Free Services for Startups and Small & Micro Businesses (or anyone)
When starting or running a small business, you may have questions as to how you will communicate with your clients, how you will store and manage documents, etc. You may even have a need for fax service (who uses fax these days?) So, I have put together a list of FREE online-based services to help get you started without having out of pocket expenses.
For Phone Line
- Google Voice – http://www.google.com/voice
(requires that you have an existing phone with service)
For Phone/Audio Conferencing
- Free Conference Call.com – http://www.freeconferencecall.com
- Start Meeting Audio Conferencing – http://www.startmeeting.com
Video Conferencing
- Skype – http://www.skype.com
- Tango – http://www.tango.me
- iVisit – http://www.ivisit.com
- AnyMeeting – http://www.anymeeting.com
Free Fax Services
- eFax – http://www.efax.com/efax-free
- FaxZero – http://www.faxzero.com (send only)
For Email
- Outlook Mail – http://www.outlook.com
- Google’s Gmail – http://www.google.com/mail
- Yahoo Mail – http://www.yahoo.com/mail
Online File Storage
- Dropbox – http://www.dropbox.com
- Box.net – http://www.box.net
- Google Drive – http://www.google.com/drive (Google Docs)
- Windows Live SkyDrive – http://skydrive.live.com
- Tresorit – http://www.tresorit.com
Screen Sharing
- Mikojo – http://www.mikojo.com
- ScreenLeap – http://www.screenleap.com
- ShowMyPC – http://www.showmypc.com
Of course there are many other free services. In fact, doing a Google search will reveal a plethora no cost or minimal cost online-based services. These are a few that I have used, am currentyl using, or that have been recommended to me by my techie friends. This is not an official endorsement for any one product in particular as you must try them for yourself to see what works for you. If you want to read reviews about any of these services, simply Google their names. Also, since they are all free, there may be some limitations on use.
Some of these services may even have restrictions for business use. Therefore, be sure to check out the fine print (the use agreements) for what you can and cannot do when using them.
What free services are you using? Share them in the comments.