Skyler_WA
join:2007-07-19
Lake Stevens, WA
| reply to VTBrendan
Re: Fax to Email Service - Opinions Wanted
said by VTBrendan  :What is your likelihood of taking advantage of such an offering at various price levels? I already have a free eFax.com account which works fine for the few faxes I receive, so the likelihood of me paying anything extra for your fax service is zero. |
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chas3
join:2004-12-03
Dallastown, PA
 ·Comcast
 ·ViaTalk
| reply to VTBrendan
The free version of efax has been enough for me for 7 years now for incoming. Outgoing, while only 1 or 2 pages per week, it sometimes takes a retry or two using my VT line. (I am ordered to send 1 per week/custody.) It would be nice to improve outgoing reliability a bit, but I'm too cheap to spend extra on it. I did all I could with my fax machine, even adding the VT recommended DSL filters.
Based on my usage, perhaps allow a free teaser for people to try it; somewhat as advertising. Limited to a a few pages per month for free. That way, it can be listed as a free feature, but serious users would need to pay. And the few pages per month would give a try before upgrade feature built in. Besides, at this level of use, the faxes are still going thru your servers as ordinary phone calls anyway...sometimes as repeated retrys. |
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VTBrendan
Viatalk
Premium,VIP
join:2005-06-27
Clifton Park, NY | We're going to most likely offer a month or two of free trial period for people to give it a go and see if its worth it to them.
-Brendan |
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Brian in MD
Premium
join:2003-05-10
Maryland, US | reply to VTBrendan
Definitely worth $2-3/month for me, as a lightweight user. For the heavier users though, I would hope you'll have more appealing pricing structures. |
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koam
Pink Pecker
Premium
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle
clubs:
 ·Shoreham Telephone
·ViaTalk
 ·surpasshosting
| reply to VTBrendan
I've had a free inbound efax account forever and receive my emails to my dedicated, free, fax number via efax. It just works.
Faxing out to email is not valuable as I can scan to email myself.
Faxing out to a fax machine is useful as some business want to receive faxes, not emails, of documents. I could fax out on my Sunrocket number for free, with no issues. I am disappointed that I cannot fax out on VT.
Am I not understanding something?
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dipswich
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Raleigh, NC
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·VoicePulse for Bus..
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to VTBrendan
said by VTBrendan :How bout something like $2-3/mo. which included 50 incoming & 50 outgoing per month? That's a fair price, especially for the number of allowed faxes (is that 50 faxes or 50 pages?).
But, I think that usage is well above casual/light/residential-typical. My point of comparison--
I'm using Vitelity's E-fax service (very good service, IMHO). With a dedicated toll-free number and my light use, I'm well below $4 a month. You are valuing a virtual local DID at $3.95/month, so that doesn't leave much room for FAX in a head-to-head.
Of course, we're all cheap b*st*rds here at BBR, so you're probably fine going a little above what we've searched out. A $2 add is at the upper end of what we'll endorse here, but it probably isn't that bad for the average convencience subscriber.
Giving away a free or 3 months is a great idea, and I'd be sure to upsell that virtual number with a FAX signup-- maybe $1 off if bundled with a fax-only virtual number (no dial tone/forwarding features). |
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lesf
Premium
join:2002-05-23
Davidsonville, MD
| reply to VTBrendan
I would be interested for sure....
I used free efax for a while until I accidentally
went beyond their 'free limit' and was told to
pay or lose my account. I am now using MaxEmail
and pay about $15 a year for basic service plus
extra for outbound faxes. Thats something that is
important to me as well. The ability to email or
import a word file or other format file and have it
sent out to another fax machine.
I didn't see any mention of being able to use this service
for outbound stuff as well so I assume its inbound only?
Still I like the idea of being able to use my normal
phone number for inbound fax.. that is great.
Brendan... you said you could snag these data calls
and redirect them on your end. But doesn't that mean
you would have to actually answer the call first to hear
the fax tone? Or would it ring here at my house and when
I picked up and your equipment detects the fax tone you
would redirect it then? Just wondering how you can
peer into and unanswered phone call to detect fax tone.... |
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mogulman
Premium
join:2002-09-09
Parker, CO | reply to VTBrendan
Outbound is more important then inbound. There are free services for inbound. |
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VTBrendan
Viatalk
Premium,VIP
join:2005-06-27
Clifton Park, NY | Hi,
Outbound is going to be included as well. Via file upload through the CP, as well as an email to fax gateway.
-Brendan |
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dipswich
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Raleigh, NC
·AT&T U-Verse
·VoicePulse for Bus..
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to lesf
said by lesf :Or would it ring here at my house and when I picked up and your equipment detects the fax tone you would redirect it then? Just wondering how you can peer into and unanswered phone call to detect fax tone.... Great observation! That would require Viatalk to process for the CNG, presumably including *after* answering as is often the case for manually-sent FAXes.
The ATAs can detect FAX tones, but they either switch to G.711 codec for pass-through (unreliable best-effort) or T.38 (still requires a FAX machine on the ATA). I wasn't aware there was a FAX-detect redirect/reinvite to a different server. |
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N9MD
Premium
join:2005-10-08
Wayne, NJ
·VOIPo
·ViaTalk
·PHONE POWER
·Callcentric
| reply to VTBrendan
said by VTBrendan :... Outgoing will be via file upload and email to fax. How bout something like $2-3/mo. which included 50 incoming & 50 outgoing per month? That seems to be in line and/or cheaper than most current stand alone offerings. -Brendan VT faxing in both directions is very enticing and the proposed monthly charge and allowances are rather generous for residential service. I personally might not want to give out my personal VT voice number for some nefarious people to see -- so I would opt for a separate local (or toll free) number for incoming faxes.
How would VT treat the charges for a separate fax DID (Local vs.TF)? VT currently ties a virtual number to the main DID -- that is, calls to a VT virtual number arrive on the main number and there is no independent Call Forwarding or Voice Mail. So do you really mean "virtual" with respect to a fax number -- or would there simply be a DID# that terminates at the VoIP Server and does the conversion to and transmission of email without ever disturbing  my adapter. |
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NoVaVoiper
join:2003-10-21
Arlington, VA
·ViaTalk
| reply to VTBrendan
Brendan-
I would rethink the option of a pay-as-you-go plan if it's administratively feasible. I have an efax number and rarely need to fax out, but would pay up to $1 per fax for the convenience. It's so rare, though, that it's probably not worth $25 a year to me. I guess it just depends where you see diminishing returns. |
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xless
join:2004-02-10
Dublin, OH | reply to VTBrendan
I'd do $2/mo for 50 faxes (not minutes or pages, 50 complete documents).
What are the chances this will work with BYOD customers, like me? |
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VTBrendan
Viatalk
Premium,VIP
join:2005-06-27
Clifton Park, NY | Hi,
My understanding (I'll confirm tomm.) is that this is all server side, thus making the type of adapter irrelevant.
-Brendan |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
2 edits | reply to VTBrendan
I rarely fax, but could have use for this feature on occasion. I think a per fax option would be good idea for those of us who go months without faxing.
edit: maybe 25-50 cents per fax (kinkos charges 50 cents to fax). |
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Traker1001
@mchsi.com
| reply to VTBrendan
I would love a per fax cost, Even at a dollar or 2 for each fax. However I would also be willing to pay a small monthly fee of something like $3-$5 a month, depending on the amt of faxes allowed.
I however wouldn't use it myself if it were a monthly plus per fax fee.
All this is under the asumption that it is like you said 2 way fax2email or viceversa. |
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traker1001
@mchsi.com | I don't know if you can do this, One thing that might be handy is if you made a program to interface our scanners with the viatalk email 2 fax service. |
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N9MD
Premium
join:2005-10-08
Wayne, NJ
·VOIPo
·ViaTalk
·PHONE POWER
·Callcentric
| reply to VTBrendan
Here's an email I just received from vBuzzer (a Canadian VoIP provider) with whom I do not have an account.
-=-=-=-==-=
Vbuzzer extends free internet fax within US and Canada
November 26, 2007
Toronto, Canada - Vbuzzer today announced that Vbuzzer extends its offer of free faxing within US & Canada beyond December 31 2007. Vbuzzer users can continue to enjoy the free faxing by a few easy mouse clicks on Vbuzzer Messenger.
Sending faxes remains a useful mode of communicating for both business and consumer users. Many have found this inconvenient and a disconnected activity from their regular use of their computer for
almost everything else they do in this digital world. Fax rates have been high while telephone costs are dropping dramatically especially because of VOIP services.
Vbuzzer continues to evolve is powerful communications platform which offers text messaging, high quality, inexpensive VOIP and now Free Fax. Not just old fashioned Fax but a unique internet fax solution. Instead of the traditional paper-based Fax Vbuzzer allows a totally digital, integrated and manageable tool. Most importantly for Vbuzzer users worldwide when they need to send faxes to their friends, families, and business contacts in North America, they have a super tool for free
"We are very pleased to bring Vbuzzer's high quality service to so many people for free, and it is an excellent showcase of our continued commitment to providing a powerful communications platform to our customers worldwide," said Mr. Kamil Khan, Chairman of Softroute Corporation, "we will keep setting new standards for valuable and innovative products to internet users all over the world."
The free promotional offer may expire upon 30 days prior notice.
-=-=-=-==-=
And I am aware of one or two other VoIP providers that are working behind the scenes, expecting to offer fax-to-email and email-to-fax in the near future. |
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bitsurfer
join:2003-08-18
Los Angeles, CA
| Any chance that you could port an existing paid j2.com number (formerly jfax.com, same company as efax.com) to a virtual number? I've had the number since 1999, and it would be nice to keep it.
As someone else mentioned, rather than a "virtual number" that rings on the main number, it would be great if you would offer an option of a second number that accepts fax (and optionally voicemail messages) only. |
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no_one
@QWEST.NET | reply to VTBrendan
I hardly use faxing but 50 cents or a dollar a fax for me would be better than per month. Sort of the cost I would pay a kinko's etc. but without the drive. Then the varying monthly plans for real fax users. |
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