Ah, faxes… Once upon a time, those pesky paper-eating machines were revolutionary. You could send important documents, one glossy inch at a time, in under an hour! But with modern technology, one cannot help but wonder what ever happened to faxes, and whether or not they are still relevant in today’s fast-paced world. After some digging, it appears that faxes have indeed moved up in the world of bits and bytes and are surprisingly still as relevant as ever.
But why? Let’s take a look at the fax, shall we?
As Jonathan Coopersmith, author of Faxed: The rise and fall of the fax machine, reports in his exploration of modern faxing, faxing is actually more secure, easier to use, and better-suited to existing work habits than computer-based messaging.
Mr Coopersmith goes on to say that, particularly in major sectors of the U.S. economy, such as health care and financial services, the humble fax is still very much alive and well with millions of faxes traveling around the world on a daily basis.
Out with the old, in with the new
Forget everything you think you know about faxes. Ladies and gentlemen, buckle up as we delve into the sleek new world of the online fax – times have truly changed, and faxes have come along for the ride.
Those unwieldy machines of mankind´s technological adolescence have been replaced. Online fax services are now cloud or browser-based, and many offer a selection of goodies with platforms like G Suite and Dropbox – making it a piece of cake to archive your communications.
The fax of life
Let’s face it, sometimes you need to get your hands on a copy of your medical records, or, much like the fax, you want to move up in the world. This is exactly where the online fax comes into its own.
Whether it’s business or personal, it makes sense to take advantage of the benefits that online faxes can offer. Think advanced security and privacy features. Think spam blocking. And, think time-sensitive options such as being able to state how long you want to store your sent and received faxes. And of course, whether it’s a signed loan agreement with your bank or a copy of every ailment you’ve ever had, your privacy is important – especially in this brave new cyber world.
But wait, there’s more
One of the main reasons online faxes are so useful, even today, is just how accessible they are. We no longer need to be in the office to receive, sign and send sensitive documents. You could be anywhere. All you need is an Internet connection and a mobile device. Most online fax providers offer mobile apps that allow you to do everything you need to do on the go.
They also save on physical storage space, with most providers offering more than enough data storage to archive old files and faxes. That being said, different providers offer different levels of storage capacity. Some may allow you to store all your faxes permanently, some may not.
It’s easy being green
We all want to reduce the amount of paperwork we have to handle. Online faxes not only make it easy to save on space, paper, and money, but they have the added bonus of being more environmentally friendly than printing.
And going green makes it easier to get organized, too. Most fax providers let you sort faxes and files by date, sender, or specific keywords that appear in the file name or title, or in the document itself.
The bottom line
Security is a big concern these days. Online faxes significantly reduce the risk of your document being seen by prying eyes with security features like SSL encryption and confirmation emails. Your personal information is safe, and you get a copy for your records.
