The U.S. holds the title for the highest cost of a data breach, 5.09 million more than the global average.²
Redefining the Fax Server for the Modern Era
Despite its antiquated image, faxing has a long history servicing businesses of all shapes and sizes, and is still one of the most secure and trusted document delivery methods available today. ETHERFAX has replaced traditional faxing with an array of innovative and secure document exchange solutions that enable organizations to send and receive business-critical information with guaranteed security.
Fax technology isn’t outdated – it just has an image problem.
As we progress through this modern-day world and produce more and more “digital exhaust,” concerns over privacy, eavesdropping, and data breaches are more prevalent than ever. To combat and defend against such threats and vulnerabilities, ETHERFAX has introduced a modern-day adaptation of this tried and true technology with its Secure Exchange Network (SEN). ETHERFAX SEN offers a seamless transition from legacy network solutions such as those that rely on expensive telephony equipment and the PSTN.
In our current climate of increasing hacker threats and security breaches, the emphasis on secure delivery will only get stronger. While email and cloud shine in the spotlight, faxing has stood fast behind the scenes filling this need, and it continues to do so.
As a patented Infrastructure-as-a-Service solution, ETHERFAX SEN leverages hybrid-cloud technology to provide 100% secure communications and data protection.
The true cost of legacy systems.
Recent studies show that 75% of medical communication in the United States takes place via fax.1 While heavy fax users may employ a fax server, costs over a 3-year period for the fax hardware, fax line card, software license, telecom lines, and maintenance contract can run $7,500 a year for a 2-line operation. Those costs don’t include a printer, storage solution, encryption, redundancy, server storage or electricity. This also is a non-redundant solution that presents a single point of failure. Amid so much continued reliance on faxing technology, one wonders why we aren’t being brought up to speed on the extremely relevant benefits of cloud-based digital faxing.
Part of the problem is that the public has not been properly educated on the evolution of faxing, and part of the problem is that the technology itself has a bit of a public relations problem – the image of faxing has a stigma that is a result of mass perception – which is not only inaccurate, but also counterproductive and costly.
By ignoring the many significant advancements in cloud-based digital faxing, various industries will not only pay an unnecessary price in dollars and cents, but they will also pay in the form of data theft and security breaches. Problems that have held back faxing technology include the reliance on phone lines that were never purpose-built for data transmission, a lack of interoperability between mixed fax
environments, speed of delivery, security, compliance, and guaranteed delivery.
Fortunately, faxing now has evolved with an array of high-tech innovations that not only allow organizations to deliver documents with complete security, but also instantaneously and without the need for any external hardware. New faxing technologies can integrate with leading fax servers, fax-enabled and production applications, multi-function devices, and fax machines, making configuration fast and easy.
It used to take several minutes to send a fax. Now it takes seconds.
To securely deliver a 30-50 page document, which is common throughout the healthcare industry, it can often take up to thirty minutes or more. Medical professionals don’t have the time to stand around and wait for a fax to come through, especially in life-critical situations. However, authorization is needed in order to perform medical procedures, and EMRs and authorized documents are required to be delivered 100% securely, which is why faxing remains as the go-to solution.
The problem is that in today’s fast-paced, mobile-centric and cost-conscious work environments, this type of traditional faxing unnecessarily ties up key resources and wastes precious time.
But that’s the old fax. Faxes today can be delivered instantaneously, and without the need for cumbersome and expensive fax boards, media gateways and other telephony infrastructure. Cloud-based digital faxing also eliminates the complexities and costs of provisioning SIP, T.38, PRI, T1, and other analog connections, which are being phased out and discontinued across the country by major telecom corporations. Verizon, for example, announced spending more than $23 billion to transition away from traditional copper phone lines and increase its fiber-based FiOS services.
Securely delivering a 30-50 page document, which is common throughout the healthcare industry, can often take up to 30 minutes or more.
Faxing can now be achieved at the speed of the internet, without any dependency on the local telephone network altogether.
Today, fax technology is no longer synonymous with machines, phone lines, two modems hissing at each other, paper, and toner. It is cloud-based and virtual. Modern fax environments leveraging the cloud for transport require zero infrastructure, interoperability requirements or monthly phone line expenses, and provide infinite scalability to send and receive sensitive documents.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – Fax Boards in the Cloud.
Thanks to the rise of off-site data centers and networks, billions of faxes are now delivered around the world, and each within a matter of seconds. Through virtual adapters and virtual fax boards, cloud-based faxing solutions can seamlessly integrate with existing, on-site fax servers at the office, and fax-enabled applications, in addition to email and document management systems and other software.
Utilizing scalable networks linked across global data centers via the cloud allows organizations to quickly send high volumes of data at ultra-fast transmission speeds. By extending existing fax servers into the cloud, lengthy documents can be securely delivered in seconds, rather than minutes.
Enjoy the speed of today, with the secure network of tomorrow.
According to IBM’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach report, the industry with the highest average cost of a data breach continues to be healthcare, with an average of $10.10 million per data breach.
Fax is still a much more secure document delivery method than both email and cloud storage. This is critical not only for industries such as healthcare and finance, but for logistics, education, government and more.
Although the method of faxing is very secure, there are still inherent risks. This can occur simply by human error, like dialing the wrong number, or due to things out of an organization’s control such as poor communication lines, incompatible equipment and more. To ensure security, both the sender and receiver must be “trusted” and verified by the network, allowing for guaranteed delivery, reporting, compliance, fast transmissions and most importantly, end-to-end encryption. And, even though new, virtual and security focused faxing technology eliminates these kinds of risks, in 2011, Americans were predicted to spend $55 million on outdated, traditional fax machines. There are better options available.
The 2022 Cost of a Data Breach report also found that organizations with a hybrid cloud model have lower average data breach costs compared to organizations with a public or private cloud model.²
The Secure Exchange Network (SEN)
ETHERFAX’s patented Secure Exchange Network offers more than fast connections and the guaranteed delivery of documents. SEN provides end-to-end encryption, which allows the secure transmission of sensitive data between the sender and receiver. This means that organizations can now deploy their own private fax network by leveraging the global infrastructure of the cloud. Using SEN, and through “in-network delivery,” faxes are sent within seconds, without ever traversing any external telephone networks to ensure security.
So how does it work?
The path from sender to receiver on the Secure Exchange Network is fully encrypted. Once a document is sent from a fax server or fax-enabled application, its destination is identified by SEN, then internally routed to the recipient via a closed network of controlled data centers.
Transmitting data over closed networks ensures lightning-fast speeds, and faxing via the cloud has provided a very simple and unique approach to secure content delivery.
Private, cloud-based fax networks are significantly faster, encrypted with end-to-end security and provide guaranteed delivery. SEN processes millions of pages every hour and provides complete data sovereignty for those that demand it.
Additionally, SEN enables healthcare organizations and medical groups, insurance companies and billing operators to securely transport data and ensure compliance with government-mandated regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). ETHERFAX’s encrypted data exchange solutions operate in a HIPAA and SOC 2® compliant environment that is both HITRUST CSF® and PCI DSS certified.
For healthcare organizations, new virtual faxing solutions can include a cloud-based private fax network with 100% guaranteed delivery and security. SEN integrates with existing fax servers and applications, such as EMR solutions and healthcare management systems, leverages the cloud to manage business-critical fax communications without capacity constraints, and saves organizations time, money, and resources by eliminating the need to maintain a traditional fax environment.
Through virtual faxing technology, healthcare groups and their affiliates can focus more of their time, energy and resources on patients, and less time dealing with unnecessary and outdated hardware.
What’s Coming Next? More Security
In today’s climate of precarious cyber-threats and an increased frequency of data breaches, complete security must become the main priority for communications providers and their customers.
Since new methods of faxing are as quick and easy as using email or a mobile app, there is no reason why this tried-and-true technology should not see a very strong resurgence in the modern era.
While many believed faxing was dead, it has proved to be the most reliable and secure method for exchanging sensitive data. Modern document exchange solutions are also digital, affordable, and offer more data protection than ever before.
Replace fax with ETHERFAX.
This white paper began with the acknowledgment that faxing does have a perception problem. Yet, history has shown that time and time again, even when shinier new objects come into play, original methods and models are ultimately called upon in times of urgency. In a time when total security is the top priority, in practice, what was old is indeed new again.
We’re ending this white paper with another acknowledgment – that faxing today is in fact as quick and easy as email and cloud storage, and most importantly, far more secure.
Closed Networks: The New Standard in Secure Fax Communications
Keep in mind, not all cloud-based, virtual fax technology being offered today is the same. The key is to select a solution that utilizes a closed network, which ensures end-to-end encryption and guaranteed
delivery wherever, whenever possible.
On a closed network, the sender remotely establishes a secure connection to SEN and delivers a document plus its destination. When the outbound call is placed, an authentication and internal routing mechanism will determine if the destination is managed by SEN (a customer’s DID, much like a regular phone company), and will redirect the call to a SEN-managed client on the receiving side.
Ultimately, when your virtual fax provider is directly controlling, managing and monitoring the network of data centers in the cloud that receive your traffic, you can rest assured that your sensitive documents are being delivered with total security.
Your organization should select a closed network solution that is easy to deploy as well as application and device-agnostic. A real-time, secure and reliable infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solution allows enterprise organizations to easily scale all fax communications, save significant money and free up critical resources. By incorporating a secure virtual fax solution, you can have the best of both worlds.
Enhance Productivity and Streamline Operations
Messaging Apps
Keep employees engaged and productive by reducing app switching with ETHERFAX’s DirectFax integrations, enabling seamless use of email faxing, Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Automation
Work queues and workflow automation enable documents to be dropped into a file folder that can be swept by content management systems or ingested and integrated into third-party applications such as EHRs.
Have questions or need assistance?
Reach out to ETHERFAX today and discover how our secure document exchange solutions can transform your business operations.