Government offices utilize a lot of paper. That paper consumption comes from printing and faxing important documents and memos. However, agencies may be wasting a lot of what they print. A 2009 study from Lexmark and O'Keefe & Company found that $440 million was wasted annually, because 92 percent of employees said they printed more than necessary and threw out 35 percent of the paper they printed per day, GreenBiz reported.
While these numbers are from six years ago, the report still indicated the severity of the printing situation within government – showing that agencies needed to do better about conserving paper to reduce the amount of money spent on printing each year. Government organizations have come a long way since 2009, but some are still holding on to their traditional fax machines, which contributes to that level of paper consumption.
For instance, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, resigned his post during the week of September 13 via fax. People all over the world were stunned by the move. They weren't surprised by the resignation itself – leadership was expected to change hands after Malcom Turnbull challenged him for the position earlier in the week – but more by the method in which he did it. The custom, according to The Telegraph, is to resign in person.
Though Abbot's resignation came via traditional fax, there are many reasons why agencies' continued use of faxing would be improved through the use of fax-over-Internet-protocol systems. Let's take a look at some reasons why cloud-based fax solutions are a better fit for government organizations than traditional fax machines:
"Fax solutions can help make government processes more efficient and sustainable in the long term."
FoIP saves paper and money
The advantages of putting data on a dedicated cloud fax server instead of storing it on-premises are well-known, and government organizations are starting to benefit from migrating applications to cloud infrastructure. When local governments embrace the cloud fax server, they can enhance service delivery and improve flexibility within the organizations. According to InformationWeek contributor Sherly Mendoza, the fact that cloud environments can be scaled to fit your specific needs and operations is a valuable tool that helps save money in operational expenditures. Instead of constantly having to invest in new equipment and systems, you simply add more cloud capabilities with your service provider.
Fax solutions that are based in the cloud work like that, too. When employees utilize fax-to-email systems, documents transmitted via email are stored on virtual servers, which means you don't have piles of paper sitting around the office that would eventually wind up in the garbage bin. In this way, fax solutions can help make government processes more efficient and sustainable in the long term.
Better security
Along with opex, one of the biggest considerations of government organizations is security, both physical and cyber. Government cybersecurity has been thrown into the spotlight in recent years. American City & County contributor Frank Kettenstock views technology as a way to increase security and improve data protection efforts.
'While the benefits of a paper-driven process were based on tried and true considerations such as security, information verification and traceable document flow, those benefits have proven dated as of late, with security concerns hitting organizations through physical paper trails, for instance," Kettenstock wrote. "All of these considerations can be addressed with a holistic document management process driven through technology."
FoIP offers a way for organizations to improve physical security. When sent via email, documents are stored in virtual environments instead of on actual machines, which means there is less chance a confidential document will be picked up by someone who doesn't need to see it. Thermal copies are a thing of the past, as well – traditional fax equipment could be hacked, meaning whatever remains saved on the hard drive can be accessed.
The bottom line is that fax solutions offer government organizations a better way to provide service to constituents and continue to improve security. Where traditional fax machines may be falling by the wayside in terms of usefulness, cloud fax servers provides the answer.
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.
