In part 1, we discussed how British Telecom was phasing out the PSTN and ISDN networks that many businesses depend on, not by 2025, but with rolling deadlines across the country. While the simplest replacement for fax machines is a digital fax solution, this blog describes how you can take things further.
Secure File Exchange
If you’re ready to leave faxing behind entirely, a secure file exchange solution is the answer. Such a solution will let your organization send documents, images, videos, and other large files, securely and with confidence.
It’s important to consider several things when selecting such a product – not all solutions are equal when viewed through the lens of your specific needs. Here are four key criteria you should use to make your decision.
Criteria 1: Security
The most important consideration is that the solution is actually secure. Encryption is a given, but there’s more to security than just that. 2-factor authentication is non-negotiable in today’s cybersecurity environment, dramatically reducing the risk that people signing in aren’t who they say they are. Automatic virus scanning will help protect you against malicious attachments should the person on the other end be infected.
You also need a strategy for dealing with files in after they’ve served their purpose. It is extremely easy for copies to proliferate through communications, and then be forgotten. This is a huge breach risk, so you need some way (ideally automated) to clean them up.
Criteria 2: Compliance
You likely have privacy regulations you must adhere to, such as GDPR if you have customer data from the EU. While no single solution will make your organization compliant, your new communications tool needs to check all the right boxes to ensure that it aids your compliance strategy.
A big part of compliance is record keeping. This helps your organization respond to audits quickly and affordably. If something may have gone wrong and you might have a breach, having solid records makes it a lot easier to discover if something has happened, and what the real risks are.
If a breach is confirmed, you’ll likely have very little time to reach out to those involved, so you’ll need to know who they are.
Criteria 3: Ease of use
The incoming solution must be easy to use. The net is full of horror stories about employees going around approved secure methods in favor of insecure, but less frustrating, consumer options. Not only does your IT department have no visibility at that point, but they’ve set up a breach that’s just waiting to happen.
This doesn’t just hold true for your employees’ sake, but for the benefit of outsiders too. By transitioning away from fax, you’re asking those you communicate with to start using a new method as well. The more frustrating such a solution is, the less likely they are to use it and the more time your staff will have to spend troubleshooting when they do.
Criteria 4: Efficiency and adaptability
Security solutions should keep you safer without adding a lot of workflow overhead. In fact, the ideal situation would be for them to streamline things further. Integrations with Microsoft Outlook, MFP connectors, mobile apps, and secure web portals are all helpful in allowing staff to work efficiently.
The solution you pick should either be custom-built to suit the needs of your particular industry (for example, healthcare, education, or law enforcement), or very adaptable to the file formats and sizes you need to send and receive.
OpenText XM SendSecure
OpenText™ XM SendSecure™ is a file exchange solution designed to make communications secure and aid regulatory compliance without increasing costs or slowing workflows.
XM SendSecure protects your files with double encryption, automatic virus scanning, encrypted chat, and two-factor authentication. It can send and receive files in any format and sizes up to 5TB. Such files are transferred in an ephemeral “SafeBox”. After a specific amount of time (set by the user or administrator), the SafeBox will delete itself, preventing old files from being discovered by bad actors later.
The solution has been designed to aid compliance with a broad range of regulations and security requirements, including GDPR, PCI DSS, and NHS guidelines. This includes exacting automatic recordkeeping of every interaction.
Sending files with XM SendSecure is no more difficult than sending an email. Outside recipients don’t need special training or to have their own account. In fact, they can use your account to submit files to your organization as well.
