What is one thing a small business owner should know about setting up a business phone and fax?
To help small businesses set up a business phone and fax number, we asked industry experts and small business owners this question for their best advice. From assessing costs and upkeep to learning communication laws, there are several tips that may help as you establish a phone and fax for your office needs.
Here are seven things to know when setting up a business phone and fax:
- Look Into Online Faxing Services
- Assess Initial Costs and Upkeep
- Research Usage in Your Company
- Include Both Numbers on Business Cards
- Set Hours for Any Automated Features
- Read Over Communication Laws
- Set Up Team Extensions and Voicemails
Look Into Online Faxing Services
One thing a small business owner should know when it comes to setting up a business phone and fax is that there are many great tools today that can support phone and fax purposes without the standard setup. One example that I recommend to small business owners is to establish an online faxing service account with iFax, instead of dealing with the frustrations of a typical fax machine. With iFax, business owners can send and receive all faxed documents quickly and securely online directly through the app. It can save small businesses owners so much time and money and provides an eco-friendly solution to document processing.
Adam Korbl, iFax
Assess Initial Cost and Upkeep
When setting up a business phone and fax, small business owners will definitely want to consider the cost of upkeep. Traditional fax is going to require toner, ink, and paper on a pretty routine basis. All those supplies come at an additional cost to the initial investment of the machinery. There are more affordable ones out there. However, if you’re not in a business that requires a lot of faxing then you might be losing out on the cost. Consider how much you’ll be using a business phone and fax and if there might be alternative routes that best fit the needs of your company.
Carey Wilbur, Charter Capital
Research Usage in Your Company
Many companies have contracts that can be signed digitally. However, not everyone is fully digital yet, or their industry requires a certain number of years of records retention, such as real estate. Having a fax line set up for your small business may be helpful for scanning and sending hard copy contracts, contracts that cannot be signed electronically, or records. Consider using a service that sends faxes straight to email for more convenience.
Todd Sriro, Be.On Stone
Include Both Numbers on Business Cards
One simple thing to remember when setting up a business phone and fax number is: include both numbers on all of your business cards. This applies to your employees’ business cards, as well as your own. It is an easy way to offer all lines of communication to your customers without them having to request one or the other. By including the business phone and fax numbers on all business cards, it allows customers to get a hold of someone within your company in a timely manner when their normal point of contact may be unavailable.
Bailey Mills, Markitors
Set Hours for Any Automated Features
When you go to set up your business phone and fax, be sure to set the hours. You will need a set schedule so that automated features for auto attendants and call forwarding can be properly set up. Having this all planned out prior to you setting up your phone and fax lines will save you an immense amount of trouble in the long run.
Omid Semino, Diamond Mansion
Read Over Communication Laws
One thing that business owners overlook is how communication laws can affect the way they use their businesses phone lines. Communication laws can affect any aspect of your business, so make sure you don’t violate any communication laws (such as texting clients that did not opt in) so that you don’t have issues with your phone lines going forward.
Loren Howard, Prime Plus Mortgages
Set Up Team Extensions and Voicemails
When your business is setting up the phone and fax systems, always be sure to configure your team’s extensions and voicemail. This is important so that each team will have its own voicemail box set up, as well as extensions for each team member.
Ajay Mehta, Birthdate Co.
