conscious companies naturally make the switch to an online fax solution. Torben Lonne, diver and co-founder of online magazine DIVEIN.com, said his company has used RingCentral's fax service for years because of its lighter carbon footprint.
"The amount of paper generated by fax machines is completely unnecessary nowadays where we can digitize everything," he said.
