Small business fax machine advice...

Greetings, all!

For some time, I have entertained the idea of a fax machine
in my home office. From what I understand, the phone and fax
can share a line for an additional $5.00 a month, called a
preferred number line.

While I realize it is only five dollars more a month, I wonder if
it would be used. Most people these days are online with credit
cards, or very willing to give their numbers over the telephone or mail.
I'm thinking of the folks who are at work. I remember when I was working
outside the home, it was easier to fill out a fax order, stuff it in the machine
and be done with it.

Are there enough customers (especially those at work) to
qualify the need for a home fax machine?

Many thanks for your help,
Karen Marie

My parents use one a lot for their business. Mostly to fax product info that may not be on their site. I don't think given the cost of having a fax machine and your monthly charge that it would add much to your business if you've been okay without it so far...using the internet is your best tool.

That said, I have a personal fax machine and there is no extra monthly charge here with AT&T service...I've never heard of an extra charge! What will they think of next. =)

Good luck with your business!

Hi Tir Na,

Hmm. Interesting that you mentioned AT&T, as we currently
have the same company.

I wonder if I was mislead or if I confused the operator. Do you
mean that I can just plug a fax machine in, give the number out
and the phone and the fax would fight over the same line?

Many thanks,
KM

km,

yep! if you do not answer the phone by like ring 3 the caller gets a nice cheery beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! now my parents have theirs set up that the answering machine picks up and says: if you would like to send a fax please press ___.

Tir Na, you're a doll.

Many thanks! Off to the storage shed to see about my
old fax machine for testing.

:-) KM

I do the same thing, use a Lexmark 4200 all-in-one on one phone-line - I also work from home and found that the amount of faxing I do was small enough that I did not need a dedicated line! :-)

Well call me silly. All this time I did not know this.
I thought you had to have some special kind of phone line
to fax and receive.

I'm amazed at the things I learn here. LOL

KM

Bec_No_Va

I have an HP 4110 all-in-one, I use the same way, but did not activate the auto-answer. Maybe I should - might get rid of the remaining sales calls we receive in the evening - LOL.

Ah yes, or list your phone number on the do-not-call list! :-) They go SO quiet when I answer with "ahem, have you ever heard of the do-not-call list? We are on it!" Hardly ever get any calls anymore! Wuhuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

But, yes, the auto-reply works great, except when I can't find the phone - LOL

wuvie,

So glad I could FINALLY help someone else on Dave's!

Wuvie I have some devices around here that will separate phone from fax from computer. You will need to install it on the main line or you can do it local. Say in an office that has a dedicated line. If you have an office at home and want a dedicated line to the office you can have it deducted from your taxes. The device intercepts the incoming call and finds out what it is and then sends it to the appropriate device.

Now with that out of the way, I have a company called on line suppliers that are a part of ebay and since you are an ebay aficionado, who the heck are these guys. I was at one time going to do something with ebay but decided not to and I have found that I am being billed 39.95 a month by these folks and have been for some months now.

Don

Previous message sent via private email to Don.


This message was edited Feb 16, 2007 7:47 PM