Five Free Video Conferencing Services

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Video is everywhere these days, although most of it seems to be showing up on social media feeds. Business owners who want to conduct a conference with the aid of video may have to do some searching to find good video conferencing, especially at no cost – but it is out there. We’ve compiled a comparison of a five of the top free video conferencing services that work for businesses. Skype: The biggest name in free video conferencing, Skype has huge reach. You can Skype through Windows, OS, Blackberry, iOS, Android, even game consoles like PlayStation Vita and Xbox One. Skype offers free group video conferencing for up to ten users (this was previously only available to “Premium” members) as well as a slew of other features.Pros of Skype include the ability to instant message, file share, and share your desktop screen during a video conference. Negatives include the need to download dedicated software…

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How To Find The Best Corporate Fax Service

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For small to medium businesses, online fax services offer competitive pricing and service. But what about large businesses with high volume fax needs? Large companies have different requirements, from multiple numbers to custom fax routing. Corporate fax services do exist to cover those needs. To pick the right service, companies need to consider a few criteria: Security: Many services provide encrypted transfers and password protection, as well as administrative control that allow a company to authorize users for specific features. This is especially important for businesses that must comply with regulations like HIPAA or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. MetroFax’s Corporate package provides a variety of encryption options, including SSL, TLS and VPN. Biscom also has good security features, including the same encryption technology that banks use, and secure data centers. Features: Corporate fax services should offer productivity tools that save time and money for large faxing volumes, such as enabling businesses to…

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What Exactly Is A Softphone?

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  If you’re thinking about how to implement a modern communications system for your business, you’ve probably encountered a range of different services and products that take advantage of Internet technology. One of those tools is a softphone, which is simply a software program that allows you to make calls over the Internet with your computer using Voice over IP technology (VoIP). Softphones are becoming a popular choice for businesses, since they make it easy to manage calls and faxes from a computer. Although anyone with a computer can use a softphone, those who travel frequently, frequent long-distance callers, and telecommuters can particularly benefit from some of the features. VoIP beginners are also good candidates for softphones; it’s easy to download VoIP software and make free computer-to-computer or computer-to-phone calls. Softphones may include a headset or hand-held handset, and users dial from the keyboard. Sometimes softphones also work with an…

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Six of the Coolest Features VoIP Phone Systems Offer

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  Many businesses now choose Voice over Internet Protocol systems in order to save money and streamline communications services. VoIP, sometimes also called Internet telephony, offers a lot of enticing features for companies seeking easy and sophisticated communications services. VoIP systems are known to be user-friendly for employees, come with good customer service, and mean less clunky hardware. But there’s a host of other great features you might not know about VoIP systems that are worth noting. Use your business phone number anywhere: phone numbers and extensions aren’t tied to the line, so employees working from home, or on the road, or on a job site, can still make and receive calls anywhere. Some companies, like RingCentral, offer smartphone apps so that you can take VoIP calls over Wi-Fi or a 4G network without using carrier minutes. Voice mail features: voice mail to email transcription turns your voice mail messages…

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Android Faxing Apps

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Send and Receive Faxes Directly from Your Android Device An online fax service gives many small businesses the ability to send and receive faxes without being tied to a landline. More and more online fax services have also started offering smartphone apps, which let you do your faxing right from your phone, instead of going through a website or email. We wrote recently about faxing services that provide iPhone apps; here we’ve featured services that offer Android apps. (Note: each company’s app is free, but you must be a subscriber of their service to use it.)   MetroFax: MetroFax’s Value and Essential plans, which allow for 500 and 1,000 pages per month respectively, come with an Android app which lets you turn your phone into a fax machine by either faxing attachments from your phone, or snapping a picture of a document to fax. The app also allows you to…

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The Cheapest Fax Services

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Most online fax services are cheap, but THESE are the cheapest! Better security, ease of use and environmental benefits are major advantages of online faxing over fax machines, but the reason most of us prefer online fax services is simple: they are incredibly inexpensive. If cost is your number one concern when selecting an online fax service, this article is for you. Lowest Monthly Fee: SmartFax Local  At $6.95 per month, SmartFax is extremely affordable. The plan includes an assigned local fax number, 250 inbound and outbound pages (additional pages cost $0.08 each), 30 days of free online fax storage, international faxing, and a free 30-day trial: SmartFax Local Comparison Lowest Annual Fee: Nextiva Single User With an annual discount for paying for an entire year up front, the Single User plan from Nextiva comes out to $4.95 per month. With that plan, you get 500 pages per month, up to five users in the…

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iPhone Faxing Apps

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Turn Your iPhone into a Fax Machine For many small businesses, an online fax service gives the ability to send and receive faxes without being tied to a landline. Increasingly, online fax services are also offering iPhone apps, which let you do your faxing right from your phone, instead of going through a website or email. Here’s a roundup of some of the fax services that offer iPhone apps, and the features that make them stand out. (Note: each company’s app is free, but you must be a subscriber of their service to use it.) MetroFax: MetroFax has won high praise from reviewers for its excellent all-around value. Its iPhone app lets you turn your phone into a fax machine by either faxing attachments from your phone, or snapping a picture of a document to fax. The app also allows you to view sent faxes, use contact information on your…

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Concord Fax Expands It’s International Presence

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Concord Fax recently announced that they now provide local fax service in 50 countries, including key markets in South America, Eastern Europe and Eastern Asia.  Although Concord offers a small/ mid size business fax solution, they compete primarily for larger, corporate accounts against products like eFax Corporate Solutions.  This international expansion makes them more attractive to businesses with international offices in these regions, because they can now consider Concord a complete solution for all of their corporate faxing needs. Concord’s “Fax Online” service for Medium to Large Enterprises features API access for customization and integration, custom Microsoft suite integration, a redundant network, online administration and a production fax solution for high-volume documents. They also provide full-service technical support and customer service.  Concord also offers two “FaxPro” options for small businesses: FaxPro 100 and FaxPro 300.  As the names imply, these two packages offer 100 included fax pages or 300 included…

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MetroFax is Acquired by j2Global

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MetroFax, a prominent online fax service, was acquired by j2Global this past month. j2Global is a world leader in the virtual communication industry, focusing on cloud-based services such as online fax, email marketing, online backup, and virtual voice, among others. They are the parent company of well-known services such as eFax (a competitor of MetroFax), as well as Campaigner, eVoice, and KeepItSafe. MetroFax has consistently been one of the lowest priced and reliable online fax services. With features including the ability to fax to international numbers, iPhone and Android Apps, and Microsoft Office integration, MetroFax has long been a FaxCompare favorite. j2Global has been expanding at an incredible rate, with a record-breaking year in 2012. They currently hold 39.8% of the internet faxing market share, with brands including eFax, MyFax, and Fax.com. The eFax brand still stands as its primary focus. Acquiring a service as feature-rich as MetroFax will hopefully…

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