Is it time to remove your outdated fax server? Discover the modern cloud-based technologies that are more cost effective and secure
Article overview:
The Problem with Internal Fax Servers
- In-house servers are expensive to manage and maintain
- They place a considerable drain on IT department time and resources
- They don’t allow for rapid scalability
- If using standard telecoms lines, you cannot transmit multiple files at once
- Internal fax servers risk security and data protection compliance.
The Online Cloud Faxing Solution
eFax online cloud-faxing services can offer an effective alternative to in-house servers and physical fax machines. By moving your fax processes to an entirely digital and online space, you are free to:
- Continue to send fax documents as you need through an online portal
- Send large files quickly and easily – as well as multiple files at any one time
- Remove costly hardware, such as fax machines and servers, from your workplace
- Improve security and data protection compliance through external support systems
- Scale your fax needs as required using adaptable cloud-based storage platforms
- Free up time associated with physical faxing, including IT maintenance and paper document submission.
Our online faxing solutions are used by almost half of all Fortune 500 companies. The benefits of moving from old-fashioned internal servers can be felt immediately.
Sign up to eFax today and enjoy our free trial offer. Access our full range of eFax services and experience exactly how cloud faxing can transform your fax processes.
Learn More! Read the Full Story Below
For many years, IT departments around the world used in-house fax servers to help centralise their respective companies’ day-to-day faxing schedules in terms of both management and general monitoring, as well as data security. At the time, this type of system was considered to be high-end in terms of technology. However, as time moves on and technology becomes increasingly advanced, there are signs that this type of fax server architecture is becoming increasingly outdated and less efficient when compared to more modern systems.
Should Fax Servers Be Scrapped By Businesses?
It has been noted in recent times that there are numerous disadvantages related to the traditional fax server architecture which has formed a central part of many a business’ day-to-day operations.
The following are four compelling reasons which may make you reconsider your company’s approach to fax servers. and consider moving to an online fax solution
1. The Cost of Using Fax Servers
As with anything related to the running of a successful business enterprise, one of the first things you need to look at is how much something costs; and business fax server systems are no different in this regard.
Unfortunately, your typical fax server system isn’t the most versatile or agile form of IT infrastructure, and can be challenging to scale should you need to upgrade or downsize your company’s capacity to send faxes. As your company grows you will inevitably need to send and receive more and more faxes.
When such time comes around, your company will find itself having to make a big decision; persist with your existing fax server architecture or invest in upgrading to an entirely new one. Obviously, both options come with their own unique disadvantages.
The latter option, on the other hand, represents a substantial financial outlay. Purchasing an entirely new fax server system can cost thousands in terms of hardware. That’s not even taking the costs of associated software into account. Such additions can see the price of installation suddenly double. Then you have to take maintenance costs into account as well. Such large monetary outlays are not business decisions which can be made on a whim.
2. The Disadvantages of Using Telecom Lines
The financial costs associated with transmitting over digital ‘phone lines’ and analogue systems can easily be overlooked as they lack a physical, visible presence. The costs of such services vary. A single analogue line can be run fairly cheaply, with only a small monthly fee to pay. However, the main disadvantage associated with this option is that you can’t send multiple faxes at once, which is far from ideal in a busy working office environment which may require a great many faxes to be sent out at any given time. A significantly more efficient option is to opt for a multi-channel digital service, which would allow for the sending of multiple faxes at once. Unfortunately though, this system comes at a price, with costs which will easily run into the range of hundreds per month.
Analog and telecom costs are fast becoming a thing of the past as far as modern business IT is concerned. Such expenses can be removed from a company’s outlay fairly easily. All that needs to be done is to commit to converging all of your business’ fax traffic into your internet access network. From an IT perspective, this is a sensible move toward working efficiency.
3. Fax Server Maintenance Wastes Valuable IT Resources
Another often overlooked indirect outlay associated with running traditional fax servers from your office space is what it costs in terms of ‘man hours’. No doubt, your company’s IT team will have to maintain the associated fax machines, resolve ongoing operational issues as they arise and provide training to other members of staff so that they can use the fax system properly. This is valuable time which the IT team could be putting into other, more lucrative, business endeavours.
In addition to the above, the IT team will need to carefully monitor the output and usage of any internal fax servers, with a view to judging when said systems are approaching their maximum usage capacity, and in turn making recommendations as to when the system needs to be upgraded. This is not as clear cut a task as one might think initially, as sever workload and demand can change quite quickly, especially if your business experiences an unexpected (if not exactly unwelcome) spike in client leads, leading to a higher volume of important faxes needing to be sent and received on an ongoing basis.
While the costs associated with IT ‘man hours’ are considerably more difficult to pin down and quantify than the aforementioned ‘hard’ costs which have been covered earlier in this article, they should not be overlooked as they are still costing your company money, whether you can physically see where the money is going or not. Remember as well, that time spent here is time which could have been put to better use for more important IT concerns.
4. How Secure Are Fax Servers?
Another extremely important consideration to take into account when considering the viability of using a fax server system in your day-to-day business is that of security. Many traditional fax servers do not properly encrypt their hard drive’s data in an effective manner, which creates an obvious ‘soft spot’ point for the company which can be exploited by opportunistic hackers. This can be of particular concern if the fax server is connected to your company’s main network.
Such vulnerabilities in terms of security become all the more problematic when we take into account that your company may be handling data which could potentially lead to a client or customer’s personal information falling into the wrong hands. Such information falls under the remit of very strict privacy and data protection laws. The loss of such data could have serious legal repercussions for your company, as well as the loss of reputation.
It should also be noted that it is still a standard form of procedure in many businesses for a company administrator to perform what is known as a ‘content purge’ of fax records. This typically involves said administrator physically printing out faxed documents for filing purposes. The dangers of these practices are fairly apparent; important physical documents could easily be misplaced temporarily or lost entirely, leading to a loss in record-keeping and internal accountability. Similarly, having physical documents on site leaves a company open to the possibility of non-authorised staff viewing documentation which they should not be privy to.
Can Cloud-Based Systems Replace Traditional Fax Servers?
When we take the aforementioned reasons into account, a clear case emerges that it is high time that modern businesses put an end to their use of traditional fax server systems. Ideally, they should be replaced with more secure, efficient and cost-effective solutions. While there are several different options available on the market, here at eFax UK we firmly believe that the ideal course of action to take is to replace your company’s existing fax server with a cloud-based faxing system
- Fax Hardware Installations
- Server Software Upgrades
- Maintenance Costs
- Telecommunication Line Rental
- IT ‘Man Hours’