| Documents are the life blood of every | | | | Accounts Payable departments.Inbound fax |
| organization, and the cornerstone to every | | | | automation of Accounts Payable Invoices |
| business process. Document types range from | | | | You may have noticed that your vendors are |
| sales and marketing collateral to financial reports, | | | | increasingly using facsimile transmission of invoices |
| employment applications, human resource forms | | | | to reduce their billing costs and turn around costs. |
| and business letters. The list goes on and on. While | | | | With inbound fax automation you can fine tune |
| all are important, this article focuses on three | | | | your accounts payable practices. The added |
| universally received documents: purchase orders, | | | | efficiency will help you to take advantage of |
| invoices and contracts, and how these documents | | | | credit terms and fast pay discounts, protect your |
| can be received and disseminated with inbound | | | | credit rating, avoid late charges and keep |
| fax automation.What is Inbound Fax | | | | privileged information away from prying eyes.You |
| Automation?Inbound fax automation is the | | | | can only gain these efficiencies if you get the |
| process in which faxes are received by a fax | | | | invoices to AP personnel in a timely fashion. |
| server and disseminated to the intended recipients | | | | Inbound fax automation makes this process easy |
| by e-mail, network printer, document | | | | and secure. After the Fax Server receives the |
| management system, network directory or | | | | invoice, it forwards it to the responsible AP |
| database. The fax server routes these fax | | | | personnel as an email attachment, printed copy, |
| messages by the use of one or more of the | | | | or file saved to disk. There are no lost or |
| following criteria; file characteristics (name, date, | | | | misdirected pages, and no unauthorized |
| time), content (scanned from OCR or barcode) or | | | | reading.Inbound fax automation of Legal |
| telephony protocol (CSID/ANI/DID or DTMF) | | | | Agreements (Contracts) |
| information.The primary benefits achieved | | | | Signed contracts or contracts that require |
| include:Decreased paper and toner consumption | | | | signatures can be sent by mail (too slow), courier |
| Minimized labor expenseIncreased employee | | | | (too expensive) or fax. It's easy to see why fax |
| productivity - faxes arrive at best location for | | | | is the preferred method. Whether you receive |
| integration into business workflow.Document | | | | contracts requiring signatures or signed contracts, |
| Security - Eliminate unauthorized viewing of | | | | the contracts must be easy to read and share |
| documents, while on the fax machine, or during | | | | with coworkers. You can't risk loosing any pages, |
| hand distribution. Fax pages are always archived | | | | especially those with signatures or initials.Inbound |
| electronically so documents don't get lost.Inbound | | | | fax automation provides these protections. Faxes |
| fax automation of Purchase Orders | | | | received by a fax server are immediately |
| Purchase orders are like money in the bank. Fax | | | | available at the desktop of the intended recipient, |
| transmission remains a popular means of sending | | | | who can share a contract, in electronic format, |
| purchase orders because it shares the best | | | | and print it to any network printer. You only print |
| features of e-mail and snail mail.Fax delivery is | | | | the contract if you plan to sign it. Signed copies |
| very reliable and verifiable by confirmation report | | | | can be automatically archived to a Document |
| from both sending and receiving fax devices. | | | | Management System or applicable location for |
| Purchase orders require a signature, and | | | | security purposes.Summary |
| transmission of signatures via fax is legally binding. | | | | When the best inbound fax automation solution is |
| Immediate delivery speeds processing of the | | | | implemented, organizations streamline legal and |
| order.Even if you have a dedicated fax line for | | | | commercial transactions while decreasing the |
| receiving purchase orders, it is difficult to get | | | | costs associated with manual paper distribution. |
| copies of the P.O. to all concerned individuals and | | | | You will have more control over the safety, |
| departments in time to ensure customer | | | | confidentiality and location of business |
| satisfaction. Orders may be delayed, misrouted or | | | | information.TargetFax Document Imaging - Chris |
| simply misplaced. When customers call to follow | | | | Norwood has been in this industry for over 13 |
| up on the P.O. they just faxed, are you ready to | | | | years and is currently the Business Development |
| respond?When inbound fax automation solution is | | | | Manager for One Touch Global Technologies. One |
| properly implemented all concerned parties | | | | Touch Global Technologies is a Platinum Solution |
| immediately receive the P.O. in the format they | | | | Provider, Specialized Software Developer and |
| require. The sales rep for the account could | | | | Systems Integrator for several of the leading fax |
| receive a PDF e-mail attachment, while another | | | | server and document management technologies |
| copy is sent to a printer in the Order Entry or | | | | on the market. |