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Service Utilities
Concord Fax Online delivers a wide range of IP fax capabilities to its customers
with unparalleled reliability, security and speed. At times, there are specific
integration needs requiring the use of local software. These needs range from automatically
printing all incoming faxes, automatically archiving all incoming faxes into a document
management system and/or integrating fax communications with a company’s ERP systems.
To this end, Concord has created two utility applications: FolderFax and FaxAssist.
Both utilities are Windows services that are designed to work seamlessly with the
Concord Fax Online service.
FAXASSIST
Concord FaxAssist manages and routes selected incoming fax communications. It can
be an important component of a company's workflow implementation as fax communications
can be easily integrated into legacy applications or document management systems.
Based on a company’s needs, incoming fax documents can be routed to any of the following
three options:
- Prints to 1 or multiple printers
- Stores in 1 or multiple folders
- A combination of the above
CONCORD FAXASSIST implementation:
A Fortune 300 corporation uses Concord FaxAssist to route purchase orders (POs)
to 26 different sales departments in different buildings and geographic areas. POs
are automatically printed to the each department’s network printer where they can
be processed appropriately. The Concord Fax Online service replaced 26 stand alone
fax machines and substantially improved the company’s operating budget by eliminating
equipment and costs and automating a manual processes — in this case, manually sorting
and faxing faxes to the respective departments. Concord FaxAssist also allowed the
company to create a document management system by electronically archiving all Purchase
Orders. All in all, the greatest benefit has been the increased sales revenue derived
from a more rapid turnaround time.
Many companies utilize Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or legacy application
systems for the creation of documents such as invoices, purchase orders and statements.
Moreover, companies may want to automate the sending of these documents via fax.
Folder Fax accomplished this by utilizing a software to integrate these application
systems with the Concord network to deliver these documents automatically via fax.
FOLDERFAX
Concord FolderFax bridges a company’s ERP/legacy system with Concord Fax Online
by automating the delivery of these documents via fax. Once installed and configured,
FolderFax monitors one or multiple folders for outgoing documents that need to be
faxed. It also supports production fax embedded codes including delivery confirmations,
names, and recipient fax numbers. Other functionality includes options for cover
pages and job scheduling (start dates, expiry dates), amongst others.
Each folder the software monitors can be individually configured with a distinct
set of rules which can be overwritten by commands embedded in file name or an additional
XML file. For example,
fax={12065551212}faxjob1-job112345.doc will result in the document being faxed to
12065551212
fax={12065551212}email={johndoe@johndoe.net}faxjob1.doc will result in the document
being faxed to 12065551212 and a notification sent to johndoe@johndoe.net
Concord FolderFax implementation:
A mid-sized company integrated Concord FolderFax into their legacy inventory management
system that creates invoices. When these are created, they are placed in different
folders, each specific to a customer. Concord FolderFax monitors these folders on
an ongoing basis and automatically faxes them on specific billing dates to the respective
recipient according to the embedded codes. Concord FolderFax helped this company
improve their bottom line by automating processes and reducing their accounts payable
billing cycles.
FolderFax supports both SMTP and Web Services submissions and is easy to integrate
– any application that is capable of storing files in folders can be fax-enabled.
Both utilities are part of Concord Fax Online.
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