Top 10 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Reliable Online Fax Service

By  //  January 27, 2023

When choosing an online fax service, you should ensure that they match your business demands and can effortlessly improve your daily service delivery.

Though some can term it as an old-fashioned way of sending a document, it is still necessary, especially for industries that handle confidential data and legal documents. Since many digital fax solutions are available for your business, finding the right one can take time and effort.

In this article, we’ll discuss the factors to consider when choosing a reliable online fax service.

Security 

Security violations and cybercrimes have been rampant recently as more companies shift to digital solutions. One way to protect customers’ data and yours is to choose an encrypted online fax service that can protect your fax transmissions from hackers.

You should go for a service with security features like two-way factor authentication, which requires you to produce two pieces of evidence to prove your identity. Choosing a fax service with high-security features can secure your company’s and client’s data from fraud and prevent security breaches.

User-Friendly Interface

Choose a user-friendly fax solution that your tech-challenged company employee can even use. It should be easy for first-time users to find the fax button without struggles and access the main menu without technical skills. These user-friendly faxes should give you and your authorized team quick access to documents sent via fax, thus, saving the team time.

Seamless Integration

Digital tools like customer relationship management platforms, productivity apps, and document management systems are used by companies to enhance productivity and workflow. Therefore you should choose a fax service that won’t cause onboarding problems for your company.

You also need to consider the following requirements to achieve a seamless integration;

  • Your fax service should allow quick deployment across offices and the team, meaning every member can send and receive fax from different locations.
  • Acquire a fax service that offers ample cloud storage to reduce paperwork at your office
  • Secure a faxing solution allowing you to continue using your existing fax number with the slightest glitches.

Bulk File Transfer

You should enquire about a fax service that allows sending bulk files to different recipients at once, no matter the size of the files. Additionally, connect your fax machine to internet service to receive large files without reducing their size moreover, large photos and videos.

Unlimited Cloud Storage 

Cloud storage is today’s business manual record keeping. For that reason, consider a fax service with unlimited space for your company to run correctly. It should also be accessible to authorized people in the organization to share files in the cloud. 

For security reasons, you should encrypt your cloud data with strong passwords to deter security breaches to business information. Ensure you understand every concept in cloud storage and the essential features which come with it. With unlimited space; 

  • you can keep your data in one central location, making it easy to access and manage them 
  • You can access your faxes on any device and in different locations
  • Cloud storage will always back up your documents, so, nothing to worry about if you lose your physical file

Maintenance 

Many businesses have entirely opted for digital fax solutions due to the cost of repairing fax machines. Your fax repair costs will roam high if your company receives thousands of fax documents monthly, thus becoming costly for repair. Therefore, you should go for online fax services that do not require frequent software and hardware updates, maintenance, or even renewal licenses.

Reasonable service fee

Fax service providers offer different flexible subscriptions, that is, monthly and annual subscriptions and custom pricing. Annual or monthly subscriptions are excellent for companies that send faxes regularly, while custom pricing is great for large companies with different needs. 

Find a vendor that can give you an excellent price and offer a free trial of up to one month to familiarize yourself with it first. Companies who send bulk faxes or want to use custom features like fax broadcasting and scheduling can try custom pricing. 

Examples of these online fax services are eFax and RingCentral, holding the most extensive cloud storage for your company’s information. Therefore, you can check out the eFax Vs RingCentral summary to compare the prices and decide which suits your company.

Speed 

Online fax services are faster than traditional machines; they can save the time and energy consumed on paperwork. The advantage of upgrading from traditional to online faxing is that you can process, send and retrieve documents quickly and easily on your computer. These fax services can also automatically confirm the incoming faxes and resend those not sent successfully.

Electronic signatures

Signatures play a crucial role in documentation, whether manual or digital. It proves your ownership of a product or service. Your fax provider must give you a physical document to sign for convenience. If you are unavailable physically, you can request to sign electronically with your finger. Your vendor will mainly produce this receipt after a business transaction.

Fax number options

Modern fax has virtually reduced the distance and speed of sharing information. Acquire a toll-free, local number, or both to transmit your faxes. Nevertheless, your service provider should provide you with both local and international numbers as a package depending on your transmission needs. This will ease communication with clients and staff situated anywhere in the world. Your service provider should also guide you on the best international line because some are costly.

Customer support

You should look for a reliable service provider who can answer your queries when stuck. Of course, those services come with their manuals, but you will need help understanding everything written in the template; that’s why it is essential to have a provider you can reach 24/7 to help solve the technical issues for your fax.

For example, if your device needs troubleshooting or the vendor wants to explain a complex process, the provider should not chat with you but instead,   call for guidance.

Ask about the kind of support they offer, how can a live person be reached, and if they offer 24/7 customer service in that you can be sorted right away when you’re stuck and want to send a crucial document.

You should be analytical when transitioning from traditional to online faxing. You should also note that all online fax services are not generated equally. Therefore, you should consider factors like security, speed, seamless integration, pricing, customer support, fax number options, and electronic signatures, among other things.

Find a fax service that suits your business to improve the company processes.