Just the fax...free: U S West, FaxNet aim service at occasional use

Continuing the trend toward free services, U S West penned a deal with FaxNet last week to offer customers free fax-to-e-mail services. The deal is a continuation of previous agreements between the companies.

Through the agreement, U S West will rebrand and market FaxNet's FaxMission and FaxMission Pro services. FaxNet has similar marketing agreements with other companies, including Bell Atlantic, BellSouth and RoadRunner, but U S West is the only RBOC offering free fax services.

U S West's brand of FaxPower is geared toward occasional users. Customers receive a telephone number that automatically forwards inbound faxes to a designated mailbox in TIFF format. Customers can use outbound e-mail-based services for 10 cents a page.

"Fax tends to be an important form of communication in general. We view [this service] as a way to create stickiness by giving them something they already view as important," said Michael Sevilla, product manager for IP solutions at U S West !nterprise.

Through the same deal, U S West is offering a paid fax service geared toward businesses that lets users send and receive faxes through e-mail. With FaxPower Pro, customers can choose an area code from Denver, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., or Seattle. The charge for FaxPower Pro is $6.95 per mailbox.

By offering free fax services, the company hopes to upsell customers later as they use the service more.

"It is a way to pull in a lot of people so that we can offer outbound services," said Lisa Quetchenbach, director of Internet product marketing at FaxNet.