How to Reduce Fax Costs

Image courtesy of patpitchaya
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Do you STILL have a fax machine in your office? 

Unless you are a doctor, a lawyer or a football transfer agent, you should be looking at the 21st century equivalent, namely online faxing via your pc, tablet or mobile, or to remove your fax number altogether.

A fax machine is outmoded, problematic and unnecessarily costly.

The real cost of a fax machine

eFax calculate the running cost of a single fax machine is as much as £500 per annum. You can see why when you think of the dedicated phone line, the toner, the ink and the maintenance contract, and the annual PAT test.

Is there an option?

Yes. Cancel the dedicated line and use an online hosted fax facility, such as Soho66

When you want to send a fax, you just email it to them and they fax it on. When you receive a fax, they receive it first (they give you a number or import your existing number) and it is then emailed to you as an attachment.

Soho66 allows you to receive faxes for just £2.99 per month (or more if you want to use your own fax number) and to send to other peoples’ fax machines for 7p per page for UK landline faxes.

eFax charge a straight £7.50 per month, allowing you to send and receive up to 150 faxes per month. There is often a £20 cash back for signing up, an easy switch-over process and no fixed contract terms. They also have an App version, and a 30 day free trial period.

Total cost for the year with eFax, excluding the £20 cash back and free month is £90. So over £400 per annum saving on traditional fax.

What should I do with my old machine?

Tempting though it may be to throw your fax machine in the bin, there are regulations that prohibit it. Instead, just Google ‘recycling office IT equipment’, and choose a local supplier to collect it. Often you have to have to collect a minimum number of items before you can get a free collection. Alternatively, you can always take it home yourself and offer it at the local waste recycling centre.
Who still needs a fax machine, and why?

Doctors and lawyers apparently still need fax machines. Historically the reason for this is that a faxed signature is more secure, and there is a receipt that the fax was received, whereas an email may not always have the Read Receipt returned. Ironically a fax is probably far less secure as it stands in a public area in an office, compared to an email which can be password protected.

So, the message is clear. If you want to reduce fax costs, ditch the old machine, and all the expense that goes with it, and either sign up with an online fax hosting company, or phase the fax number out altogether.

This information is proudly provided by OperationCostCut http://www.operationcostcut.co.uk/office-costs/fax-costs/

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