To fax or not to fax?

[gurly2356]

Hey guys..need some tips and or advice! In the past I have always mailed documents & such to my insurance company, but more often then not the documents I've been sending to them have been coming up "missing". They told me today that I could fax these documents & I would get a faster response from them. Soo...thats the problem. I've never owned a fax machine & hardly ever have even used one! I just did a search on "how to fax" and came up with stuff like fax from your email w/o having to own a fax machine. That sounds like it would be great for me since I don't have a fax machine! So I guess this brings me to the questions I'm seeking answers for..What is that all about? Reliable? Should I just go buy a fax machine? Or should I just stick to stamps & envelopes?!

BTW..I probably would only be sending like maybe 4 documents a month, but in the mail its about a month later until they even receive them or they just come up missing.

[Riaan]

As far i know,you need a scanner to scan the document to your computer and then you can only fax it.I presume you have to sign some documents so then the online fax is also not gonna work.Get yourself a cheap fax machine id say.

[Foolish Old]

Electronic document transfer can greatly speed transactions.

Riaan is correct. Unless the document resides on your computer, you would need to scan it in to fax from that computer. I fax by this method using a scanner, fax/modem and fax software. You may also be able to send the scanned document as an email attachment (my preference). If you use email, remember to request a read receipt. Faxed documents give a confirmation that the document was successfully transmitted. You can email or fax (requires two phone lines) while you have the recipient on the phone. If you only have one phone line you can fax and follow up with a voice call to confirm receipt and ask if the document satisfies their needs. Remember to note their name, title, department, time, date, etc. I put this on my file copy of what I send.

Scanner and modem; scanner and Internet fax service; stand alone fax machine; all-in-one fax, printer, scanner;... they are all pretty cheap. You could also use a fax machine in a store that offers pay by page.

[Rbrauer]

do you have a scanner for your pc? You can always scan documents and email as well. You also bennefit from being able to scan documents and pictures and save them to disc.

[lynnifer]

I could never get services like winfax to work for me.

Using a 56k modem and a scanner works solid though!

[Hunker]

Microsoft Outlook has a action in the tool bar that is suppose to fax but I can't "get it" so I also scan and email.

[Scorpion]

If you have a scanner but don't have a fax modem, there are fax services online, some free, but the ones that aren't are fuller featured...

www.faxzero.com (free)
www.gotfeefax.com (free)
www.myfax.com (first 30 days free)
www.maxemail.com
www.efax.com

There are more, just Google "fax online" or "free fax online".

[Patrick Madsen]

Send it registered mail, then someone has to sign for it. You e it and they'll say it never went thru.

[dan_nc]

If you're looking strictly at cost, I'd say that the fax is going to be more expensive than envelope and mail. An inexpensive machine (fax-only) will run you at least $30 or so. An all-in-one fax/scanner/copier can be had for $70 and up (they get fancier when you go from ink to laser, automatic document feeder, etc). What is nicer about the fax solution is that you get quicker turn-around time to confirm that they received it.

Insurance guy calls, says he didn't get the form, you say, hey, I'll fax it, I'll call you in 5 minutes to see if you got it. Problem solved.

I like the all-in-ones; now I make electronic archival of all communication with insurance (and other business tranactions) save them to PDF and send them to backup.