-
Step 1
Upgrade your fax machine. If your fax machine cannot communicate at the fastest industry standard speed, purchase a faster machine to reduce the time spent in sending faxes. This is particularly important for long-distance faxing. If you receive a high number of faxes, invest in a laser fax machine instead of an inkjet to reduce the cost of printing.
-
Step 2
Schedule your faxes for off-peak hours. Long-distance costs are lower after normal business hours in many telecommunications plans. Find out if your plan has any incentives for faxing during certain times, and schedule your faxes for those times whenever possible. If necessary, negotiate lower long-distance rates with your telecommunications provider, change your plan or switch to a provider with lower costs.
-
Step 3
Open an Internet fax account. If you require a particularly high volume of faxes that originate as electronic documents, open an account with an Internet fax service. These allow you to send faxes directly from computer applications, and some services reduce your long-distance charges by sending from local fax machines. You also receive faxes via Internet email or by downloading files, thus reducing printing costs.
-
Step 4
Scan and email instead. If your typical recipients can accept emailed documents instead of faxes, invest in a scanner that includes scan-to-email capabilities. Many current fax machines and multifunction devices also offer the ability to send via email, and they can quickly pay for themselves through reduced telecommunications costs.
-
Step 5
Accept electronic documents. Evaluate your business processes to determine if you can accept electronic documents instead of faxes. Then, publish an email address along with a fax number as a method for receiving documents.
