While it should be common knowledge that email is not as effective as it once was for the enterprise, totally eradicating it from the office in 2015 might not be possible or viable.
"The reports of email's demise have been greatly exaggerated," wrote TMCnet contributor Mae Kowalke. "For all the social media platforms, unified communications offerings and other ways that people can communicate in 2015, email is still one of the most used and most basic."
But let's not confuse popularity with perfection. While email may always have its place in business communications, it is not as ideal as some people would like to believe. In addition to lacking effective organization in many instances, it is also inherently weak when it comes to encryption and security. Rather than attach sensitive documents that could risk being leaked or hacked, many companies still use fax technology to transmit files that have to be kept secure.
Just because faxing is required, however, doesn't mean that it can't be improved upon. There are a growing number of channels that are finding new life in the cloud, and faxing is one of the most popular and successful to do so. Cloud-based faxing is quickly proving to be a powerful means of sharing documents that does not lack on the protections that are essential for these sorts of connections.
VoIP begets FoIP
Voice over IP has received a great deal of attention as of late. While the concept has been around since the early '90s, VoIP technology has experienced a new kind of success thanks to the rise of mobile device use in the enterprise.
"[T]he VoIP phenomenon is giving way to a new era of IP-enabled cloud communications, which are already having the same disruptive effect on the communications industry that its voice-only, premised-based progenitor has," wrote TMCnet contributor Tara Seals. "Moving mission-critical applications to a hosted environment has profound implications for the IT industry as well as the market for IP PBXs and other now-legacy VoIP gear. It also has big ramifications on how enterprise operations are budgeted and staffed – IT functions are now transitioned from a capex to an opex model, which in-house administrator needs decrease significantly."
All of this can also be said about a similar concept – FoIP. Fax over IP has helped to redefine office communications much in the same way that VoIP has. These assets are proving that the ideas behind certain legacy systems are still viable even if the hardware that has traditionally been in place is ready to be retired.
But even more than just enabling IP connectivity, faxing can be best adapted through the use of the cloud. Cloud-based fax allows workers to constantly have fax capabilities at all times – even from remote locations. The nature of the modern workforce is mobile, and ensuring that these present-day professionals are enabled to do their jobs in the ways that best suit them can unlock a significant new degree of productivity.
Cloud communications essential for 2015
While it's not likely that email will ever totally leave the enterprise landscape, the coming year should be a time to evaluate just how much it actually helps and hurts any given organization. It may seem to be the most convenient, but it is far from secure enough for business standards. The best solution here is not just to try removing email from the equation, but offering an alternative that can be easily used in its place. Faxing fits this bill nicely, but only when leveraged in the appropriate environment.
The way that people connect and compute is changing. The cloud has unlocked a larger potential for employees to complete their tasks on terms that best suit them. Organizations have to be agile, and the only way to accomplish this in 2015 will be to implement the cloud in as many new ways as possible. Cloud functionality is now essential for companies of all sizes, and is particularly useful for communications assets like the fax machine.
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