Second Opinions

Phase Out Your Fax

By James A. Eidelman

THE FAX machine has become an anachronism. However, we need to keep using fax because many courts and agencies allow filing by fax, but not e-mail or other electronic format, and because fax machines are so easy to use.

While it does make sense for firms to keep a lower duty cycle fax machine around for sending faxes, and for receiving in case of emergency, the firm should use alternative technologies where possible, and phase out the fax machine. I recommend that the firm replace faxing with e-mail where possible. Where an image is required, scan and send an Adobe Acrobat PDF file or TIFF image.

Receiving faxes

Use one of the following approaches to receiving faxes:

* A fax service, such as J2.com, eFax.com, the services offered by the telephone company, or many others, that will route the fax to your e-mail.

* A fax modem or a fax server that will route your faxes to your email (and print them to a high quality printer.

Sending faxes

* For images of hard copy, use a fax machine, and use an HP Digital Sender to send PDF files or a scanner, such as the convenient Visioneer Paper Port One Touch 8650 to supplement the fax machine.

* For faxing word processing documents that don't need a signature, fax from your desktop using fax software in conjunction with an e-mail faxing service, fax server or fax modem. A few mouse clicks and the fax is on its way.

Simple Interface

One of the great things about a fax machine is that it has such a simple interface -- essentially a telephone dial pad and a send button, and a workable automatic feeder.

The HP Digital Sender works just like a fax machine, except that it e-mails an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. A lawyer or secretary simply walks up to the machine, feeds the paper, selects or punches in the e-mail address, and hit the send button. It's that easy.

Instead of a low resolution black and white document, users receive a high resolution color (optional) document that, when printed, will look just like the original. Moreover, if you can send a PDF file that has been enhanced by imbedding text in it, bookmarks, etc., it is much more useful than a fax. Finally, it offers the advantage to the recipient that he or she does not have to worry about pulling the paper off a fax machine, but rather can receive it via e-mail.

At a minimum, if you receive mainly local faxes, I recommend using a fax modem and a copy of WinFax Pro or one of many other software packages in one or more computers. You can set it up to print on the laser printer. The fact that you always have an archive that you can go back to and re-print is a minimal level of very useful functionality, and the ability to archive and forward the message to e-mail can be a big help.

Benefits:

Even using the fax format, rather than PDF or one of the other better formats, the benefits of faxing through e-mail include the following:

* You have the same options that you would with e-mail, including the ability to forward the fax, reply and electronically store, and with added flexibility in printing.

* Travelers and attorneys working at home or other remote locations can send and receive faxes wherever they happen to be.

* If you use a laptop computer, you can carry the fax with you without having to carry the file.

* You can OCR (Optical Character Recognition) the fax and file it so that you can later search based on a free text search, and even edit the document. (ThruFax, which can be used a service or software, will OCR the message, route it to the right person, and deliver both a TIF image of the original and a Word document containing the OCR'ed text. )

* No more lost fax pages. (If you do lose the hard copy, you can go back and reprint.)

* The received fax can be managed in the firm's document management system, which is another important benefit, as firms go "paperless," without the need to print and scan the fax.

* The printout of an electronically received fax generally looks better than one received on a fax machine. In some cases they are higher resolution, and in any case, the paper and print are high quality.

* If you use a service that sends an e-mail of the fax directly to your inbox, you have greater confidentiality.

* You don't have to leave your desk to send and receive faxes.

* If you use a service, rather than a fax server, you don't need to worry about an MIS person having to install and maintain the fax server. The capital cost and labor costs are minimal.

P.S. Check out www.slipstick.com for info on fax systems for Outlook, Exchange and Windows.

And yes, to answer the question, I like Brother multi-function machines on the low end!

James Eidelman is president of Eidelman Associates, a consulting firm located in Ann Arbor, Mich.