AZinOH
join:2007-04-25
Swanton, OH Reviews:
 ·Windstream
| [Rave] Just the FAX When I recently had to replace a printer, the one I ended up with was a HP Officejet 4500 (non-wireless) for $60 which will suit my very basic printing needs just fine. It will scan & copy which I will use once in a while...and it will also fax. Since I still use a POTS phone, I set it up and knew that it worked but didn't figure I would use it much. How wrong I was.
A few weeks later, our mortgage company wanted a new copy of our home insurance policy. We could send it via snail mail...or fax it. Got it done that day.
After that, had a nephew transferring from one college to another and was filing for financial aid. He filled out all the documents he was told to but then...SURPRISE!...weeks later he's told to send additional documents NOW if he wants his application processed. Best way to do it NOW? The fax.
After that, two different friends are filing for financial aid for their medical bills. Thousands of dollars at stake. Do you really want to send all that paper by USPS/UPS and hope it doesn't get lost-damaged or mishandled by the addressee when it does arrive? Or do you want it to get directly into the hands of the people working on your case and get it done NOW and thus speed up the claims process? They chose the fax.
So...when I read all this babble about how old-style telephony is going to die and VOIP will rule the world, I wonder. None of these businesses wanted to receive an email with a file attached. They wanted a fax. With this setup, I can scan multiple pages into the computer, creating a seamless multi-page document and send it without having to worry about paper jams. And a quick phone call let me know that the receiving party got everything that he/she requested. No having to wait on snail mail, didn't have to take all that paper somewhere else and pay to have it sent. If I did the latter, I certainly would've spent $60 by now.
Don't know how things will change, but for now I'm glad fax is still around. |
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Reviews:
 ·Millenicom
·AT&T Southeast
·Verizon Wireless..
| We use faxes at work because our mail servers block all sorts of attachments to e-mails. The really smart people can figure out how to get around that sometimes with different file extensions, but from day to day you never know which ones work consistently. And with certain customers you would unnecessarily irritate or confuse them with such a request. Do that and they might go to someone else with their business. That would not be a wise decision. I wish we had the space for the bigger more capable fax machines. We cannot have multiple function devices capable of faxing attached to our LAN, so we end up with two devices. Naturally the large high speed auto duplex laser scanner/printer and engineering drawing devices get the most room. So we use tiny inkjet faxes. But as you say, they get the job done. |
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| reply to AZinOH
Digital fax.........aka PDF should be the standard :P |
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 psafuxPremium,VIP
join:2005-11-10
kudos:2 | said by CTMustang:Digital fax.........aka PDF should be the standard :P
this |
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TheMGPremium
join:2007-09-04
Canada
kudos:1 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to CTMustang
said by CTMustang:Digital fax.........aka PDF should be the standard :P
The company I work for does this most of the time. Rarely does the fax machine get used.
It's mostly internal communications though. |
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 BlitzenZeusBurnt Out CynicPremium
join:2000-01-13
kudos:2 | reply to AZinOH
Just wait until you get fax spam....... uses your phone line, and wastes your paper. |
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| reply to AZinOH
I have defeated the fax spam by leaving the machine off until I need it. Prior to that, the faxes went to my fax server, where I could preview them before printing them out.
I'd love to be able to rely on .pdf for internet document transfers, but I'm leery of any .pdf coming in from outside my network. Patches are great, but I don't want to be a poster child for the next Acrobat zero-day...
I agree with OP -- MFDs are wonderful... and it's good (read more convenient) to have a fax machine that doesn't involve routing a document thru the "fax printer." |
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AZinOH
join:2007-04-25
Swanton, OH Reviews:
·Windstream
1 edit | reply to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:Just wait until you get fax spam....... uses your phone line, and wastes your paper.
Not going to happen. I'm not trying to run a business and I don't have/need a dedicated fax line. I don't even turn it on unless I need to send/receive, and I send much more than I need to receive. I was just pointing out that having this capability that comes with such a low cost and requires such little effort as opposed to the alternatives is very beneficial to have. |
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| reply to AZinOH
i hate when a company tells me they cant take a PDF of a scanned copy of said doccument, that i have to go some where to have the sucker faxed in. i mean really PDF is universal. actually had a company want me to fax them a receipt once where talking a teeny tiny little piece of paper.
i just dont get why they cant take a PDF.
[OT]
what really annoys me though, my pharmacy faxes refill requests to my dr, they never get it. ever. yet they have no problem getting them from other pharmacys, and my pharmacy has no problem with any other dr's. complain and complain and nothing gets done. i mean really no one there can take the freakin time to see wtf is goin on there?
[/OT] |
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AZinOH
join:2007-04-25
Swanton, OH Reviews:
·Windstream
| said by thedragonmas:i hate when a company tells me they cant take a PDF of a scanned copy of said doccument, that i have to go some where to have the sucker faxed in. i mean really PDF is universal. actually had a company want me to fax them a receipt once where talking a teeny tiny little piece of paper.
i just dont get why they cant take a PDF.
Unfortunately, not every company is equally well-staffed with knowledgeable IT professionals able to keep their systems safe from attack. I hope you're directing your hate towards those thieves trying to steal data and the script kiddies trying to probe in unauthorized areas just to prove that they can. |
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 macsierraBaby NewfoundlandPremium
join:2003-11-30
Minden, NV
 ·Charter
| reply to AZinOH
I use Fax.com online, receives or sends PDF, Word etc. and graphics files all online. I hardly ever print a Fax page out, just store it on the hard drive. Just click, enter the Fax telephone number and click send right off the desktop for 10 bucks a month. That includes your private Fax telephone number to receive a Fax. |
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