Faxing Services: Top Things that Impact Cost
Although we’re starting to see signs that the economy might be on the rebound, companies are still under pressure to cut capital investments – technology spending included. So as organizations assess the efficiency and effectiveness of their fax solutions, it’s more critical than ever that the evaluation be comprehensive. Of course, the most obvious consideration is cost. But the advertised price of a faxing solution tells only part of the story.
The true value of a faxing solution, whether handled in house or by an outsourced fax provider, lies in its flexibility; its ability to scale to an organization’s changing needs. Today, you may not need all the advanced faxing features available on the market. But what about tomorrow? Flexibility is often the most overlooked consideration when evaluating the merits of a faxing solution. But flexibility can have a tremendous impact on cost because full-featured solutions enhance productivity. Just imagine how your company can benefit from the wide range of features available by top-tier providers today:
- View and manage fax traffic in real time
- Create a custom professional fax cover sheet
- Generate custom messaging reports
- Send a broadcast message to various formats
- Send/Receive color fax
- Track responses with barcodes
- Populate forms with variable data
- Imprint the actual date and time of receipt
- Identify the sender by name rather than fax number
- Convert an inbound fax to plain text for editing optical character recognition
- Interface with and migrate data from applications
- Route faxes to alternate e-mails during vacation
You probably don’t need all of these features immediately. But when evaluating Internet fax services, look for providers who offer not only what your organization needs today, but what it might need tomorrow – as your company grows and business practices change. Flexibility enhances productivity, yet it is the most overlooked consideration that impacts the cost of faxing services. Don’t be caught without it.
The Greening of ISC International
When customers use our desktop messaging services, they’re doing something good for the environment. By sending and receiving messages electronically, they eliminate the need to print, store and dispose of paper messaging records.
We’re proud of the role we play every day in helping customers achieve their sustainability goals. And now, we’re pleased to announce the completion of our eco-friendly office redesign! We’ve worked hard to create a workspace that’s both environmentally sensitive and beautiful.
ISC International Office
For our offices and conference room, we purchased GREENGUARD certified chairs from Haworth, Herman Miller and Knoll. Our workstations from Knoll are virtually VOC-free. We also incorporated faux leather couches which look and feel as great as real leather, but contain no tanning compounds.
Under foot, we installed porcelain tile from Ann Sacks and natural fiber, wool-based Karastan carpet. It’s durable and strong but emits little to no volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs - chemicals widely used as ingredients in paint, building materials, furnishings and office equipment - can cause headaches, nausea and respiratory irritation. Fortunately, these days it’s easy to find low-VOC flooring products; formaldehyde-free bamboo, cork and hardwood flooring can be laid without the use of solvent-based adhesives.
Main Hallway at ISC International
One of the simplest yet most effective ways to create a healthier work environment is by using low- or no-VOC paint. All the major manufacturers are now offering low-emission, durable paints. We used Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore low- and no-VOC products.
In the end, our employees were able to move into their new offices without experiencing any of the “sick building syndrome” side effects that might have accompanied a traditional remodel. And, thanks to the vision of our designer, Karen Meister, ASID, we were able to create a healthy workplace without sacrificing style.
OCR Fax: Increasing the Value of Internet Fax
One of the most useful features of electronic faxing these days is OCR Fax or Optical Character Recognition. With OCR Fax, you can manipulate or edit text from a fax.
Most electronic faxes are sent as .tif images; a file format that can’t be edited. But OCR converts faxed documents to computer text that can be manipulated using any common word processor or spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Word, Excel or XML – making it easier than ever for companies to manage documents and process forms.
- Fax OCR: Converts Fax to Text and Text to Fax
Though OCR technology is now coming of age, Optical Character Recognition is not new. The United States Postal Service began using OCR machines to sort mail back in 1965. Commercial OCR programs hit the market a decade later and were widely available beginning in the 1980’s. Initially, accuracy rates were often less than 50 percent but today, OCR has become a much more sophisticated, viable business tool with accuracy rates of up to 99.5 percent. Google uses OCR to index the text inside scanned PDF documents.
While Optical Character Recognition converts typed or printed characters into editable text, ICR, or Intelligent Character Recognition, is more advanced; it translates handwriting into editable text. The accuracy rates for ICR are not yet as high as OCR, but the technology continues to improve. When used together, ICR and OCR enable businesses to gather large amounts of data securely, with increasing accuracy and with minimal human intervention.
Here’s how some of our customers at ISC International are using OCR/ICR:
- One customer faxes documents containing confidential information related to government security clearance. Because ICR and OCR capture that sensitive data automatically, the risks associated with human review are eliminated.
- In the health care industry, one customer uses combined Fax OCR and ICR to confidentially conduct government-mandated physician surveys.
- One equipment manufacturer uses Fax OCR and ICR to tabulate hand-written meter readings taken from office equipment in the field and faxed to a central location.
These are just a few examples of how companies are benefiting from the use of ICR and OCR in concert with electronic faxing. But nearly every industry can take advantage of these technologies to revolutionize data work flow.
Barcode Tracking
Every outgoing fax is assigned a unique barcode, allowing you to monitor and track responses & easily send automatic follow-up faxes in real time.Fast Turnaround
“You are the greatest! I can’t believe how fast the turnaround is. I will have anyone interested in faxing contact you for setup.”Joan L., New York
Broadcast Messaging
Experience the freedom of sending an infinite number of e-mails, faxes, telex and test message all at once.Time Stamp Saves Time
“I absolutely love that you added the date and time stamp to my faxes as I send and receive numerous faxes from our state regulators. This saves me so much time.”Susan F., Florida
Color Faxing
Graphs, charts, medical and lab reports come alive in full color with no additional software or equipment to install.Personal Attention
“I appreciate your patience and everything that you have done to help me understand the process. Don’t know what I would have done without you.”Amanda B., Ohio
Automatic Forms Overlay
Time-consuming documents like batch invoices and purchase orders are produced and sent automatically and instantly.Fantastic Customer Service
“As always, your customer service is fantastic! Thank you again.”Jason W., Arizona
Telex Services
Send a message to any telex number in the world, even to ships at sea, directly from your PC, then receive delivery confirmation via e-mail.Desk Top Faxing Ease
“Let me just say that desk top faxing is the next best thing to sliced bread!”Joan P., Rhode Island
No Size Limit
If an inbound fax exceeds your specified size limit, we'll divide it at page breaks into smaller files, then deliver it as multiple faxes so you'll never miss another fax.Comprehensive Extranet
Experience complete control in managing and sending your business messages by tracking their progress in real time, adjusting security permissions and analyzing results.