The fax machine is the Rocky Balboa of long-distance communication—it just doesn’t quit! Nearly 160 years after its inception—and the arrival of myriad new technologies, like email, instant messaging, video chat, printers, and scanners—the humble fax machine is still going strong in 2023.
Countless organizations worldwide, in sectors as diverse as health care, finance, and logistics, still use this electronic means of transmission as a medium of business communications. And with the evolution of online faxing, you can now send and receive faxes using just a computer or mobile device and an email account.
Regardless of whether you prefer old-school fax machines or more modern online devices, one thing remains the same: always use a personalized cover sheet with all your faxes.
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What is a Fax Cover Sheet?
Also called a fax cover letter, this sheet of paper is something you fax along with the main document. In a standard fax message, the main body is a sensitive document, like a signed contract, a person’s ID card, or confidential health records. The fax cover sheet provides the necessary context to this document, such as the following additional information:
- Who the sender is
- Who the recipient is
- Why you’re sending the fax
- Whether you’re including any sensitive/confidential information
To efficiently furnish all this information in a single page, a fax cover sheet should have a letterhead containing the name and contact details of the sender/business organization, details about the recipient, a brief description of the subject, and any relevant call to action/additional comments for the recipient.
How to Create a Fax Cover Sheet
If you want to create a fax cover sheet from scratch, you can do so using any modern word-processing software, like Microsoft Word, Open Office/LibreOffice, or Google Docs. These products often come with a selection of basic fax cover sheet templates.
But if you want highly customized and stylized templates specialized for specific industries, browse online for a wide selection of examples covering an array of specializations. You’re bound to come across templates for faxes related to accounting, construction, education, finance, legal, medical, and more. The sheets are available for Microsoft Word and offer full customization options.
The Importance of Using Fax Cover Sheets
While they may seem rather unimportant at first glance, cover sheets are a vital part of business fax communications. Here are two reasons why using a fax cover sheet is beneficial:
1. Basic Corporate Etiquette
Fax machines aren’t like personal email addresses. Oftentimes, an entire department may share a single fax machine in a business organization. A cover letter ensures that the fax reaches the intended recipient devoid of any confusion. In business circles, not using one shows a lack of professionalism and etiquette.
2. Privacy and Data Security
The vast majority of documents sent via fax tend to contain sensitive information. A cover sheet marked “confidential” would notify the recipient of the nature of its contents and ensure data secrecy is maintained. And if the fax contains multiple pages of documents, specifying the number of pages in the cover sheet helps make certain individual pages don’t end up missing.
Personalize All Your Faxes with Cover Sheets
Whether you use an antique fax machine or a modern online fax service, cover sheets come in handy. For a traditional fax machine, add a printout of a customized cover sheet template to the document before feeding it to the machine.
It’s even easier with online fax. Just use the “add cover page” option to add the filled template—either as a DOC file or PDF—to the scanned documents waiting to be sent. With modern online services, sending a personalized fax to your business vendors/partners is easier than ever before.
