Production Fax
Encyclopedia
Production faxing is the process of integrating an electronic fax software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....

 application to automate the sending and receiving of fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

 documents.

Overview

Document types that facilitate Purchase to Pay and Cash to Order business processes which benefit from automating production fax include trade confirmations, customer statements and purchase orders. All of which may originate in an AS400, Mainframe, JD Edwards, SAP, Oracle, or other ERP systems.

By nature these fax documents are critical communications to facilitate a business process.

For production fax, organizations have three common and proven methods of implementing mission critical faxing. They can deploy a premise based Fax Server, hosted Fax Server or utilize a Internet Fax Service (SaaS).

Fax Server

A fax server
Fax server
A fax server is a system installed in a local area network server that allows computer users whose computers are attached to the LAN to send and receive fax messages...

 is typically premise based software and fax hardware that is owned and operated by an organisations information technology department. OpenText is the market leader in fax server software with the RightFax brand through the acquisition of Captaris Inc.

The RightFax product provides a number of features that are typically important for an organization. These include proven brand performance, certified integrations with other IT applications and system, an ecosystem of global delivery partners who are specialists in this technology category.

Fax Service

An internet fax service still ultimately utilities a fax server however deployment of the service to a user is different.

For production it is typically delivered 'As a Service' and can be classed as Software as a Service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...

. In this model the user may be charged by the provider of the service based on page volumes and call costs depending on where the receiver or sender is located.

The provider of the service will still utilize fax software and fax telephony components
Dialogic Corporation
Dialogic Corporation is a designer, developer and manufacturer of communication products. It was founded in 1984 in Montreal, Canada. Dialogic products are sold worldwide through a large network of distributors and resellers, and supplied to OEMs....

 to transmit and process and manage. Given the business criticality of production fax documents users are likely to place significant importance on network reliability and overall organizational capability.

Fax Strategy

When deploying production fax there are a number of considerations for an organisation. From an information technology (IT) perspective one of these will be 'to own and operate' or 'as a service'. From a cost perspective does the business buy outright (CAPEX), finance or enter into a pay per usage agreement. Ongoing management for IT is another consideration; the IT manager may not have or want resources allocated to managing a fax server.

When receiving fax organisations should consider their strategy in relation to how the document interacts within the business process, what is the cost of processing
Outsourced document processing
Outsourced Document Processing is a specialised area of Business Process Outsourcing involving the Outsourcing of Document Processing, to a third-party service provider that is a specialist in that area. Document Processing involves the conversion of typed and handwritten text on paper-based &...

that document, how is the document archived and the content managed.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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