With the introduction of the internet into everyday life, there have been a lot of innovations hitting the business sector recently. One of these is Fax over IP, an incredibly versatile solution to document transfer. At its most basic, this technology allows for companies to send faxes over the internet, which has multiple benefits for data security and overall efficiency.
However, FoIP is fairly complex, and fully understanding this innovation requires a look at what kinds of specific problems it can solve. To that end, let's take a look at a couple of real-life problems that FoIP could easily solve.
Internal Affairs cases left in paper bag
When the administration of a certain governmental body changes, there's generally a lot of confusion during the transition. Former officials usually do all they can to ensure the newly elected leader isn't forced to clean up after them, but certain tasks often cannot be accomplished. What's more, duties are sometimes simply forgotten about, forcing the new administration to pick up the pieces.
This is exactly what happened to Vicki Hennessy, San Francisco's newest sheriff. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Hennessy's employees stumbled upon a paper bag left by Frederico Rocha, ex-undersheriff to former sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Once opened, it was discovered that this bag contained three files concerning disciplinary cases sent from Internal Affairs.
When police members act in a way that is unbecoming of an officer of the law, Internal Affairs has to step in to ensure these people are punished. However, these kinds of cases generally have a time limit in which penalties must be levied or they are no longer considered within the statute of limitations. This was the case with two of the three files found in the bag, with both of these investigations becoming no longer applicable in June or July.
Thankfully, Hennessy's office discovered the bag before it was too late, and plans to follow through with Internal Affairs's investigation. As it stands, no one is coming forward to take the blame here. Although the documents were sent to Rocha, he and Mirkarimi are denying any knowledge of their existence. Whether they knew about it or not doesn't really matter at this point, as it would be impossible to know exactly what happened. That said, this whole case does bring to light the faults of paper documents.
When something as important as an Internal Affairs investigation is trusted to a paper document, there are a near uncountable number of events that could transpire that could lead to misbehaving officers not being reprimanded. This is why departments such as this one should look into a FoIP solution. Much like legacy fax machines, FoIP enables a high level of security when sending documents, which is an absolute necessity for a sheriff's office. What's more, FoIP systems have an automatic archive capability built in, which would have allowed Hennessy's new administration to quickly and efficiently get to the bottom of what happened here.
Memo about paper waste sent out on paper
Paper is one of the most wasted commodities produced right now, especially within offices. Due to its flimsy nature combined with the fast-paced culture of many offices, paper is very often thrown out rather than recycled. In fact, The World Counts has stated that American businesses go through more than 12 trillion pieces of paper every single year.
"Paper is one of the most wasted commodities."
While few people know the full extent of this problem, many offices see the wastefulness of paper and have begun to take steps to eliminate its use within the organization. In fact, this was the exact thinking behind a section of a memo sent out by Erie County Legislature Chairman John Mills in Buffalo, New York.
According to WBFO contributor Mike Desmond, Mills had sent out a memo decrying the massive increase in paper usage in the office. He stated that workers were using 67 percent more paper than they had at the same time the year before, and he wanted to make sure everyone understood the gravity of the situation. While this is certainly something to bring to the attention of legislators, this particular message was part of a memo that was reportedly around one-inch thick.
As memos are sent to an entire group of people, such a large packet must have used quite a lot of paper, thereby defeating the purpose of Mills's memo. This is yet another area in which FoIP dominates. Unlike traditional fax machines, FoIP doesn't require the recipient to print off any paper documents, instead allowing them to access the information as they would an email.
However, FoIP is quite a lot more secure than email. Such a combination would be perfect for the Erie County Legislature. They would be able to send out memos in a secure fashion without having to contribute to the paper problem Mills brought up.
FoIP is a problem solver
FoIP has a lot to bring to the modern office, and it's why so many organizations have begun to make the switch. This service can allow for instant archiving of important documents while still providing the security of a legacy fax system. What's more, the ability to read these records online eliminates the need for paper, which both saves the environment as well as the company's budget.
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.
