Five steps for lawyers to switch to online faxing

Lawyers are routinely required to send and receive documents via fax. Mercifully, faxing no longer has to involve painstakingly printing out documents and waiting by the fax machine until all the pages are successfully transmitted. Instead, online faxing services provide a secure, convenient, and efficient way to fax important documents. Confirmations of completed faxes are sent via email. If a fax needs to be resent, it doesn’t need to be rescanned, just resent with a click.  Not only are online faxing services more user-friendly, they are also more eco-friendly. No more reams of paper and toxic toner.  No more printing out digital files just to fax or save them. Faxes can be saved, downloaded, and securely stored in the cloud. Many law offices have already made the switch. If yours is not one of them, here is an easy 5-step process to follow to switch to an online service.

 

1. If you don’t already have one, invest in a good document scanner, such as such as a Fujitsu ScanSnap or Neat. These scanners can scan long documents in minutes and convert them into electronic files that can then be faxed online.

2. Choose an online fax service that is compatible with the needs of your practice. Here are some key criteria to consider when choosing a service:

• • Number of pages to be faxed. Consider how many pages you might send and receive in a month. This will determine what size plan you need.
  • Number of people who will need access. Decide how many people in your office will need access to your online fax service. The number of users allowed access by different service plans can vary from 5 to 30 to an unlimited number.
  • Smartphone accessibility. Consider whether fax service users in your office will want or need to be able to send and receive faxes via Smartphone. Some online fax services offer dedicated Smartphone apps, while others do not.
  • HIPAA compliance. Determine whether you need a fax service that is HIPAA compliant. (Law offices can be subject to HIPAA regulations due to interactions with the medical industry.)

To find the right online fax service for your needs, use FaxCompare’s dynamic tool to filter the options by features and pricing and view a custom comparison of the best option.

3. Sign up for a free trial. Almost all services offer a free trial period, so take the time to test the service out right after signing up to make sure you like the interface and features.
4. Once you’ve decide you’re happy with the service, either call to initiate the process of porting your old fax number to the new service; or if you don’t care about preserving an old number, just use the one that you selected when you signed up for the free trial. For additional guidance, here is our step by step guide to porting your number into an online fax service.
5. Get rid of that cumbersome fax machine taking up space in your office. You can use a recycling location finder to find a way to properly get rid of your old fax machine. Alternately, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Staples accept machines for recycling in their stores.

It’s really that easy. Once you have made the switch to an online fax service, your only regret will be that you didn’t do it sooner!