Hybrid Cloud Fax Solutions (IaaS)

Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution Overview

Imecom’s Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution offers secure hosted fax services that eliminate the need for expensive fax hardware, complex fault tolerance designs, and costly disaster recovery solutions. Furthermore, you no longer have to deal with the complexities and costs of provisioning PRI, T1, and/or analog connections. Simply connect your Imecom Fax Server to the Internet and configure your Hybrid Cloud fax account, and all fax communications are securely delivered via the Cloud using HTTPS Fax.

Features

• Secure encrypted communication between your enterprise and Imecom’s Hosted Fax Service infrastructure
• Employs HTTPS and SSL for secure connectivity with additional message-level security applied to each fax job processed via the Imecom Hosted Fax Services
• No busy signals – never lose a fax
• Seamless integration with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook, Microsoft office, and more
• Integrate with Active Directory, Novell eDirectory, IBM Domino Directory, and others
• Keep your existing fax numbers and/or request new local or toll-free numbers
• Intuitive web portal featuring on-demand report generation, call metrics, alerts, and much more
• No phone lines to purchase and maintain
• No local fax boards required
• Easy to scale
• Easy account setup
• Faxes are not archived in the Cloud by default – all faxes are managed within your internal network
• Lower up-front cost – no fax board, telephony, or PBX components needed

Benefits

Cost Savings

Reduce capital and operational expenses. Eliminate server hardware, fax boards and middleware, phone lines, PBX components and licenses, and local Telco service.

Deploy and Use Only What You Need

You can design your fax solution and implement only what you need. Whether you need 2 channels or 120 channels, email integration or ERP integration, you can design and implement a fax solution that’s right for your specific needs and requirements.

Secure and Compliant

Imecom’s Hosted Fax Services are completely secure end to end, allowing you to comply with today’s tough data security and protection regulations, including HIPAA, SOX, GLB, and PCI.

Disaster Recovery

Imecom’s Hosted Fax Service infrastructure has been built and optimized for Disaster Recovery, so we’ve already taken care of that for you. Additionally, you can deploy a Hybrid Cloud Fax configuration that addresses fail over, load-balancing, and business continuity all in one smart design.

Virtualize Your Fax Solution

Imecom’s Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution supports VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer.

No Infrastructure Maintenance

Imecom provides continuous maintenance on our Hosted Fax Services infrastructure. You no longer have to spend time and money maintaining server hardware, fax boards, warranty life cycle management, or maintenance on phone lines or PBX infrastructure. We take care of all of that!

Easy to Scale

You have the freedom to choose how many active fax channels you have. Imecom’s Hosted Fax Service infrastructure has thousands of virtual fax ports that can activated and allocated to your account within a matter of minutes.

Keep Your Existing Fax Numbers

Being able to utilizing your existing fax numbers is paramount. Therefore, we have made it possible to port most numbers from the current Telco provider/carrier to our Hosted Fax Service. We can also activate and allocate new local toll and toll-free numbers to your account – as many as you need.

How It Works

Our Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution offers a unique approach that encompasses Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and at the same time, provides the security and management capabilities of an on-premise solution. The core Imecom Fax Server software resides locally within your network, where you have complete control over inbound and outbound routing processes, integrations with your existing applications and network resources, and total control over application security. However, you no longer have to deal with the expense and hassle of provisioning PRI, T1, or analog circuits, configuring your PBX, or setting up VoIP protocols and connections. Instead, you simply connect the Imecom Fax Server to the Internet and configure your Hybrid Cloud fax account. Faxes are sent and received securely via HTTPS Fax.

Sending Faxes

Sending faxes using our Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution is exactly the same compared to our full on-premise fax server. You can compose fax jobs using your email client, a desktop fax client, your web browser, MFP devices, or from any of your enterprise applications. The Imecom Fax Server processes the outbound job, renders it to a TIFF image format, and then transmits the job via secure HTTPS to the cloud. Upon completion of the fax, a confirmation is delivered back to the originating Imecom Fax Server, resulting in a notification being delivered to the sender of the fax. This process only requires an internet connection – that’s it!

Receiving Faxes

Imecom will issue one or multiple new dedicated fax numbers (DIDs) and/or port existing fax numbers from your current Telco provider over to the Cloud. When a fax is received, it is first identified as a fax belonging to your company based upon the number that was dialed and then transmitted via secure HTTPS to your Imecom Fax Server. From there, the Imecom Fax Server will execute the appropriate inbound fax routing action(s) based on the rules you have setup and implemented. All faxes, whether sent or received, are never stored at the Cloud level, and by default, are not stored on the Imecom Fax Server.

How Secure Is It?

Security is what sets the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution apart from other outsourced fax services. Our Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution incorporates a multi-level encryption/security system known as a “defense-in-depth” approach. It is a layering tactic, conceived by the National Security Agency (NSA), as a comprehensive approach to information and electronic security.

In addition, all fax transactions are processed in a secure and encrypted database utilizing the same standards. Furthermore, the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution infrastructure does not store any images or content processed beyond the life of the transmission. Once the transmission has completed, the fax image/content is destroyed and all data is zeroed out, ensuring our solution meets all regulatory compliance requirements.

The Nuts and Bolts

The connection between the Imecom Fax Server and the Cloud infrastructure is a secure communication channel over HTTPS. Once a secure channel has been established, you will be authenticated using your account number, username, and password. Lastly, even though the HTTPS channel is already secure, additional encryption that protects the communication on a “message level” is applied at the Cloud infrastructure web service level.

The message level security simply adds another layer to an already secure channel. HTTPS using certificates employs a public/private key-pair system for communication where this base key is the basis for communication between all systems. With message level security, a new key is derived using a challenge/response mechanism that creates a key that is unique to each session with the Cloud infrastructure. Once the channel/pipe is secured using HTTPS, the Cloud infrastructure web service protocol then further protects (double encryption) information on the message level within an already secure channel.

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA is an interesting animal. It outlines many requirements, rules, and principles for keeping protected health information (PHI) secure, but they are all flexible and do not prescribe any specific practices or actions that must be taken. Further, there is currently no Federal Agency that “certifies” that a solution or product is HIPAA compliant. That said, being HIPAA compliant is mandatory, and the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution can help you achieve HIPAA compliance as it relates to information sent and received via electronic fax.

The HIPAA Safeguards Principle:

Individually identifiable health information should be protected with reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure its confidentiality, integrity, and availability and to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate access, use, or disclosure.

Rough Translation: Make your best effort to protect confidential information and make sure its confidentiality and integrity remain intact. Okay… Imecom can help you do that.

• The Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution uses double encryption, employing HTTPS and message level security.
• Unlike fax machines where PHI can sit on a fax machine tray waiting for anyone to walk by, the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution imposes automatic forwarding functions to ensure that each electronic fax is delivered only to the intended recipient.
• Some fax machines cache old fax jobs and anyone on the technical savvy side can retrieve cached PHI. However, with the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution, any existence of an electronic fax is completely removed once the transmission has completed and the fax reaches the intended destination.
• Unlike many Internet Fax Services, the Imecom Hybrid Cloud Fax Solution gives you complete control over the core Imecom Fax Server software. This allows you to apply the same level of security to your fax server that you apply to all other enterprise applications.

Download Fax Server Trial

Please fill out the following form to download the 30-day trial version of Imecom’s Fax Server software.