Despite being nearly 60 years old and looking outdated due to newer and more powerful telecommunications technologies, the fax machine is still alive and vibrant, according to new research.
An eFax report of 1001 business and IT decision makers from large enterprises, SMBs, and public sector organizations found that the majority of enterprises (54%) have between 6 and 50 fax users. What's more, a fifth said there were 51 or more fax users in their organizations.
To further complicate matters, more than a third (37%) of respondents said they expect fax usage to increase in the future, while 28% expect usage to stay the same. Only 35% expect to see the use of fax machines decrease.
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Contracts, company accounts, sensitive documents
The results seem to be strongly tied to everyone sending and receiving secure documents remotely, more than ever. Over the past year, about two-thirds (64%) said the number of secure documents they received has stayed the same or increased. In total, a third party sends and receives secure documents on a daily basis.
Nearly half (45%) share these documents through password-protected emails, 43% use encrypted email software. Among fax users, 35% use cloud-based fax systems, 31% combine them with traditional fax, while 15% use only traditional fax.
When it comes to the types of documents being faxed today, contracts make up the majority (56%), followed by leases (44%), business accounts (31%), confidential business documents ( 28%) and documents containing sensitive banking details. (26%).
“Fax remains at the heart of many businesses and their operations. Its secret life underpins many organizations, fueling the effective communication of secure and legally binding documents today and for years to come,” said Scott Wilson, vice president of sales and service for eFax.
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“So it's no surprise that the top driver of continued fax usage is security at 41%. But that is quickly followed by profitability at 36%, GDPR compliance at 34%, and the growing importance of cloud storage at 23%.
“Cloud fax providers have had to develop an infrastructure that ensures business users have the most secure, private and legally compliant way to transmit their sensitive data to customers, vendors, partners and other third parties. That is why fax secrecy will continue to be central to many business processes,” Wilson concluded.
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