Le Boisé Alternatives Finds the Fax is
Greener with MyFax
Lower energy consumption, greater availability makes Internet faxing
a win-win for alternative energy installer.
OTTAWA (Business Wire EON) April 21, 2008 --
When you make your living helping customers take advantage of renewable
energy sources instead of living on the power grid, you want to be sure
your own business practices match that mission. Yet this belief created
a dilemma for DJ MacIntyre, president and founder of Le Boisé
Alternatives, a builder that specializes in installing renewable energy
sources throughout Quebec and Ontario, Canada.
Faxes are still used frequently in the construction business to submit
bids, finalize contracts, place orders for materials and more. Yet
MacIntyre knew that because fax machines are always on, drawing power
whether they are in use or not, they don’t
exactly fit the definition of environmentally-friendly –
or cost efficient. After calculating what it was costing him to run a
fax machine 24 x 7, he began looking into an alternative of his own –
Internet faxing. This investigation led him to MyFax.
“Keeping a light bulb on for 24 hours is
expensive when you generate your own electricity,”
McIntyre says. “And a fax machine uses the
equivalent of three compact light bulbs all the time. MyFax not only
helps reduce my electricity costs – which is
really important when you’re generating every
kilowatt hour yourself – it also helps me run
my business more efficiently while being more environmentally
responsible. What’s not to like?”
According to the Energy Star ratings from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), a fax machine consumes more electricity than
any other office equipment. It is part of a class of equipment the EPA
refers to as “power vampires,”
and the renewable energy community calls a “phantom
load” – units that
waste roughly 10% of the grid’s power on a
continuous basis even when sitting idle. Fax paper also results in
deforestation, water pollution during manufacturing, and waste issues.
“If you run a fax machine 24 x 7, you create
80 Kg of greenhouse gas per year in our area,”
McIntyre says. “That’s
a lot considering how infrequently the fax machine is actually used.”
Mobility was another factor that led MacIntyre into investigating
Internet fax services. He says his customer base ranges from Quebec City
to Kingston, Ontario, an area of roughly 366,600 square miles. Since he
is the only licensed renewable energy contractor within this vast region
in Quebec, and one of very few to his knowledge in Ontario, he is often
away from the office (and the fax machine) for days or weeks at a time.
MyFax gives him the ability to send and receives faxes via his laptop or
Blackberry anywhere he happens to be – even
in remote, off-the-grid locations.
MacIntyre’s selection of MyFax over other
Internet fax service providers was driven largely by the company’s
ratings in reviews on sites such as TopTenREVIEWS.com.
“Everywhere I went, whether the parties were
users or professional reviewers, MyFax came out on top,”
he says. “And after opening my account I
found out why.”
He says that signing up only took a few minutes, and his new fax number
was operational within a half hour.
“The nice thing is I didn’t
have to download any special software,”
MacIntyre says. “When a fax comes in, I
receive an e-mail notification on my laptop and Blackberry. I can
preview it and decide whether to open it or respond to it now or later,
even if I’m in the deep woods. Having the fax
come in as a PDF rather than in some proprietary format makes it easier
to see, and to store electronically if I need to. It’s
extremely convenient.”
When he looks at hard numbers for results, MacIntyre has a unique
perspective. It isn’t just about saving time.
Due to the nature of his business he knows what the real costs are.
“If I had to build a power system strictly to
run a fax machine 24 hours a day, it would cost around $4,000 to $5,000
in infrastructure costs, without accounting for maintenance,”
he says. “That electricity is now being
re-directed to other appliances and devices in the house. I’m
conserving time, money, and the environment. It’s
a great combination.”
About MyFax
MyFax is the fastest growing Internet fax service used by individuals,
small, medium and large businesses to send and receive faxes using
existing email accounts or the web. MyFax offers services in North
America and Europe, including the United Kingdom to industries
recognized among the fastest growing adopters of internet fax including
finance, insurance, real estate, healthcare, transportation and
government. More than 10,000 new customers subscribe to MyFax each
month. Additional information is available at www.myfax.com
and www.myfax.uk.com.
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