For the longest time, faxing has been one of the most convenient and advanced means of communicating and transmitting printed material. That was until emails were introduced, at which point, faxing experienced a decrease in its userbase. However, some industries still utilize faxing over email transactions. But today, thanks to technological advances, faxing has been made easier and more convenient, with its modern counterpart, virtual faxing.
If you’re a business owner and you’re looking into how you can adapt this into your organization, then this article can be for you. Below are some do’s and don’ts of how to fax online and how you can use this tool to your advantage.
The Do’s of Virtual Faxing
To help you get started with virtual faxing, consider the following tips below:
- Do Look For Reliable Faxing Service Providers
Before utilizing virtual faxing, you must first look for and sign up for an online fax subscription service. Choosing which platform to use can be a critical aspect of the process. As much as possible, you’d want a competitive provider that can meet your business needs and requirements.
With that in mind, it’d be good to note and understand that not all service providers have the same features. For instance, some may have lower volume file capacity, while other providers may have more. As a reference, most faxing platforms support files with a file size of up to 20 MB.
More so, one particular specification you must always check when looking into service providers is their supported file types. For your reference, the most common file types for faxing include:
- PDF (Adobe Acrobat/Reader)
- PSD (Adobe Photoshop)
- DOC, DOCM, DOCX (Microsoft Word)
- XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB (Microsoft Excel)
- PPT, PPTX, PPTM (Microsoft PowerPoint)
- PUB (Microsoft Publisher)
- JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIF (Images)
- TXT, LOG, CPP, ERR (Rich Text)
- HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
- XML (Extensible Markup Language)
But aside from the faxing features and services they offer, it’d be worth considering their support service too. Will it be easy to reach them should a technical issue happen? Can you rely on them? Their customer support is also as important as their services.
With that said, to get the most out of your resources and investment in an online fax service provider, it’s always best to first do your research on your potential options and how they can benefit your organization.
- Do Check The Recipient Information
One of the common causes of a data breach within an organization is when the sender accidentally selects or inputs the wrong number or information when faxing the document. When this happens, the recipient can gain access to confidential business information.
Hence, always make sure that you selected or typed the correct recipient number or address before sending.
- Do Inform The Sender If You Receive Misdirected Faxes
Much like how you may send a fax to the wrong number, you may also be on the receiving end of such a scenario. If so, it’s common courtesy to inform the sender right away. This can also prevent you from getting into trouble, should they take legal action to ensure their digital assets remain safe.
The Don’ts of Virtual Faxing
Aside from knowing the common do’s, there are also a few don’ts you should familiarize yourself with. To name a few, here are some:
- Don’t Fax Without Firewall On
It’d be good to note that since virtual faxing runs on a digital platform, your system can be vulnerable to exploits wherein hackers can bypass encryption and gain access to your files and data.
Therefore, instead of just relying on the built-in security of your online fax service provider, you must also make use of other system security measures such as firewalls as an extra layer of security.
- Don’t Leave Fax Unattended
When you send a fax, there’s a possibility that your request might be declined. When this happens, usually, the digital fax platform would either not do anything or print the document. So, if your computer or laptop is left in public, there may be a good chance that other people might see the information you’re about to send, which can then compromise its privacy and confidentiality.
With that in mind, it’s important that you do not leave your documents exposed. More so, when sending a fax, make sure you see it through.
Final Words
Virtual faxing offers a convenient and easy way of transmitting files, internally and externally. It’s considered secure and safe enough to handle even private and confidential documents. And with this article in mind, you can be more informed and knowledgeable on some of the ins and outs of virtual faxing and how you can leverage it to your business’s advantage.
