Fax Featured Article

Rajiv Choudhary operates an online consumer products store with two separate entities in Australia and the United States, and has agents in Hong Kong, Netherlands and other international locations.

 

“To be successful,” he said, “an online store needs two things: credibility and easy ways for people to reach you.” 

 

Hard to argue with that. This reporter can't think of anything that would sound better in one of those two slots.  And no, making it easy for people to reach you isn't simply throwing up a Web site and getting an e-mail address and phone number. There's more to it than that. 

One key ingredient in making it easy for people to reach you, Choudhary said it through fax.

 

To adhere to the commandment thou shalt make it easy for customers to reach you it's important to have as many means of communication as your customers do. Many still use fax, and you can get it as part of a good, comprehensive Web-based system, so it's in your interest to do so.

Choudhary uses a service provided by a hosted IP-PBX (News - Alert) provider RingCentral, and said the bottom line is 'I don’t worry about my communications or missing messages anymore, faxes, or access; from anywhere.'

 

For Choudhary, outsourcing is a key component of this business success.

 

'I outsource everything,” Choudhary said. “Outsourcing is the single most important factor in small business. My job is to set up the store and sell. My business only works if I sell. So, I’m not going to waste my time and energy on anything but selling. I let others do the other stuff.'

 

That doesn't mean give up control. While there are many Web-based systems out there, not all are the same, according to Choudhary.

 

 'Many tout low costs, but are short on features,” he said. “Some focus on only part of a modern telecommunications solution, such as voicemail or fax. Some are not easy to use.'

 

But RingCentral’s (News - Alert) service gives Choudhary what he needs, he said. With the company’s fax service, businesses can receive faxes in their e-mail and fax documents from any Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows application. Users with subscriptions also receive a local or toll-free phone number, free fax software other features.