I’ve been converting a lot of my normal functional necessities to software alternatives. Here are a few things I’ve been using a lot:
eFax
I’ve been using eFax for a few weeks. In the course of a couple months I went from using a fax machine (toner cartridges suck) to using a fax modem and a land line, and then finally to eFax. My phone line was costing me about $27 a month, and I receive faxes infrequently. However, I have to have a fax line because a few clients love to send jobs this way, e.g. they’ll print out their website and write their desired edits on the printout.
What I like:
- Faxes can be sent to multiple email addresses. This allows me to share my fax number with select individuals.
- Faxes can be received anywhere I can check my email.
- Faxes can be sent as TIF’s or PDF’s. You can even convert them to text using OCR.
- It’s cheaper than a land line at $13 a month.
What I don’t like:
- It costs 20 cents to send a fax.
- I don’t like having to change my fax number, although I was able to get a local one.
Skype
Lately, my cell phone bill has been $100 and over. I have no idea where the additional minutes have come from since it’s normally just $50, but it’s amazing how much cellular service can end up costing. I’ve been trying to use Skype a lot more for certain types of calls I can make while at my desk since it’s almost free and I can really talk for free as long as I want to other Skype users. I also like the fact that my phone number goes with me wherever I have internet access. So for example, people can call my SkypeIn telephone number when I’m at home or when I’m at work and I’ll always be able to pick it up. I experimented today with setting my cell phone to auto-forward to my SkypeIn number, but it’s occasionally unreliable.
What I like:
- Free calls over the internet anywhere I have broadband access. Just need a mic and headset.
- Voicemail
- Local numbers can be purchased in any locality. In other words, you could have a local German telephone number and an American number. Good for dispersed families.
- Chat / file transfers / encryption
What I don’t like:
- I can’t forward my SkypeIn number
- I can’t save voicemail as a wav or mp3 from within Skype
- Skype doesn’t email voicemail or allow you to check it without Skype
- SkypeIn is still unreliable, but then it is in Beta.