When the fax machine became a popular business tool in the 1980s, technology seemed to have broken down the information barrier, as faxes could be sent or documents copied over distances in a matter of minutes. Now, with the Internet becoming the core of many businesses since the 1990s, the speed and manner in which documents can be moved from one location to another has taken another big leap forward. Internet fax has become a multi-functional business tool for most of today’s small and medium-sized businesses.
The shift in technology from traditional faxes to Internet faxes reveals two important shifts in business operations. The first is that information being sent from one destination to another is no longer just words on paper. This information can be redesigned, reused, and sent to multiple users simultaneously. This leads to a significant advantage in efficiency. Distribution of information is now instantaneous and can be shared regardless of location or the presence of a fax machine. Information is now so much more flexible that it can be indexed, searched, saved, retrieved, and manipulated in so many ways, that the applications seem endless.
The second major shift that Internet fax proposes is to detach the need for traditional fax machines. As technology advances, devices that support one type of format and one type of transmission are becoming redundant, as computing devices from mobile phones to network books are capable of receiving and transmitting information in different formats. Technology increasingly allows for software and hardware interoperability, making information more portable and seamlessly connected to other devices.
Implications for small and medium-sized businesses include the importance of managing and organizing information, as well as the resulting time savings from increased efficiency. New business opportunities are emerging from new technology and new information patterns. The benefits of using Internet fax technology are powerful, including increased efficiency, staying competitive with industry-standard technology, and providing new solutions to emerging business challenges.
Internet faxing is more efficient than traditional fax machines, saving time and money in reducing paper and fax maintenance costs, as well as facilitating information dissemination more quickly. Information can be quickly reclassified into different formats and allows for a more flexible business operation. Small and medium-sized businesses in particular will appreciate the multiple functions of Internet fax, and how they can send faxes to traditional fax machines in a more capable and accurate manner, as well as receive faxes from traditional fax with the ability to transmit more information. This not only reduces unnecessary operations, but also creates flexibility and enhances the company’s position in information management.
Internet fax is fast becoming more than just a technology trend; For many companies, it has become an operational necessity. As competitors use technology to speed up their business operations, can small and medium-sized businesses get left behind? Small and medium-sized businesses benefit the most from Internet fax because of its cost-saving features and flexible publishing costs. Internet faxing is part of a transformation of business operations. From drawing on old technology and old ways of thinking to new technology and the flexibility and efficiency it provides, Internet faxing allows businesses to focus on innovation and improvement, rather than maintenance and follow-up.
Because traditional fax machines require maintenance, they are subject to the same challenges that have plagued small businesses for decades: operational error, maintenance issues, and information security breaches. Internet fax greatly reduces the chances of error during the transmission process. Its ease of use is attractive to younger startups because it is seamlessly integrated into the existing technology-driven information model that uses email and cloud computing and centralizes tasks and tools in one easily accessible platform. New workers entering the job market are already familiar with business concepts inherent in technology such as multifunctionality and the reallocation of content and information. Internet fax requires no new concepts in knowledge for these workers, which makes training and implementation much easier than traditional fax machines.
How companies view and manage information is critical to competing in the new global landscape. Internet fax gives small and medium-sized businesses the technological advantage to solve increasingly demanding information and communication management challenges. Providing greater efficiency and cleaner and streamlined fax handling routes is a fundamental shift in business operations where Internet faxes can be a valuable asset.