Despite what some people may think, the fax machine is alive and well. People all over the world still send and receive faxes every day. But why do people still use fax machines? Didn’t email do away with the channel’s necessity?
The answers to these questions are different across the globe. According to Jerusalem Post contributor Niv Elis, the Japanese still use it out of tradition. Handwriting remains a treasured aspect of the culture, and as such faxing is still incredibly common. Those who live in Israel have seen an adoption problem with modern technology, and are required in many instances to use faxing because it is in compliance with the law.
The United States also has regulations in place that demand faxing. Many industries and organizations cannot trust email attachments, as the channel is inherently lacking in security. This extends from healthcare to finance and even to the government.
Countless modern professionals need the ability to fax. But this doesn’t mean that they must be slaves to legacy hardware. By embracing either online or cloud-based fax, it is possible to enable convenience and security for employees in every field.
Keeping compliant
Fax machines have been in place for decades, and they have earned their longevity in terms of security. But these endpoints were created before the arrival of things like the personal computer and the smartphone. This has created a discrepancy between what is possible and what has to be done in the name of compliance.
According to Motherboard contributor Kaleigh Rogers, many government institutions will not accept messages or requests that are not in fax form due to the nature of the language in existing legislation.
“And while it’s a cause of major headaches, fax machines play a central role in filing Freedom of Information Act requests here in the US,” Rogers wrote. “Many government agencies, including the CIA, won’t accept FOIA requests via email; the most technologically-advanced they’ve gotten is the fax machine. Some smaller state and local agencies, like the NYPD, won’t even accept faxes – they require snail mail.”
Present-day solutions assist legacy systems
Thankfully, modern technology has found a way to circumvent cumbersome physical requirements. The part of the faxing process that makes it so viable is the servers. As long as fax servers are in play, the endpoints facilitating them are up to the discretion of the user. As a result, more companies are pushing their systems online and into the cloud.
Businesses need to recognize that making things convenient for their employees should be a top priority. People need to be supported in their need for mobility and streamlined workflows. Eliminating the physical aspect of faxing has proven to be a powerful way of accomplishing this, and as such a growing segment of organizations are updating their capabilities.
Enhance enterprise communication, collaboration and compliance efforts with a proven FoIP solution from FaxCore. Contact FaxCore today to learn more about their ‘Partly-Cloudy’ fax solutions.
