Integration Adds Convenient Factor To Online Fax

When it first hit the scene, online fax was touted as a more economical way to send and receive faxes compared to a traditional fax machine. But as Internet fax grew in popularity and the technology evolved, online fax services began focusing on enhancing their features to provide even quicker convenience to its customers. One of those features is integration. Online fax providers are tapping into advanced technology to make sending an online fax completely seamless and effortless from any computer.

All About Integration

Integration means you can fax directly from an open application instead of opening another program. Here’s an example of online fax integration capabilities:

You’ve just finished working on a document in Microsoft Word. Now say you want to fax the document to your child’s school or a business associate. With an online fax service that includes integration among its features, all you need to do is click on the fax icon on the toolbar of your Microsoft Word document or pull down the File menu, click print and select the fax option. Select the fax recipient from your integrated contact list and send the fax. Two quick clicks are all you need and the entire faxing process takes only a few seconds of your time.

For contrast, here’s what faxing that same document would involve with an online fax service that does not offer integration among its features:

You would need to close the document in Microsoft Word and open your online fax service control center. You would have to click on the section for sending a fax, select the document by browsing your computer files and click attach. Then you would need to open the program that contains your contact list and copy and paste the fax number into your fax window. As you can see, without integration, there is more work and time involved on your part to set up the send fax function.

Researching The Extent Of Integration

Online fax services that include integration among the features of their monthly plan generally offer the capability with the most commonly used home and business programs. For example, online fax integration is typically offered for Microsoft Office, Windows and Lotus Notes applications. This includes Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. However, it’s best to review the integration fax feature when considering an online fax service so you know for which applications it is available.

Companies switching to business online fax services may need to inquire about how extensive the integration capabilities are in terms of your company’s processes, IT systems and workflow environment. Online fax services that support integration usually provide it for common finance and accounting programs, as well as Document Management Systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, multifunctional printers, and SMTP and XML web services.