My brother
was telling us that he and his wife were waiting for the Dr. to send his wife’s
prescription to the pharmacy (COSTCO) by Fax. I was surprised that the fax
machine was still being used. It is and by, according to my brothers most of
the medical professionals they knew. I thought that sending information by fax
was an extra and time-consuming step. With email, create the document, attach,
and send. With Fax, you create the document, print it, take it to the Fax
machine, feed it into the Fax machine and press send. On the other side, you
have to print out the document rather than read it on screen.
Evidently,
I was wrong, today if you want to send a fax, there is an app for that, so
create the document, save it, and then send it via the app. According to what I found
out, living in the digital era has lots of benefits, especially when it comes
to speed. We can send documents to far destinations without a hitch. Which one
is faster, more secure, and reliable, fax or email? Sending emails is fast and
convenient. It is what we are used to nowadays. A small problem can occur with
email, sometimes your attached document does not reach the intended destination
for different reasons. Your email can end up in:
·
Spam
or junk, so the recipient might not see it
·
The
wrong hands if:
o
You
have entered the incorrect email address by accident
o
Your
email has been hacked
Failing to
send files to your boss or a colleague is quite unprofessional. Emailing
potentially sensitive data to the wrong colleague, a client, or even a competitor—could
probably jeopardize your job. We may take email as a standard communication
form, but it could do lots of harm to you and your company.
Traditional
or internet fax machines and various fax services offer more reliability in
business environments. A fax machine was used long before email to send
documents to further destinations. They have not vanished with the appearance
of email—they have adapted. Faxing is still considered a more secure way to
send documents, especially the official ones containing sensitive data.
Most
businesses rely on email for fast and efficient communication. We use it for
everyday business and personal activities.
Emails can
get blocked, especially if a business has implemented security filters scanning
and rerouting emails to spam or junk folders. Some companies have such powerful
filters that an incoming email does not even end up in their spam or junk
folder but is automatically identified as harmful and deleted.
Should you
decide to attach a file to your email and send it to such a company, the
chances of it ending up in junk, spam, or being deleted increase. If your email
is identified as junk, your business partner might miss out on an important
document, and your project will run late.
You will
avoid this problem by using a fax app. Files you send via an online fax service
to a fax machine will not be scanned and identified as spam. Your files will
reach the recipient smoothly.
Emailing
comes with lots of security issues because it is used by plenty of people and
organizations. An email can be easily hacked or forged. Somebody can access
your confidential information.
Everything
can get more complicated and threatening with attached files. When you send or
receive contracts, medical documentation, or other official material, you can
easily catch spyware or some other malicious software and risk infecting your
computer or even the whole business network.
That is why
a lot of legal, economic, and medical sectors opt for online fax instead of
email. SSL encryption is what safeguards the files you send via online fax
services. This encryption keeps your sensitive data and documents safe when
using a web browser. I never knew so I now understand why medical
professionals use fax instead of email.
