<p>January 5, 2007
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Document Imaging Report
Business Trends on Converting Paper Processes to Electronic Format
The Facts Are That Fax Is Far
From Dead
Emerging FoIP technology will drive future
sales of software for large install base of
potential distributed capture devices.
Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed an
explosion in sales of workgroup (sub-$2,000)
scanners. We’ve also seen rapidly increasing
adoption of scanning on digital copiers. However,
even when you put these two types of devices
together in a market called “distributed capture
hardware,” the install base pales in comparison to
that of fax machines—estimated to be over 50 million
worldwide.
“The need for distributed scanning solutions is on
the rise, and fax remains the easiest, most cost
effective, and most ubiquitous technology for
scanning a document and sending it to someone
else,” attests Dan Lucarini, senior director of
marketing for fax server software vendor Captaris.
“Everyone has access to a fax machine or multi-
function all-in-one device, and everyone knows how
to use a keypad and press ‘send.’”
But aren’t faxes part of the paper problem that
document imaging is designed to eliminate? Well,
not necessarily. Captaris, for instance, offers direct
connection from its RightFax software to ECM
solutions from leading vendors like Hyland, FileNet,
and EMC Documentum. Captaris also has its own
workflow and document management software,
picked up through acquisitions a couple years back
[see DIR 11/5/04]. These solutions enable incoming
faxes to be saved, managed, and archived as digital
images—without ever being printed.
“With our fax server software, users can also
capture a very basic, yet important piece of
metadata—the sender’s fax number,” said Lucarini.
“This information can be exported in an XML format
and easily referenced against a customer database to
identify the sender. It doesn’t require any OCR, ICR,
or complex