5 Helpful Tips For Safe Faxing

Modern technology has provided us with several ways to communicate. But despite all these communication mediums, the fax machine is still used by businesses and the government.

Depending on the type of fax you use, the information and document you share could be vulnerable to unauthorized access or interception by others. Without the proper safety and privacy protocols in place, it’s easy for faxed communication to be breached or compromised. Hence, read more for several tips for safe faxing

Consider Virtual Fax Solutions

While traditional faxing isn’t dead, it has gotten a serious upgrade in the past few years. Today, virtual or internet-based faxing has taken off and is increasingly popular for businesses. You may even utilize virtual solutions such as a fax from phone services.

Moreover, statistics show that the online fax solution market is expected to cross USD$2.4 billion this year, growing impressively at a CAGR of up to 11% from 2016 to 2022. Online faxing has taken the business sector by storm and for good reasons, primarily in terms of security.

The best online fax providers offer a wide range of advanced security features including storage of digital documents and data in highly secure data centers and high-level data encryption. Providers also ensure strict compliance standards to adhere to regulations and laws.

Use Cover Sheets

Whether you’re using traditional or online faxing for sending and receiving documents, you need to come off as professional while protecting the document. Using a cover sheet can help hide sensitive information about the document and allow you to leave a strong impression on your fax recipient.

A cover sheet should include the following details:

Time and date the fax was sent
The sender’s name, organization, and contact information
Recipient’s name and fax number

You can also add a privacy statement to your cover sheet, indicating the confidentiality of the data on the fax and is intended only for use of the person to whom it’s addressed. It should also include that if someone other than the intended recipient receives the fax, they should notify you and destroy or delete the fax.

Find A Secure Spot For Faxing Machines

If you still use traditional fax machines in your business, then you need to make sure of their security spot. This ensures compliance with regulations such as HIPAA. Even if you don’t work within an industry that must follow regulatory guidelines, having fax read by a third party is still troubling.

Anyone passing by the fax machine could read the document. Although a cover letter can help protect the document, it’s useless when someone passes by as the fax machine receives the pages. Thus, the positioning of your fax machine is critical to the secrecy and security of private information.

When figuring out where to put your fax machine, consider a place where it wouldn’t be easily spied on by visitors. Oftentimes, businesses have people who come into work outside the company. Placing your fax machine in common areas can jeopardize sensitive documents.

Hence, you don’t want to hide your machine where no one will be able to check on it. This can cause you to miss out on important documents. Thus, you want to place your machine in an area populated only by your employees and far away from areas where visitors might be able to read incoming documents.

Never Leave Machines Unattended

While you can’t assign someone with the sole responsibility of looking at your fax machine, you can assign someone who can check it periodically to see if the incoming fax has arrived or oversee the removal of the outgoing fax. This individual also needs to ensure that fax machines are turned off after working hours so that faxes don’t arrive when cleaning crews, security, and other unauthorized individuals might be in the office.

Confirmation Is Important

Another helpful tip for safer faxing is to always get confirmation emails or messages from the businesses or people you send faxes to. This way, you can assure that the intended recipient did receive the fax. Never assume that the fax got to its rightful recipient.

Consequently, make sure to always send confirmation receipts to businesses or people once you’ve received their faxes as well. A simple message can help provide them peace of mind and alleviate anxiety.

Takeaway

Faxes are a convenient way to quickly share information between businesses. While the basic process of sending and receiving documents by fax hasn’t changed much, you must take a look at how you handle the security of your fax communications. The tips mentioned above should help your business ensure strict faxing security practices to prevent privacy violations and faxing errors.