What do you use when you need to send a fax? Do you even own a fax machine? I used to have one, but then I started using Ooma for my phone service and they don’t support faxing. I checked with our local Staples store and they charge way too much for my comfort level and I don’t like handing over sensitive documents to just anyone.
Then I got an email from Microsoft letting me know about HelloFax and how it now integrates with SkyDrive. Since I’m a SkyDrive insider (and needed to send a fax), I wanted to check it out.
It was easy to sign up for HelloFax with my existing Microsoft account (yay, no new password), the user interface was friendly.
Next, you’ll need to fetch the document you want to use. Your choices are to drag the file into the box or you can click on one of the icons to get your document from SkyDrive or one of the other storage applications. I need to make a note that in order to get your HelloFax folder set up on SkyDrive, you’ll need to begin by first retrieving a document from your hard drive. After your first document is sent, then you’ll see you have a HelloFax folder in your SkyDrive. This is how it worked for me.
During the set up process, you’ll be asked if you want to set up a signature – yes – you’ll want to do this because when you get ready to send a fax, you’ll be asked if you need to insert a signature. That solves the pain of having to print your document out and scan it back to your computer to upload it.
Below here you can see my HelloFax SkyDrive folder. All the subfolders were automatically set up for me-nice.
Add Signature, Text and Date
In this section I wanted to show you how the adding of your signature works. You will be prompted to set up your signature right after you sign up. Then when you have a document to fax that needs your signature, you’ll see the ‘add signature’ box at the lower left of your screen. Click it and you’ll be able to not only add your signature, but you can add text, checkboxes and insert the current date.
After everything is filled out, click the send and you’ll get a notice instantly that it’s sent and later, you’ll get an email that it was received.
Security & Encryption
Sometimes we need to send documents with sensitive information in them, so I wanted to see what they had to say about keeping things secure – from their website – “We take your contract information security seriously, which is why sensitive communications with HelloFax are protected by 256-bit SSL encryption. Additionally, we encrypt all of your statically-stored user files and signature information in Amazon’s S3 servers, which is an SAS-70 certified data center, and restrict physical and employee access to it. “
SkyDrive & HelloFax
There you have it – easily and securely store and send your documents using HelloFax and SkyDrive. Have a record in your SkyDrive of all the documents you’ve faxed for quick and easy reference.
If you’ve tried it, let me know your user experience. If you know of another great faxing software, leave me a comment about that!