The Benefits of Online Faxing for Law Firms
The image of a fax machine is somewhat dated, and one would assume that as technology continues to advance, faxes will become a thing of the past. This is, in fact, far from the truth. It is estimated that more than 46 billion faxes are sent globally each year and with eFax occupying a subscriber base of over 11 million people that use their services on a monthly basis. Instead of becoming obsolete, a new technology has been created to modernise faxing—online faxing.
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Law firms in Australia are facing a particular conundrum; there is the legal requirement to protect client data, but there is also the need for speedy communications. So, for many industries, email is sufficient, but not for law firms. Privacy trumps speed, and for this reason, the percentage of Australian law firms, that are still using old fax machines is surprisingly high.
→ Start Your Free 30 Day eFax Trial To Quickly Send & Receive Documents From Any Device Register Now.
What Is Online Faxing?
Online faxing has the ability to send a fax from a mobile device, laptop or desktop rather than having to rely on a fax machine. Essentially, it’s like taking the benefits of the old fax machine and email then merging the two into one faster and safer method of communication.
eFax is a premium internet fax service provider that removes the need for fax machines, phone lines and printing. Faxes can be sent and received via email or from a secure online portal from any device with an internet connection.
Lawyers can’t afford to sit at a desk and wait for faxes to be sent and received, because of client meetings, court cases, etc. Secondly, it impedes the ability to work remotely, which is something that has been necessary throughout this year. Law firms have been seeing the benefits of remote work and will most likely continue working the same way. But unless each employee is going to have their own fax machine, communication will once again be slowed down. Imagine being out of the office for a morning or a day and having to return to a pile of faxes that need to be organised.
The limitations of old fax machines continue as Law firms aim to digitally transform the workplace by reducing the amount of paper used and a more efficient file storing system such as a cloud-based solution.
How Will Online Faxing Improve Law Firms
There are numerous benefits to online faxing with eFax. Once you have signed into your eFax account, you will be able to take advantage of the following features:
Secure Faxing
One of the major concerns with email is how easily it can be hacked. With eFax, your faxes remain confidential and private in your personal email inbox. The eFax Corporate account is perfect for law firms and other industries that need to remain HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, SOX, and/or PCI compliant. Sent faxes are encrypted in transit and at point of origin; furthermore, received faxes have 256-Bit encryption with TLS.
Toll-Free Numbers and Local Fax Numbers
With a toll-free fax number, your business can instantly gain a grander presence. Toll-free numbers increase customer trust and make it easier for clients to find you. As your branding is given a boost, you can increase your sales.
Alternatively, you might want to encourage your customers to feel closer to your business with a local number. Toll-free and local numbers are decisions based on your marketing strategy, but eFax has the solution either way.
Electronic Signature
While you might think that emails are the fastest way to send your important documents, it’s not the case if documents need to be signed. The receiver must download the attachment, print it and then sign it. They will then need to attach it to an email to return it.
eFax comes with an electronic signature feature offering two ways to sign documents. You can swipe your finger over the screen or upload a photo of your signature and drag and drop it onto the document. Apart from saving time for yourself, you will also be able to resolve your clients’ issues more promptly.
→ Start Your Free 30 Day eFax Trial To Quickly Send & Receive Documents From Any Device Register Now.
Document Storage
Once you have your account with eFax set up, you have automatic access to lifetime storage and online retrieval. Your sent and received faxes will be stored in the cloud securely and for as long as your account is open. Anytime you need to retrieve a fax, you can enter your eFax Message Centre, which is password protected for additional security. To make it easier to find a fax, you can set up tags which will make your job more efficient..
It’s more than likely that you already have a cloud storage provider. eFax is integrated with popular apps, including Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud. So, you can take documents from your existing cloud accounts and attach them to your online fax.
The Desktop Fax App
eFax Messenger is an application for desktops, equipt with its own set of amazing features. Users can custom cover pages, create PDFs, edit and annotate faxes, and electronically sign their documents. You can fax from productivity tools like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and more. For quick access to your client’s email addresses, you can integrate eFax Messenger with Microsoft Outlook and other address books.
Mobile Fax App
With the mobile fax app, you have access to your faxes, you can attach faxes and sign your documents while you are on the go. Imagine missing a confidential document while in court. The eFax mobile app makes it quick and easy to send and receive faxes without having to return to the office. The award-winning mobile app is available for Android and iOS.
Increased Business Productivity While Reducing Costs
Without the need for ink, paper, and maintenance that are all required for fax machines, your business will be able to cut down on overheads, not to mention that you will be helping the environment. In terms of productivity, you can send and receive faxes from 5 different email accounts, providing the same amazing features for you and your team. There is no need to compress large files like you would an email. You can attach large files, high-resolution documents and videos. Save even more time by faxing up to 20 recipients at a time; all of these features improve employee productivity.
Preparing Your Law Firm for the Future
As NBN rolls out across Australia, the country is experiencing a massive change from the copper telephone lines that transport analogue information signals to the latest fibre optic cables. Without the old copper lines, you won’t be able to send faxes from a fax machine. eFax is NBN compatible, and you can keep your current NBN number, encouraging an easy transition from old fax machines to online fax.
Making changes to your systems can be a daunting one and more so when your law firm depends on the system. Our team of experts are at your service to help you with the transitions from old fax to online fax. Call us on 1800 283 361 or start your free trial.
