And now a PC based Fax Service from BT!
Posted 18 December 2007 at 8:18AM by Martin Faux in Email and communications
Fax machines take up space; need a second phone line and have to be topped up with paper and toner regularly!
The launch of BT's PC Fax service provides customers with their own "Virtual" fax number. Users can choose from 1000's of numbers online and be live with their new fax number in minutes.
The service has been designed to be simple for PC users - Faxes are converted to "pdf" format and sent to the recipient via email.
Sending faxes is just as easy. Simply send an email with the document attached, addressed to "[fax number]@btpcfax.co.uk".
Each outbound page costs from 10p + VAT (the cost depends on the destination of where the fax will be sent to; all UK landlines cost 10p +Vat ).
Each "Virtual fax" number costs £4.99 + vat per month and there's no limit on the number of inbound faxes you can receive - unlike some providers who charge "hidden costs" which could result in hefty extra charges for busy offices.
So, why not sign up now for a free 14 day trial (5 free outbound pages, unlimited inbound for 14 days).
Tags: bt, bt broadbandoffice, bt pc fax, pc fax
New feature: Rate this post!
Average rating: 3.4/5
Comments
2. At December 18, 2007 4:33 PM, Zen wrote:
I agree with you D, the idea is fantastic but the price is definitely a major issue for smaller businesses.
3. At December 18, 2007 5:48 PM, Jim wrote:
I think your out of order D, thats a great price for the service, what makes you think its bad?
do you need to use fax, I do in my business and some real stupid costs are involved which i knew nothing about, this service is yet again another winner for BT i think, great service guys!! keep up the good work
4. At December 18, 2007 6:19 PM, JAMES LYON wrote:
COME ON BT - YOU MUST BE JOKING - MORE LIKE 1p WOULD BE TOO MUCH TO PAY.
MY FAX MACHINE IS MY PRINTER, SCANNER ETC AND DONT NEED SUCH A HIGH BT COST SERVICE.
MIGHT BE A SMALL COST TO THE LIKES OF SHELL, BP OR EVEN BT. SMALL BUSINESSES CANNOT AFFORD THIS !!!
JAMES LYON
5. At December 18, 2007 6:34 PM, Benoit's Ghost wrote:
£5 a month to essentially send e-mails? Can't you do that anyway? Seems a bit of a rip off to me.
6. At December 18, 2007 7:36 PM, paul fitzpatrick wrote:
how much will the fax service cost me?
7. At December 18, 2007 9:04 PM, Rhys Adams wrote:
We already use a system very similar to this from Agmtele. We pay £25 + VAT per year for unlimited faxes to an email address. For £10 + VAT per month we can have a geographical number. I think BT's service is a little over priced.
8. At December 19, 2007 8:38 AM, Ken Cox wrote:
Why bother with this when its possible to scan and send Docs and Photos by email anyway from your computer
9. At December 19, 2007 8:55 AM, Brian Clarke wrote:
Pity about the extra £4.50 account charge, per bill in addition to the £60.
BC
10. At December 19, 2007 9:56 AM, Freddie Dawkins wrote:
Come on, BT. Your marketing department must think it's April 1, not coming up to Christmas. Are there really that many business customers who might fall for this one? Perleease!
11. At December 19, 2007 11:36 AM, D wrote:
I think Jim must be mad to think that paying that amount of money in order to recieve a fax every now and then is value for money. Who even uses faxes these days?
12. At December 19, 2007 11:58 AM, Brian Gardner wrote:
ludicrously expensive
13. At December 19, 2007 12:09 PM, D wrote:
Dead on Brian!
14. At December 19, 2007 12:25 PM, jim wrote:
Hey D why dont you give the free trial a go then, see how you like it?
you ever used fax? i take it by your amateur response your an IT geek and cant look past email, bet you run your own server, do u still use telephone? lol...
Na give it a try man, BT never let you down, bit like sure
15. At December 19, 2007 12:32 PM, M wrote:
If your going to be replacing your fax setup with this then it would work out cheaper. £4.99 a month for a virtual number is cheaper than the £11 a month it would cost to have a sencond line. Not to mention all the extra connection fees etc that would undoubtedly add up
16. At December 19, 2007 12:34 PM, D wrote:
Why do BT not just bundle little extras like this with their Broadband packages,which are overpriced as it is ?
17. At December 19, 2007 1:34 PM, W.HUNTE wrote:
Nice idea, I feel that BT should bundle this service FOC to business community with Broadband connection, after all most business will have a dedicated fax line. To pay and additional £4.50 p/mth is too not on BT. pass me the toner please!
18. At December 19, 2007 2:05 PM, M wrote:
If your going to be replacing your fax setup with this then it would work out cheaper. £4.99 a month for a virtual number is cheaper than the £11 a month it would cost to have a sencond line. Not to mention all the extra connection fees etc that would undoubtedly add up
19. At December 19, 2007 2:09 PM, D wrote:
Firstly, In response to Jim how can my response be 'amateur' if you are branding me as an 'IT Geek' at the same time?? If you want to pay £4.99 to recieve some faxes the fair play to you, I just feel that the £4.99 could be better spent elsewhere. In response to M, I would like to say that I really get where you are comming from; i really do. Please though, catch up with the 21st Century and start sending emails to your customers: faxes are sooo last year!
20. At December 19, 2007 5:14 PM, jim wrote:
you really make me laugh D! do ou just browse these blogs in the hope to cause disruption.
I believe M has nailed the price thing for you, can you bring another point up?
Maybe you need to ask some of the real IT folk here eh...
21. At December 19, 2007 6:55 PM, John Turner wrote:
I have used a similar system for 10+ years (Efax) I have a uk 0870 number no charges to receive (worldwide)as its into email. Option to buy into send facility from $10 per month. I opted into that 6 years ago.
some of my customers can only get large drawings to me by spliting them into A4 and using fax, I then print them and rejoin as required. Technology still has space for the old as well as the new.
22. At December 20, 2007 12:21 AM, thehayloftatford wrote:
I only use fax where people dont have an email or wont accept an email ( eg the bank wanting a signature via fax). So it doesn't help to convert the fax to email.
Also VERY expensive. I already receive all my faxes by email for as part of an office service - at no extra cost
23. At December 20, 2007 11:12 AM, Mrs Bun the Baker wrote:
I've stumbled across this whilst looking for a new fax machine as my one has gone wrong. Shopping around the internet, this looks like excellent value, even compared to other suppliers. I don't understand what all the fuss is about above, you know longer have to pay for a dedicated line or a machine, paper or ink.
Unless I am missing something.....£4.99 a month will allow me to send faxes to my suppliers and receive unlimited faxes from my customs, even better the fax goes straight into my email so no paper for me to lose.I see no catch !
24. At December 20, 2007 11:58 AM, rupert smyth wrote:
John Turner - it looks like you have been using Efax like me, I've just left Efax as it was going to be £7.50 per month, ( this one from BT is £4.99) so this is cheaper. When I originally went to Efax website, there was no mention of how much it would cost after the 30 day free trial, until I started entering my details I did sign up for the free trial (- what a nightmare to get out of) Also, I had one of the 0870 numbers, that's some sort of premium rate number so some of my customers were reluctant to fax me. This was frustrating. This service offers a reasonable all round price for me and people faxing me. I have to add, some companies do hide their charges, at least BT publish theirs and there s nothing hidden ( not that I can see!!) .
25. At December 20, 2007 1:28 PM, Isaac Mendes wrote:
I see into the future and see there is going to be a revival of faxes! They are a great peice of technology from the last century. Just look at the car or telephone, both great peices of technology we rely on heavily. In this country, most of the country get's their broadband through the telephone line, that is how dependant we are on last century's technology.
The faxes are essential for some buisnesses and this is an innotive step forward.
26. At December 20, 2007 1:53 PM, Del wrote:
what a price. If you have fax already on the same line too why bother?
27. At December 20, 2007 6:13 PM, david franklin wrote:
I've used efax for maybe 5 years now. It used to be very cheap but recently I noticed every fax is being charged. Efaxing is the front end of my filing system, everything gets faxed and picked up at my brother-in-law's house in India and he does the book keeping and pays the bills. As I use BT for everthing else I will have a look at their service .... when I don't know .... I'm too busy working to pay their bills to find a way to do it cheaper.
28. At December 21, 2007 9:38 AM, Martin wrote:
In response to Rhys Adams' posting : The BT service is in fact cheaper than the service he mentions (in fact less than half the price). Rhys states his service would cost £25 annually plus £10/month for a geographic number... However, perhaps there has been some misunderstanding - it would cost £4.99 for the equivalent BT service.
We've worked hard to make sure the BT product represents good value for money and is competitively priced within the business fax marketplace.
29. At December 21, 2007 1:18 PM, anjanesh wrote:
BT is doing simply what it does best - bringing most products needed by small business in one place. All the other companies here are limited to fax to email specific providers. I dont know how many people (esp small business)would like the idea of multiple vendors for different requirements.
Idea is a good start for evolving business dynamics .
30. At December 21, 2007 2:19 PM, Janet Caton wrote:
I get a similar service FREE elsewhere!
31. At December 22, 2007 7:15 AM, Geoff Smith wrote:
If we could drag the banks and legal system out of the dark ages and get them to accept pdf documentation, what would be the need for a fax at all?
32. At December 24, 2007 10:11 AM, neil jones wrote:
Love the the idea! Maybe BT can then use the money to offer there customers with the quality and respect they deserve, rather then not giving a toss once then have them!
Mark the word "Customer Service" now try and get this from BT! Good luck!
Post a comment
As 14 days have passed, comments are now closed for this entry.
1. At December 18, 2007 3:36 PM, D wrote: