PrintThis may be the Information Age, but many important documents still are stored on sheets of paper rather than computer disks. When you have to transmit one of those documents on short notice, your best option is often the fax machine.
But what if sensitive papers such as bids, patents, legal or medical records or other confidential materials are intercepted by the wrong person? It happens more often than you may think: According to some estimates, more than 30 percent of faxes never reach their intended recipients.
The consequences of the wrong person receiving your fax could be serious. You could give away trade secrets, tip your hand about marketing plans, or even expose your business to legal action if, for example, an employee's confidential medical history goes to the wrong person.
Such potential problems mean businesses must take steps to ensure fax privacy. That's especially important for firms such as law offices, insurance agencies, or information technology firms that frequently handle sensitive information. But even firms that deal with less sensitive issues have secrets to protect.
Try these tips to help you protect the privacy of your faxed documents:
- Call ahead. Notify the intended recipient that you're about to fax a sensitive document, so that he or she can wait at the fax machine. Otherwise the document is likely to be picked up -- and read -- by the wrong person.
- Ask for a call back. It's a good idea to ask your intended recipient to call you back when she gets the fax. That way you know it wasn't intercepted.
- Prepare a no-nonsense fax cover sheet. Cover sheets for sensitive documents should carry a warning that makes clear the fax you're sending is confidential, and only to be viewed by the person to whom it's addressed. If necessary, the cover sheet should also instruct the recipient to destroy the document after reading it.
- Consider Internet-based faxing. Several vendors, including eFax.com, provide faxing software that allows you to send and receive faxes via e-mail. Prices for such systems range from free to several thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of your business' needs.
Internet faxing offers several security benefits. Faxes go directly to your computer, reducing the possibility that a passerby will see a fax that's coming in. In addition, many such programs allow you to track the transmission to see whether it was received. Moreover, Internet faxing allows you to store paper documents in electronic form, so you can easily use and save data they include.
