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NT Fax Services


Terry D EA

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Got a notice today from Ring Central that my fax charges will be going up once again. This increase will not put my annual fees at $215.88 which is an increase of $56.88 from last year. I send and receive less than 50 faxes per year. With all of the secure file transfer programs I will probably even fax less. So, I'm looking at "MyFax" which will save $114.00 per year and I will be able to keep the fax number I've had since 2007. Ring Central has been flawless the entire time I have been with them. But the fees are too much for what I do. I expressed my concerns with Ring Central and it appears it will fall on deaf ears. Any suggestion on any other online fax services. 

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I have and have always had a separate fax line connected to a retired computer with a fax modem and program in it.  All faxes are "printed' and saved to the appropriate client file through the connection (it looks like another drive) with my main computer.  Junk faxes are deleted.  Before cell phones it was nice to have an extra phone in my home office to call out when needed. Costs about $12 monthly .  I also use the number for 'required' phone numbers when I don't want calls.

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20 minutes ago, Gail in Virginia said:

The problem with the free services is that they assign the phone number.  I am afraid if I change (or eliminate) my fax number, clients will find an old tax return or business card and fax something to me that will go God only knows where.  Even if they have never before faxed anything to me at anytime. 

We never gave out our actual efax number, we just had our fax line forward to the efax number, if we didn't answer.

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I use Fax.plus for 100 pages per month billed at $60 per year plus tax. They say they will port in your phone number for free. Since I do maybe 2 faxes per month - 100 pages is far more than enough for us.

 

We used to have everything physically wired and went to VOIP this year (Ring Central) for phones and this service for faxes. It can take several minutes for a fax to go through if that's an issue. My guess would be it is pretty similar process to what Ring Central was at. Our old phone system (with fax line) was $600 per month, we now pay $1,300 per year!

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Fax.plus sounds good!  The reason I have wired lines is that a few years ago I went wireless in early February (it was a deal) for my main line and internet but kept the fax, wired line for some weird reason.  Within 2 weeks the power went out for a couple of days and the only access I or clients had was my fax line.  I still don't give out my cell number to clients or I would be called too often.  When I retire, then and only then will I give up the wires.  Burned one, twice shy.

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Ok, I have what's probably a stupid question.  I have a regular old fax machine, and I've never switched it to my computer because my desk is way too far away from the only phone jack.  Not to mention that my crawling around under the desk days are long gone!
So, with these electronic fax services, does that mean you don't have to have the land line at all, it just all works like email would?  I use mine even less than Terry, and would love to get rid of the cost; but like Gail said, I'm afraid some clients would still fax to the old number.

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When you have the online version, you do away with the phone line completely. For us that was $480 per year replaced with a $60 per year fee.

You can port your phone number into these services so that you keep the number. We got rid of the number only because we liked the idea clients wouldn't use the old number - they'd call us.

It acts sort of like google email and in fact you'll get an email telling you that you have a fax. On mine you have to go to their website and the fax is waiting to download as a pdf. You upload a pdf & give them a phone number when you want to send one. I get 2-3 faxes per month and send 2-3. It takes a little longer but I avoid the phone line.

 

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With things like eFax, you can receive your faxes via your email &/or log on to eFax from your computer to read/receive your faxes and fax out &/or log in anyplace with an internet connection to read/receive your faxes or fax out.

Yes you can get rid of your old machine and the cost of its landline. You will probably have to choose a paid fax service to be able to use your same fax number, but ask anyway.

And, this is the time of year you're talking to all your clients. You could stress that you have a new fax number.

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I will probably get rid of my old landline for my fax by the end of the year. When I set up my office, the AT&T line was less than $11 per month plus a separate long-distance service for about $2. We're out in the boonies with power failures, especially during tax season. With our other lines on Optimum and this one on AT&T, we stood a chance of having one of those work and had an extra telephone to plug into the AT&T jack. Now we have a generator, so don't lose power. And, the prices have increased to about $21 and $5. But, I often have papers to fax that are not in my computer, so having the physical fax machine still has some value to me. I'm happy with eFax but haven't given up all my old ways!

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I have a Brothers all in one.  It is plugged into my regular landline.  when the phone rings twice, it hears the fax tone and picks up.  I don't have to do anything. I can use the landline as usual and my answer machine works fine.  For a time, I had it connected so the faxes went to my computer, but I keep my computer off the WIFI, so now they just print out.  I only get an handful of faxes any way. So it is not a big deal. 

My brother told me he can't fax..."because he lives in the 21st century"  LOL   The reality is- most of us need a fax machine... if nothing else to fax to the IRS.

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This is very interesting to me.   

Have any of you who have eFax noticed that it takes a long time for the fax to go through?   I have been on the line with the IRS before, sent a fax, and 15 minutes later it is still not at the representatives fax machine.   I am looking for something that is more reliable than e-fax.   I pay 16.95 per month for the service and I am not thrilled with it.   However, it is cheaper than having a landline.   

Keep the posts coming please.   I am learning as you post.

Tom
Modesto, CA

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Question: What is the security of the online fax services?  Some of my clients fax tax documents to me with all the data a hacker would love but it goes to my computer which is protected 6 ways to Sunday (says my tech guy).  With all the hoo hah about security, is an online service safe?  I started using Verifyle for a client portal now but they promote encryption and security.  I'll still look at that fax.plus service, I think.

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Per fax.plus:

 

Data Encryption In Transit and At Rest

Fax files at rest are encrypted using 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). To protect data in transit between FAX.PLUS apps (currently mobile, API, or web) and our servers, FAX.PLUS uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) for data transfer, creating a secure tunnel protected by 128-bit or higher Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.

 

I don't know if that's good enough but I'm guessing it's as safe as a physical fax line and documents sitting in the fax machine overnight. They are HIPPA compliant, is that good enough?

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I have had eFaxes go through/arrive immediately and had them take a long time, both. Most of my faxes to the IRS are from my HP all-in-one on a hardwired AT&T/Frontier line, and they all take a long time. So, I don't think eFax makes a difference.

You can save by paying annually. I don't remember for sure, but think I pay no more than $169 annually.

 

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On 2/26/2020 at 8:38 PM, Terry D said:

Got a notice today from Ring Central that my fax charges will be going up once again. This increase will not put my annual fees at $215.88 which is an increase of $56.88 from last year. I send and receive less than 50 faxes per year. With all of the secure file transfer programs I will probably even fax less. So, I'm looking at "MyFax" which will save $114.00 per year and I will be able to keep the fax number I've had since 2007. Ring Central has been flawless the entire time I have been with them. But the fees are too much for what I do. I expressed my concerns with Ring Central and it appears it will fall on deaf ears. Any suggestion on any other online fax services. 

I was in the same situation last month and couldn't reach anyone at ring central so i went to myfax at $10/month.  not as pretty as ring central but works fine and their support porting over my existing number was great.  Had someone in America guide me through the process and took about a week to complete because they have to wait for ring to release your number to them.

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22 hours ago, Sara EA said:

Is this the same Ring Central as the doorbell business?  We all know how NOT secure that is, including employees looking into people's homes. 

Don't think so but not 100% sure. Ring (door bell camera) has now gone to the two factor authentication which is supposed to eliminate any hackers. I do have just the ring door bell which no one can look in my home only the front sidewalk and yard. 

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On 2/28/2020 at 9:11 PM, Sara EA said:

Is this the same Ring Central as the doorbell business?  We all know how NOT secure that is, including employees looking into people's homes. 

I wondered the same, because Amazon owns Ring (doorbell) now.  But Ring Central seems to be totally different.

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