OpenText Fax & Document Distribution Group

By Todd Curtis of ProcessFlows

I suppose the real question is “How secure are the documents sent or received on the fax machine in the corner of your department?”

Todd Curtis, Public Sector Sales Manager from ProcessFlows, an OpenText UK Distributor answers:

Unfortunately, the answer is not secure at all.

The vast majority of Public Sector organisations I visit have this in common; they are all wasting approximately £50,000 annually on phone line connections and consumables for fax devices that lack  integration with  business systems, offer no document security, and waste paper.

Think about it–anyone in your organisation can send documents from a fax machine–without any authority or proof of sender.

Fax security should be a major concern for any Public Sector organisation.

Safe Havens, a locked room with a dedicated fax machine, are deployed throughout the National Health Service (NHS)  These are secure up to a point, but that room could be used for other services.

OpenText RightFax would provide 100′s of fax Safe Havens within your organisation at a reduced cost, compared to your current fleet of fax machines.

Xerox was the first photocopier company in the UK to integrate their Multi Function Printers (MFPs) into RightFax. This meant an organisation with this combined solution could remove all the costs associated with fax machines (fax toners, fax maintenance, phone line rentals). The combination of MFPs and RightFax not only improves document security, it also provides a reduction in carbon and paper wastage as well as greater staff efficiency.

All public spending is under scrutiny.  I urge you to find a project with a quicker ROI, that can be implemented with minimal internal resource and delivers all of the following benefits:

• Improved document security
• Reduced costs
• Improved staff efficiencies
• Decreased carbon emissions

Integrating your photocopiers with RightFax and removing your fax machines will do all this.

Do you

• Use standalone fax machines?
• Work in the Public Sector?
• Want to improve document security, reduce costs and improve staff efficiency?

ProcessFlows serves as UK Distributor, Support Centre and Authorized Training Partner for OpenText RightFax and OpenText Alchemy. For more information on ProcessFlows, contact tcurtis@processflows.co.uk.

What’s all the fuss about virtualization anyway? Well for starters, it’s a hot topic in IT consolidation today because it saves money and helps the environment too. Virtualization is the ability to run multiple instances of applications, operating systems or CPUs on a “virtual” or “alien” platform. The obvious benefits are easy to see: Less computer hardware to maintain, less space in the datacenter, and even less energy consumption.

At first pass it sounds straightforward, but if you dig deep enough, virtualization can be thought of at multiple layers within the topology of an Enterprise to such a degree that it can be downright confusing. Popular definitions of virtualization will usually lump it into two main categories however: Platform virtualization and Application virtualization. If you want more, then it starts to get a little too deep. As a matter of fact, Wiki lists about ten distinct categories of virtualization. But fear not, with respect to Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition (Formerly Captaris RightFax) and its role in your virtual reality, it is well, “virtually” a no brainer. Simply put, the new version Fax Server, RightFax Edition is an application that can run on a virtual machine using VMWare. This means that your fax solution can now play nicely with whatever virtual strategies you have in place today and for the future.

But wait, what about the fax boards that interconnect the server to the phone system? After all they are physical pieces of hardware that require occupancy in a machine. How do you turn that into a virtual solution too? The first answer is easy: Consider migrating to a software-only solution that eliminates the need for the fax boards altogether. That’s right; we’re talking about strengthening your virtualization strategy by adopting a fax over IP (FoIP) solution. Now, you’ve created a truly replicable environment.

Okay, so what if that is not possible? Since we are on the topic of “reality”, it is well understood that many organizations are just starting to implement their plans to migrate to FoIP and that there are in fact a lot of installed fax boards already in place and working fine just as they are. That brings us to the second answer and it’s just as easy: Using Fax Server’s modern architecture, it’s simple to setup the fax boards in a dedicated CPU machine (with a remote DocTransport service running for example) and placing the rest of the application on an “alien” or “virtual” machine. You’re still going to recognize tangible benefits while leveraging your current fax board investments. Over time, you can migrate your fax hardware to FoIP and gain even more return as you virtualize the rest of the solution.

To sum it all up, if going “virtual” is in your company’s plans, then Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition now offers flexible ways to make it… real.

Download a Fax over IP Toolkit and information on fax server virtualization in VoIP environments.

Open Text has also published The Essential Guide to Fax Server Software and you can download it for free. Jointly published with Windows IT Pro, this comprehensive guide details all considerations when developing a secure and cost effective fax enabled document delivery strategy.

Looking for a simple and cost effective green solution? Fax servers provide real solutions without the hype!

Fax technology is ubiquitous and faxing is recognized as one of the few electronic mediums where documents can be easily transferred and tracked in real-time. Thus, faxing remains an important component of business communications today.

A modern fax server provides an organization with the flexibility to distribute virtually any document from any application, using a central server integrated into a company’s network. Fax servers are purchased to replace fax machines, leverage investments in multi-function printers or automate part or all of a manual paper based process (for example, sending a fax automatically from a CRM or ERP application or routing a fax based on information contained in the fax).

Fax server purchases are generally justified on the cost savings that they drive within the first twelve months of implementation. But there are many other benefits that a fax server provides, including improved employee productivity and organizational effectiveness, process improvement, leveraging IP and VoIP infrastructure investments, document tracking for regulatory purposes, paper wastage reduction, storage benefits and meeting compliance and information security needs.

Want to learn more about fax servers? A great place to start is the WindowsITPro eBook “The Essential Guide to Fax Servers”.
Matthew Brine
Matthew Brine is the Vice President for Fax and Document Distribution at Open Text. He can be contacted at mbrine@opentext.com.

The new Open Text Fax & Document Distribution Group site (formerly Captaris) is now here: http://faxsolutions.opentext.com