Katherine Fields-Smith

When I transitioned into working at home, one of the issues I needed to look at was faxing. I have an all in one machine that has faxing capability but I wasn't keen on having to toggle back and forth between phone and fax on a land line. I've had to do that before and it never worked well. I certainly didn't want to have the added expense of installing a second line dedicated to the fax. I mean, when you're just starting out every penny counts, right?! I was talking about it with a brilliant friend of mine who asked, "Have you ever thought about a web based fax service? That's what I use and it's great!" I was more than a little skeptical. I had heard of efaxing before, but what I'd heard was that it was unreliable with faxes often ending up somewhere in the nether regions of cyber space instead of where you sent them. Also, that the file formats were greatly limited and needed a lot of storage space. As soon as I got home, I fired up the trusty computer and started researching. Come to find out, efaxing has come a long way baby! Web based fax services are more reliable than ever. The more I read, the more I was persuaded. No paper and toner needed, saves trees, good for the environment. Like that. Many allow you to choose your desired file format and include PDFs which is space efficient. Like that. Many have reporting functionality if you need to track the metrics of your faxing activity. Probably won't use it, but like that. No phone line needed/monthly service fee is less expensive than having a dedicated line. Love that. No long distance charges. Love that. Was able to choose a fax # that closely correlated to my business #. Love that. Increased privacy; I always hated it when proprietary faxes were left sitting on the machine for anyone to read. Love that. NO MORE JAMS!! - LOVE that! There are a several sites that break down the various services including price and a whole lot of technical stuff that makes my eyes glaze over. I'm listing two, because between them, they cover most of the services available: http://faxing-service-review.toptenreviews.com/ http://www.faxcompare.com/ The days of the clunky fax machine taking up precious counter space are all but over. If you're searching for ways to free up counter space, reduce costs, help the environment, or just plain don't like fax machines, web based faxing may be a good fit for you. There are several services with many different options so there is sure to be one that meets your needs. If you're still not sure, try a few on! Many of the services offer free trials.

Happy entrepreneuring!

Katherine

www.yanwe.com