To Fax or Not to Fax?
After four years’ experience as an NCM client services and meeting coordinator, I’ve become a strong advocate of “out with the old, in with the new.” While I don’t consider myself a millennial, I am firmly planted somewhere between the generations currently active in the workforce. This position allows me to appreciate the ways of my predecessors, while also eagerly staying on the lookout for new and exciting improvements to technology, business practices, and social strategies.
It comes then as no surprise that I have some opinions about the fax machine and the role it plays in the modern workplace. And here’s my position: If you haven’t already, now is a good time to begin phasing out your company fax machine.
Lost in translation
Coordinators request specific information from clients for their 20 Group meetings, and that information frequently gets lost in translation when the fax is utilized, simply because of the technology.
The biggest issue is that faxed documents are usually handwritten in some capacity. Once these documents pass through dated machinery, over phone lines, and print out on the other side, they often end up a blurry, illegible mess. As a result, clients spend valuable time corresponding with coordinators to confirm faxed data, something that could have been avoided by using a typed, legible email.
The story of Joe
One coordinator—let’s call her Megan—shared a story with me about a client—we’ll call him Joe—whose meeting was derailed because of the fax machine. (Just to be clear, I’ve changed their names to protect the innocent!)
Joe thought he had faxed his 20 Group meeting registration form to Megan but had instead “faxed” it to Megan’s phone number. Megan hadn’t even included a fax number on the meeting registration form! Joe received a reminder email from Megan and didn’t see his name on the meeting attendance roster. He immediately called Megan and was very upset because he had faxed his forms, but wasn’t on the list. He thought he had done what he needed to do, but Megan had no idea Joe was even planning on attending the meeting.
To make matters worse, due to the mix-up Joe had to book a room at a nearby hotel, not the hotel where the meeting was held. By the time Megan realized he needed a room, the hotel was completely sold out, and the group’s block of hotel rooms was full. This cost Joe valuable time and additional money, all because a fax was sent but never received.
Need for speed
NCM gets its faxes on a machine that integrates faxing, printing, and copying. So, how does this affect our ability to get your faxes? When you send a fax, it gets mixed in with all the other materials in the machine’s output tray. It’s not unusual for faxes to be temporarily misplaced, and it’s common that a fax never reaches its intended coordinator.
If a coordinator knows about a fax, she can go searching for it, but if she doesn’t, it could be a while before she receives the fax in hand (or never receives it, like Megan). In comparison, an email arrives in a coordinator’s inbox in an instant, and she can respond immediately. The speed of delivery is increased dramatically. Even if you choose not to switch to a scanned document or PDF file, I highly recommend that you at least email your coordinator every time you send a fax so she can watch for it.
Be sure to look for emailed reservation forms and other documents from your coordinator. Scan and email those forms back to NCM, or fax them (to a verified fax number–don’t be like Joe) and immediately call your coordinator to let her know to watch for it. If your document includes sensitive information, like a credit card number, go ahead and call NCM to give it to us over the phone. Or, for a safer email option, check out this free system for sending secure emails that’s been hailed in Forbes as the most difficult to “hack.”
Overall, when you switch to email, your NCM coordinator will be able to help you faster, enter your data more accurately, and provide a better customer experience. And you won’t end up at La Quinta instead of the Four Seasons, taking an Uber to your meeting like Joe.