If you are wondering which internet fax service to choose then here you can find help. It is important to review several different providers and compare prices, customer service and what is included in the plan you are interested in among other features and benefits.
Here is a list of important questions you should ask yourself when choosing an online fax service.
What is Your First Impression of the Service?
Are there any guarantees offered? Do they provide several contact methods such as via email or a toll free number? Do they offer no questions asked refunds? Free Trials? It is important to take a quick look around their website to see what they have or don’t have.
How is Their Reputation?
Validate that the company maintains a respectable history. You can do this by checking on sites such as Ripoff Report, ComplaintsBoard and even at the Better Business Bureau. However make sure you check on several sites because some reviews may be negative reviews but not from real users but instead from the competition trying to make that service look bad.
Does it Meet Your Budget?
You will find that the internet faxing services offer different plans at different prices. There are plans for small businesses who need less faxing pages and other plans with more faxing pages at slightly higher prices. Usually the cost per month is around an average of $10 but some services may have special promotions such as a percentage off the first months or more faxing pages included. However be sure to not sacrifice a couple of bucks over quality, if a fax service costs a bit more and offers more features then it may be a better choice.
How Much Faxing Do You Do Each Month?
It is important to find an online faxing service that meets your needs. If you fax a couple of times a month then you can settle for a starter plan, however take into consideration the growth of your company. Will you need to switch to a larger plan down the line? If so take a look at all the plans that the company offers to see if they are also at a reasonable price just in case your company grows.
The best services offer plans that come with a certain amount of pages to send and receive. Some plans offer a certain amount to send faxes and another amount to receive. Take into consideration your faxing habits, do you send more faxes than receive or the other way around?
Extra Pages Prices
When you’ve used up all the faxing pages included in your plan you can continue faxing but online fax services will charge a low fee for every extra fax page you send. Usually this is less than 1 cent or around that price. However if you notice that you send several extra pages each month than maybe it’s best you switch to a higher plan.
Are There Setup Fee’s?
Most internet fax services do not have setup fees. They will usually let you know in the plan details but always be sure to check or give them a call and ask if there are any hidden fees. Also check if they have any maintenance fees. Although many services offer free fax number be sure to check if there is a maintenance fee for that number.
Portability
Some services allow you to fax from several places such as your computer, laptop and even your cell phone. Others offer great integration tools for your office. Analyze whether you need a service that offers high portability because you are always on-the-go or if you just need a solution for your office because you are at your desk most of the time.
Integration
It’s great when the service you choose integrates perfectly with the applications you already use. For example many online fax services are compatible with Microsoft apps such as Outlook, Excel and so on. Others also offer web mail integration so you can send and receive faxes from your Gmail, yahoo or MSN account.