Just the FAX!
by Penney Rudicil
OSSN Eastern Regional Manager

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Electronic Fax Programs

Today, there is no need for a fax machine to send and receive faxes. Go paperless with electronic faxes -- and start to receive and send faxes directly from your computer.

There are several fax programs you can choose from, and you may even have one installed on your desktop or laptop computer. If you are using Microsoft XP or above, there is a limited but built-in fax program included with the operating system. If not, you can purchase one from your favorite store or through the Internet (the cost can range from $20-$99, based on the features you are looking for). This is a one-time charge, and the only ongoing expense would be your dedicated phone line.

The program we purchased has many features:

Efficient fax management

• Ability to store faxes in any folder
• "Junk" fax management to discard unwanted faxes automatically
• Reporting module that generates detailed, printable reports on sent and received faxes based on date range and/or recipient

Professional-looking faxes

• Clean, clear, laser-quality faxes
• Photographic-quality outgoing faxes for crisp imaging of photographs or clip art
• Signature button to easily add a signature to outgoing faxes
• Custom cover sheets

Ease of use

• Drag-and-drop faxing of documents
• Ability to build a fax from multiple document sources, including your scanner
• Integration with email and phonebook programs
• Ability to send multiple faxes with a single click of the mouse

E-Faxes

You may prefer to go totally electronic, and there are many companies offering an e-fax program. Our office switched over to efaxes about a year ago and have saved more than $335.

It is easy to get set up -- and, within minutes, you are assigned a unique fax telephone number that answers and receives your faxes just like a normal fax machine. The cost is less than $5 a month, and for only a couple of dollars more you can get a local number.

There is no software to download or install on your computer. Once a fax has been received, the company's server converts it to an email attachment and sends it to your email address as a PDF or TIF file attachment.

There are many benefits to using a service like this:

• No need to purchase a fax machine, toner, or paper
• Eliminate costly dedicated phone lines, because their servers are on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
• No need to keep your computer on 24 hours a day (just retrieve your faxes at your convenience)
• Ability to forward the faxes via email to clients and/or other agents
• No busy signals (receive multiple faxes at the same time)
• Receive faxes anywhere you can access the Internet -- at the office or on the road!

Sending Faxes

With either the electronic fax program or the efax, you have the capability to send faxes. You can send them via the phone line as a fax or attach the file to an email. When sending a great deal of faxes, or faxes to a large group of people, this seems to be the quickest, most efficient method. However, in our office we keep our old machine around and if we need to send something that requires a signature or is in paper form, we just plug in a phone line and fax it out. For us, this is more time effective than scanning and sending electronically.

Even though the OSSN survey of more than 600 agents showed that only a few are using the electronic fax method, if you do the math, having faxes come electronically is the most cost-effective and efficient way to receive faxes today. I know that for many, using the traditional fax machine is preferred; however, did you ever think you would hand your client an electronic airline ticket voucher or faxed documents? When we do this survey again in 2006, my guess is that the percentages could be reversed.

We will be sharing more results from this survey in the months to follow with additional tips and suggestions on how your agency can become more "tech savvy." Stay tuned!