The trusty old fax has had a transformation in recent years, from clunky machines to sleek, feature rich smartphone apps. Today's fax apps are using modern technology to bring new life to this old technology. Let's take a look at the tech stack that powers these modern fax solutions.
Cloud Based
At the core of most fax apps is cloud based infrastructure. Instead of physical phone lines and fax machines, these apps use cloud servers to send, receive and store faxes. This move to the cloud gives you:
- Scalability: Cloud can handle fax volume fluctuations so you never go down during peak times.
- Accessibility: You can access your faxes from any device with an internet connection.
- Cost savings: No hardware means big operational cost savings.
- Redundancy: Cloud has multiple data centers so your faxes are never lost due to hardware failure.
Advanced Image Processing
Today's fax apps use advanced image processing to improve the quality and usability of faxed documents. These include:
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR): OCR converts scanned text into editable and searchable digital content so you can extract information from incoming faxes.
- Image Enhancement: Algorithms adjust contrast, remove noise and sharpen text for better readability.
- Compression: Advanced compression reduces file size without losing quality, speeds up transmission and storage.
Security
Security is top of mind for fax app developers given the sensitive nature of many faxed documents. Here's how fax app developers are protecting faxes in transit and at rest:
- End to end encryption: Faxes are encrypted on the senders device and can only be decrypted by the intended recipient so no one else can access.
- Transport Layer Security (TLS): This protocol secures the connection between the users device and the fax service's servers.
- AES-256 encryption: Many fax apps use this military grade encryption standard to store faxes.
- Blockchain: Some advanced fax apps are exploring blockchain to provide an immutable record of fax transmissions for security and compliance.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and machine learning is being integrated into fax apps to give you smart features and a better experience:
- Automated routing: AI can analyze incoming faxes and auto route them to the right department or person based on content.
- Smart cover sheet generation: ML can generate professional cover sheets by extracting information from the fax content and user behavior.
- Predictive input: AI powered autocomplete and suggestion features make it easier to enter recipient info and compose fax messages.
- Anomaly detection: Machine learning can detect unusual fax patterns or content and flag potential security or compliance issues.
Integration
Fax apps don't live in a vacuum. They're designed to integrate with other business tools and workflows:
- API support: APIs to integrate fax into custom applications and enterprise software systems.
- CRM integration: Faxes can be linked to customer records in popular CRM's like Salesforce or HubSpot.
- Cloud storage sync: Integration with Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive for easy storage and sharing of faxed documents.
- Electronic signature support: Many fax apps now have e-signature so you can sign documents before faxing.
Mobile-First
With the rise of smartphones, fax apps have gone mobile-first:
- Responsive design: Apps work across all screen sizes and orientations.
- Native device integration: Apps can use device camera for document scanning and push notifications for real-time alerts.
- Offline mode: Some apps offer offline mode so you can prepare faxes without internet and send when you have connectivity back.
- Touch UI: Touch gestures to navigate, zoom and manipulate faxed documents on mobile devices.
Compliance and Regulatory
Given fax is used in industries with strict regulatory requirements (e.g. healthcare, finance), many fax apps have compliance features:
- Audit trails: Detailed logs of all fax activity to meet regulatory requirements and track document history.
- HIPAA compliance: Apps for healthcare have features to ensure patient privacy compliance.
- Retention policies: Automated document retention and deletion to meet data storage regulations.
- Multi-factor authentication: Extra security to protect sensitive faxed info from unauthorized access.
So there you have it, modern fax apps are not just digital versions of old fax machines. They use a multitude of technologies to bring secure, efficient and feature rich faxing to the table. By combining cloud infrastructure, image processing, security, AI and integrations these apps are making faxing a powerful business communication tool.
While email and instant messaging covers many aspects of business communication, fax technology will continue to evolve and be relevant and sometimes necessary for secure document transmission. As these apps continue to innovate and add new technologies, fax will be part of the business communication landscape for a long time to come.
