For many people, “faxing” is dead. At best, faxes seem to be a holdover relic from the ’90s. However, nothing could be further from the truth. 89% of small to medium-sized businesses still use faxes in one form or the other. Faxing still dominates communication in several fields. For instance, in the medical field, faxing accounts for 79% of all communication.
So if you think faxing is dated, think again. Faxing is still one of the preferred means of communication among businesses.
Faxing has Evolved
Generally, as soon as you hear faxing, your mind races to faxing machine. Although there are still millions of faxing machines across the world, faxing is now digital. In other words, you can fax without a fax machine. With digital faxing, you eliminate paperwork and the need for traditional fax machines, which usually need servicing periodically.
With digital faxing, usual complaints such as paper jams, busy signals, blurred printouts, and wrong fax destinations are a thing of the past. Faxes are now easy to use, faster, and more convenient.
Faxing is More Secure
While there have been various digital technologies to ensure secure information and data transfer, faxing still tops most digital methods of file sharing. Case-in-point – emails. According to a recent study, 41% of emails have been compromised in one form or another. With emails and digital file-sharing means at the mercy of hackers, faxing provides a safer alternative.
For instance, A top Sony Pictures executive after the 2014 break-in by hackers, vowed to use faxes only to ensure security. Because faxes travel through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), hackers cannot intercept and compromise information.
Faxing is Crucial For Global Business
Globally, faxing is still a widespread practice. For instance, if you do business with companies in countries like Japan and Israel, you’d have to use fax machines. Otherwise, you can’t function effectively in such markets. There are many places around the world where internet connections are not stable, but phone lines are. In such cases, faxing is the best way to share vital documents.
Some trans-Atlantic businesses only use faxing. An example is the shipping industry. Owing to the lack of internet facilities across the seas, most shippers use faxes for document and file-sharing.
Faxing Meets Legal Clearance
If you send a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the CIA, you are unlikely to receive a response unless it travels through fax. That’s a signal of how valued faxing is among the top security services.
Several organizations would never accept signed documents sent over the email. They would prefer faxes because of its security features. More importantly, faxes can be used in courts as real evidence, unlike some other digital file-sharing means. It’s no surprise that lawyers use faxing for most of their documents. Even practitioners in the medical field use faxing primarily due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires strict security measures for the transfer of patient records.
In Conclusion
Faxing is not dead – it is alive and well. Many businesses are using faxes for all their critical communication. And for a good reason. Faxes are more secure, and they place your business in the pole position to do business globally. It also meets the regulations of privacy for most companies.
