Organizations of all sizes rely on fax communications to send and receive critical information every day. Information sent via fax directly impacts critical business functions such as order processing, invoicing, and customer service. If faxes are not processed properly, these functions are not fulfilled. Implementing an enterprise fax server solution provides a central network resource for users and applications to send, receive, and track faxes via email and Web interfaces, from MFP devices, and from within applications. For network administrators, an enterprise fax server solution consolidates fax communications and provides a means of tracking information coming into and going out of the organization.

• Central network resource for sending and receiving faxes.
• Send faxes via email, Web, MFP, and from within applications.
• Track fax traffic for compliance purposes.
• Consolidate administration and Telco resources.
   

How do organizations use fax server solutions?

Organizations use fax servers to facilitate mission-critical applications. A pharmaceutical customer uses a fax server to receive prescription orders. These orders arrive via fax and are immediately delivered to an order processing workflow. These orders must be fulfilled and confirmed in a short period of time; if not, the order is cancelled, and the revenue is lost. A mortgage customer uses a fax server to centrally process loan applications. Field offices around the country complete loan applications and fax these to a central location for review. When a fax is received to the fax server, it is immediately delivered to a loan review workflow. As additional faxes related to the loan arrive, these are indexed and correlated with the original application. If these processes are not in place, loan applications are not fulfilled, and revenue is lost. A retail customer uses a fax server to centrally process product orders from its many retail shops. As orders are received to the fax server, they are immediately delivered to an order fulfillment workflow. An acknowledgement fax is delivered to the sender confirming that the order has been received. If the acknowledgment fax is not sent, duplicate orders may result. If the fax is not processed properly, orders are not fulfilled, and revenue is lost.

What are the components of a fax server solution?

An enterprise fax server solution includes a fax server, fax queues, application connectors, and a fax tracking database. The fax server connects to PSTN phone lines or to IP networks to send and receive faxes. For outbound faxes, the fax server converts files such as Word, PDF, and PCL to the TIFF file format for fax delivery. Received faxes and fax status messages are delivered to fax queues. Fax queues submit faxes to the fax server, and receive inbound faxes and fax status messages from the fax server. Users and applications submit faxes to fax queues via application connectors for environments such as Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Oracle, and SAP. The fax tracking database records all fax activity for users and applications.

What applications and environments are supported by a fax server solution?

Users and applications can fax from any application in any network environment. FAXCOM Suite for Windows, for example, enables users to fax via email, a browser-based FAXCOM Web Client, or a desktop application, the FAXCOM Client. Integration with LDAP-compatible directory services such as Microsoft’s Active Directory simplifies user management. Users can also fax paper documents from an MFP device through a network fax server. Rich APIs such as .NET, Web Services, SMTP, and COM provide programmatic access to the fax server solution.

What is the ROI of a fax server solution?

Implementing an enterprise fax server solution provides a demonstrable ROI. For organizations that use paper fax machines, an enterprise fax server solution uses a lesser number of phone lines, eliminates paper, toner, and leasing costs, and reduces administrative overheard. In addition, users and applications send and receive faxes faster – making more time for other activities. For organizations with an older fax server solution, migrating to a new enterprise fax server solution provides integration with new applications such as Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2007 and SharePoint 2007, offers better workflow tools for managing and processing fax content, and simplifies administration with LDAP integration for user management.