It seems email has been most widely used in business. Most of the time, the first behavior as a staff sits in front of a screen in an office is always to check the inbox of their emails. Fax, however, sounds or has been defined as “old school”, but that’s not true in business. In terms of business confidentiality, fax is more secure and reliable than email.
Fax Vs. Email: Which is More Secure
To learn about the comparison between fax and email, the pros and cons of both fax and email should be dug.
Pros and Cons of Email
Pros of Email
- Speedy
- Convenient
- Flexible
- Can be free
- Simple
Cons of Email
- Easy to be hacked
- Lacking personal touch
- Flooded with junk emails
- Infectious to local network
As an ordinary way to transmit information and data in the business field, email has been widely used by massive people because it’s easy to send and receive at any time because it can be checked anytime and anywhere from a computer or smartphone. Moreover, it can be free to use if you don’t call for high requirements when it comes to customized features.
Nevertheless, email tends to be hacked and cybercriminals would like to lure people to click the links provided by them so as to get victims’ devices to be “infectious”. Worse still, when it comes to business confidentiality and legality, the communications that are generated via email fail to be regarded as legally valid, which is not useful when business conflicts need to be dealt with.
Pros and Cons of Fax
Pros of Fax
- Secure
- Legally valid
- Can add signatures
- Compatible with the requirement of government or other organizations
Cons of Email
- Inconvenient
- Expensive
- Slow
Different from an email which depends on Internet access and servers, fax depends on digital transmissions based on a telephone line, which is why a fax number is always a must as a document needs to be sent out. In addition, the cost of faxes is obvious because fax machines, telephone lines, and plans, paper, ink, and toner should be charged. Although fax features so many disadvantages compared with email, then it has obvious advantages like high security, validity, and legality that are more important when it comes to business confidentiality. Moreover, the application of online fax compensates for all the disadvantages traditional fax carries.
Why is Fax More Secure than Email?
Even though email is more popular, fax is more secure than email, in many regards.
High Security
Online fax is beneficial to protect the privacy of documents to be sent in the fax. On one hand, online fax enables users to send and receive faxes from smartphones, tablets, or computers so that they don’t need to look for a public fax machine that tends to expose documents to the public. On the other hand, the new technology can be used on online fax to protect its high security. For example, the Fax app applies end-to-end encryption to protect faxed documents against any possible harm that probably compromises security.
High Flexibility
Online fax features high flexibility that allows its users to edit their documents anytime and anywhere, add a cover sheet or sign the document. Used on smartphones or tablets, online fax also enables its users to send and receive faxes at any time. They don’t need to stand by a fax machine to stop their document from being visited by bad actors.
Low Cost
Online fax saves users’ cost because the cost for some hardware is cut like fax machine purchase and maintenance, landline, paper, ink, and more. Moreover, online fax provides numerous fax plans compatible with different demands. For example, the Dingtone Fax App provides fax plans with unlimited fax pages and either local or international fax numbers.
Is It Safe to Fax Sensitive Information?
Yes, it is safe to fax sensitive information, whether you’re using a traditional fax machine or an online faxing service. Fax is still considered one of the safest ways to send sensitive data. That is why it is still widely used in healthcare industries, legal industries, and the government to send and receive patient data, criminal records, case histories, and tax documents.
Can Faxes be Hacked?
Yes, both online fax services and traditional fax machines may be hacked. A hacker could send a malicious fax to an all-in-one printer and gain access to the entire network, which is known as “Faxsploit”. However, this is usually difficult, particularly if the fax machine is connected to a traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Online faxes are usually end-to-end encrypted, which can ensure the protection of vital information and documents.
Why is Fax Still Dramatically Needed in Business Today?
Too much sensitive information needs to be transmitted in business.
What type of documents are always used in business? Quite a large number of business documents contain too much sensitive information that should be legally dealt with like contracts, acknowledgments, orders, etc. Such documents generally call for signatures, which fail to be met when the email is used.
Fax is the document transmission method called by some organizations or governments.
Sometimes, it’s not you but your partner, cooperating organization or government that determines your document transmission method. Fax is a popular way to transmit information strongly recommended by such organizations.
Fax has been developed into numerous versions compatible with different demands.
When is your last time to fax documents?
Recently, changes have occurred to the fax industry so that the disadvantages of traditional fax have been erased by the advantages of online fax that depends on Fax Over Internet Protocol (FOIP) technology enabling users to send and receive faxes at any time and place.
Bottom Line
- Both fax and email have advantages and disadvantages, but the former is more secure than the latter.
- Fax is dramatically needed in business confidentiality, leading to its high popularity on the market.
- Online fax is the optimal solution to traditional fax because its advantages compensate for all disadvantages of traditional fax.