1January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

e-Fax Services Overview

Enterprise Fax Service from theOffice of Enterprise Technology

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• Description

• Features

• Fax vs. Email

• Benefits

• Conceptual Diagram

• Pricing Tiers

• OET Value Adds

• Getting Started

Topics

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Description

e-Fax Services — • provide inbound and outbound fax

• suitable for individuals and groups

• can replace traditional fax machines

• an enterprise fax solution for Minnesota government and education

• tiered pricing based on actual usage volume

• available to users within the metro free calling area

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Description

e-Fax technical requirements — • location must be connected to MNET

(Minnesota’s Network for Enterprise Telecommunications)

• location must have a local area network

Compatibility is easy —

• any type of telephone service

• any email application

Why are the telephone service and email application mentioned?

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Send a fax — • a Web interface is used

• attach a file, such as a letter or spreadsheet, and it gets converted to an image when it’s faxed

• custom cover sheets for agencies and work groups are available

Who can receive the faxes?

• any fax machine or fax service can receive an e-Fax document

Features

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Receive a fax — • inbound fax arrives as an image file attached to an

email message

• standard viewing software on the user’s PC opens the image attachment

• user can manipulate the file by standard commands such as Save, Print, Forward, etc.

How does this happen?

• a fax telephone number is assigned to the user or group

• the fax telephone number routes to an individual or group email address

Features

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Fax vs. Email

What are the differences?

• a fax is sent and received as a graphics (.tif) file – it’s a picture of a document

• if you need to send or receive an editable (ex. Word .doc or Excel .xls) or portable (Adobe Acrobat .pdf) file, use email

• inbound fax makes dealing with a signed document easy; you have it electronically rather than on paper

• outbound fax streamlines the sending of existing documents (ex. Word files, etc.) to a traditional fax machine; it’s paperless, straight from your desktop

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Benefits

• privacy and security – a desktop application instead of paper on a shared fax machine

• efficiency – expedite the turnaround time

• financial – e-Fax costs are generally lower than using fax machines, and consolidating volume into one billing account yields the lowest per-page rates

• green – reduce unnecessary paper consumption

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Conceptual Diagram

MNETMinnesota’s Network for

Enterprise Telecommunications

PSTNPublic Switched

Telephone Network

Shared Metro IP Telephony Gateway supports access to the PSTN

(inbound fax telephone numbers)

MNET delivers secure Internet access to the desktop via the local area network

Redundant Site

Fax Services

e-Fax ServicesConceptual Diagram

Primary SiteFax Services

Agency Enterprise NetworkAgency Local Area

Network (LAN)

`End User

- Web browser access to the Internet (send outbound fax)- Email access (receive inbound fax)

Fax Machine

- Send to an e-Fax telephone number- Receive from an e-Fax user

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Pricing Tiers

• OET recommends the agency consolidate e-Fax into one billing account number for the lowest per-page unit cost

• tiered billing is based on total pages, in and out, per month

• tiers allow a usage range to simplify budget planning for customers

• long distance is included in the tier rate

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Pricing Tiers

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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OET Value Adds

• innovative technology – Fax over IP (FoIP) that makes use of existing network and telephony infrastructure

• hosted enterprise infrastructure in a secure environment

• defined business processes from inquiry through implementation and ongoing support

• expert staff and vendor resources

• 24x7x365 Technical Assistance Center (TAC)

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Getting Started

• identify individuals and work groups that would benefit from desktop faxing

• analyze fax practices today – • number of machines

• costs for provisioning and maintenance

• volumes of inbound and outbound per month/quarter/year

• contact your OET account manager to discuss or plan a project

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview

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Thank You

Questions

January 3, 2011 e-Fax Services Overview