The ultimate guide to paperless faxing

FAX ONLINE

Does your business still use traditional fax machines to transmit sensitive data? You’re not the only one. A large percentage of organisations in regulated industries across Australia still rely on fax machines for sending and receiving confidential information. Although they may still seem like a reliable method of document transmission, fax machines are costing your business thousands of dollars every year in paper, fax machine maintenance, power consumption and more. If you’re looking for a way to meet and exceed the sustainability goals in your business, making the switch to paperless faxing is a must. Fax machines are far from eco-friendly, but the good news is that there is an alternative: online faxing. We’ve put together the ultimate guide to paperless faxing, including what it is, how it works and why your business should go paperless.

What is paperless faxing?

Paperless faxing is just another way of saying an online fax service. An online fax service provides businesses with an easy way to make the switch from traditional fax machines to a more cost-effective, eco-friendly, secure and compliant faxing solution.

With traditional fax machines, paperless faxing isn’t an option. It’s a requirement for you to insert your hardcopy document to send a fax. Fax machines also automatically print received faxes because there’s no other way to view them. This causes unnecessary paper waste, additional time spent filing the documents and also increases the risk of a security breach by human error due to manually handling sensitive information.

By making the switch to paperless faxing, all faxes are sent and received digitally, eliminating the need for paper-based communication and saving your organisation thousands in fax machine costs every year.

How does paperless faxing work?

Unlike a fax machine, paperless faxing works by using a smart device. This could be your mobile phone, desktop computer or tablet. An online fax service is accessible on any device with an internet connection, making it effortless for you to send and receive faxes online, without paper.

To send a paperless fax with GoFax, simply:

Complete step 1 by signing up for a free GoFax account
Follow the steps to select the plan that’s right for your organisation’s faxing needs. Our pricing is flexible and allows your business to easily scale as required.
Start your paperless faxing instantly!

Why should I send via online fax, not email?

There are a number of reasons why you should always opt to send sensitive data via online fax, rather than email. Email is subject to phishing attacks, ransomware, email compromise and more due to its lack of security and encryptions. Sending your documents via online fax with GoFax is more secure than email, with security measures including:

Managed firewalls approved for Federal Government use

Limited access to GoFax servers and maintaining high security standards with our infrastructure
Fax documents are stored on the cloud via AES 256bit encryption with lifetime storage, providing a comprehensive downloadable history and audit trail
The ability to view and manage fax documents in real-time and receive automated monthly reports
We are government accredited and HIPAA compliant

Learn more about how online faxing is more secure than email on our blog: https://www.gofax.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-paperless-faxing

Why should I go paperless?

Reduce IT overheads and administration costs

Purchasing paper, ink and maintaining your fax machine/s is costly and an expense your business can go without. By switching to paperless faxing, you can reduce your IT overheads and administration costs. A send & receive fax plan with GoFax starts at just $14.95 a month, instead of paying hundreds of dollars to keep your fax machines running.

Improve security and compliance with transmission of sensitive information

Reduce compliance and security risks associated with paper-based faxing and instead maintain and exceed compliance with a paperless faxing solution. GoFax’s regulations follow strict compliance guidelines across all industries to ensure your data always remains safe when transmitting via GoFax’s paperless faxing service. We are government accredited, HIPAA compliant, Australian Privacy Principles (APP)s compliant and offer additional security measures including data sovereignty.

Reduce your carbon footprint

The average business fax machine consumes thousands of sheets of paper annually. Not only that, any device connected directly to the electricity emits carbon dioxide (CO2). As fax machines are generally turned on 24 hours a day to receive incoming faxes, they typically require 35 Watts of power, consuming approximately 0.28KWh of energy in an average working day.

These statistics prove that even though switching to an online fax service may seem insignificant, it has a huge impact on saving our environment and reducing C02 emissions, which is a major cause of global warming.

Start your paperless faxing journey with GoFax