For many small business owners working from home, cash flow, space and time constraints are a constant worry. The pressure of juggling business with the demands of daily life can become too much. But in order to remain competitive in a tough market, they need to be constantly connected. This means keeping up with the latest trends in technology, which has consistently provided solutions to make our lives easier.



Take mobile communication, for example. Mobile phones have become a part of everyday life in the last twenty years, from being rare and expensive pieces of equipment used primarily by the business elite to a pervasive low-cost personal item. Today's mobile phones often have features beyond sending text messages and making voice calls, including built-in cameras and video recorders, ringtones, music playback (MP3), memo recording, personal organizer functions, Internet browsing, email, instant messaging, games, radio, infrared and Bluetooth connectivity, call registers, ability to watch streaming video or download video for later viewing, video calling and serve as a wireless modem for a PC. And now, with the introduction of Internet faxing, your mobile phone can also be a fax machine.

Traditional faxing methods involve the use of a machine to send a scanned copy of a document over the telephone network to another machine in a different location. The electronic instrument being used to send this scanned copy is called a fax machine and it is a composed of a scanner, a modem, and a printer, and the scanned copy is called a facsimile or fax. The fax message is transmitted in the form of pulses that the receiving machine reproduces on paper. This means that users are tied to an electronic instrument composed of a scanner, a modem, and a printer to send messages, and this consumes paper, ink and toner. It is also a constant drain on electricity because the machine has to be on to be able to receive messages even when you are not around. Some small businesses are also forced to dedicate a phone line to their fax machine so they can still receive calls from clients. But with Internet faxing, your fax messages can be sent directly to your chosen email address whenever you are out of the office, eliminating the need to use the actual fax machine. Replies can also be sent via emails converted to fax messages, and multiple messages can be sent and received simultaneously without jamming the phone line. This means that you get to save money not only on office supplies such as paper, ink, and toner but also on your electricity and phone bills.

In fact, you don't even have to buy a fax machine. With the rise of mobile phones capable of browsing the Internet and personal digital assistants (PDAs) you can send and receive faxed orders anytime, anywhere. This means you can still keep in touch with your office while at your son's soccer match or your daughter's piano recital. Your home office doesn't have to be cluttered with redundant machines and piles of faxed messages. With Internet faxing, you can easily organize your messages in folders on your hard drive, and keep records on compact discs (CD) or other removable storage devices. You no longer have to waste time battling with your fax machine, because of the paperless format. That means you can say goodbye to frustrating paper jams and ink spills, and spend less time cleaning it up.

Internet faxing is a great solution for the small business owner who is always on the go. Not only does it save money, it also saves office space and gives you more time to attend to enjoy life.