Each week, I find myself using emails with attached .pdf’s, more and more as the means of getting documents to clients, real estate agents, lawyers, suppliers, and subcontractors.
Given the office machines and setup I have, it is much easier to file records and manage documents and files, this way.
It seems to me, that if you can ascertain that someone with whom you do business, checks their emails as often as they check their in-basket for faxes, it’s the only way to go.
Replies
yes, better at both ends as a paper saver
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You don't have to use paper for the faxes.It can be a computer at each or either end.And for low cost (free in some cases) you can get a service where you get a phone number for incoming faxes. Those faxes are then forwarded to you in email.
Bill, that free fax service is called Efax ( i think).
I used to use their free service, then I switched to the pay service, then I cancelled them altogether.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
Try MaxEmailhttp://www.maxemail.comIt converts incoming faxes to PDFs and emails the to you. The service is reliable and less expensive than Efax. They give you a fax number in your area code as part of the service. I figured out the money I saved from not having a second phone number more than paid for the service.
Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
Thanks for that tip Mike. Right now I'm just using my hp officejet d135 for faxes. IF I ever feel the need for a dedicated line at my house, I'll check them out.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
I have a couple of clients with whom the preferred method of communication is e mail.
Subs and others have not been so receptive. Probably suppliers have been more so.
I love it. I don't have to wait until they get home in the evening, then make a call and hope they are available, or leave a vague message and wait for a call back.
I will email them when I get back to the office, and most likely will have a reply from them before 8-8:30, at which time I can either e mail them back or call, as I now know they are available.
They send me links to products, or pictures of things they would like to consider.
I will often bill them with an e mail and I will have a check in the morning.
BTW, how do you guys manage all the e mails with clients and contractors? I am printing and inserting everthing in the folder.
Eric
I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Yeah, fax seems so 19th-century. However, I know quite a few businesses which only use fax. I think some of them just haven't caught up with new stuff --- like computers. Others are afraid of email-transmitted viruses. I even know of one big company which only does business via fax, but which scans incoming faxes to turn them into electronic documents. They throw away the actual fax, and keep only the pdf!
I also use efax. $140/yr. I think.
Accessible from the net as opposed to FBO, no paper needed for most things. Essential since we don't have a home phone now, although I'm about to get a business land line.
Jon Blakemore
I do practically everything through pdf's. Get a call for maybe 2 or 3 faxes a year. It's the way to go! And on a Mac, it's all built in...no need to buy a pdf writer. I just got some drawings from an engineer, and they had a watermark saying that a trial version of the pdf writer was being used. That was NOT classy.