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Latest Developments from etherFAX
By Mark D. Malone
Fax Industry Analyst
Last month I
posted a short snippet about our good friends at etherFAX (see, “etherFAX
Signs Deal with ExtraComm”) just to get the word out about their new
partner, but I also wanted to talk about some new innovations they’ve
introduced into the marketplace. Not
only has etherFAX upped the ante by achieving a very high level certification
from the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), they’ve also
been seeing growth in the need for secure fax delivery capabilities that they
alone can deliver. There is more about these developments later.
First, let’s recall the etherFAX solution. They’re not a fax
server ISV nor are they a fax cloud services provider. Instead they offer a
cloud-based fax telephony network that can tie in to virtually any Fax Server
vendor’s on premise system. This eliminates the need for end customers to
invest in on-premise telephony boards, circuits and related hardware – a huge
savings and fewer headaches for those organizations that do not want to
purchase, install and manage telephony equipment for their fax server. I like
this hybrid scenario since it leaves full control of the fax server software
and the vital fax data on-premise – where
it belongs according to some interpretations of the compliance standards
like HIPAA and PCI DSS.
There’s a lot more
depth to what etherFAX offers so I recently was able to get some time from them
and updates on what they’re up to these days. They’ve undergone a bit of
rebranding in the last couple of years so an update is in order. Special thanks
to etherFAX CEO Paul Banco (PBanco@etherfax.net),
and Director of Sales Quinn Corey (QCorey@etherfax.net)
as well as CTO Robert Cichielo (RCichielo@etherfax.net)
to get more details about their latest news.
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ExtraComm is etherFAX’s newest
partner.
etherFAX SEN®
etherFAX API
What if an organization doesn’t have a fax server that interoperates
with etherFAX? Or, what if they have no
fax server at all but have a fax-based business application that needs
automation? etherFAX offers an
Application Programming Interface (API) via their etherFAX Toolkit offering.
Software integrators can utilize a Web Services interface to fax-enable any fax
server or tie directly into an automated fax process (e.g. a production fax
scenario). etherFAX also provides
jump-start kits for C/C++, C#/.NET, Java, PHP, and other programming languages.
Fax integration has never been easier.
COMPANY PROFILE
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ExtraComm is etherFAX’s newest
partner.
etherFAX continues to add on more and more Fax Server ISVs
to their growing list of partners. ExtraComm is the maker of ExtraFax®, a
faxing solution with tight integrations to both Lotus Domino and Microsoft
Exchange. ExtraComm joins other notable Fax ISVs like Imecom, GoldFax, FaxCore,
GFI Faxmaker, FacSys (Solgenia), One Touch Global and others.
etherFAX achieves PCI DSS Level 1 Certification
I must admit I didn’t know what “Level 1” merchant certification
was until spoke with them. I learned quickly that not all vendors have achieved
this level, but rather may have levels 2-4 in which they obtain certification
through “self assessment”. Not in the case of Level 1 however. Service
providers like etherFAX undergo a rigorous certification audit performed by an
external 3rd-party vendor. In their case, etherFAX uses Trustwave® (www.trustwave.com) to continuously evaluate
and scrutinize etherFAX’s internal systems, processes, policies and governance
procedures.
But what does “Level 1” mean? First, a little history for
context: Back in 2001, Visa instituted the Cardholder Information Security
Program (CISP), which eventually rolled up into the current PCI DSS standards
of today. According to Visa, “CISP is
intended to protect Visa cardholder data–wherever it resides–ensuring that
members, merchants, and service providers maintain the highest information
security standard.” And,
specifically to what Level 1 means, “Merchants
processing over 6 million Visa transactions annually (all channels) or Global
merchants identified as Level 1 by any Visa region 2”
So, with a Level 1 go ahead from Visa, service provider
etherFAX can serve merchants who do massive volumes of credit card transactions
and keep the vital information well protected. Very
cool indeed especially since there are very few fax cloud vendors who have
achieved this level.
etherFAX SEN®
“SEN” stands for
Secure Exchange Network and it’s actually not a brand new capability of the
etherFAX cloud network. It’s sort of an “already built in capability” that’s
growing in demand as HIPAA and PCI DSS tighten their grips about compliance
mandates. In a nutshell, etherFAX SEN allows peer-to-peer faxing within the etherFAX
network – without having to make a fax call outside the network.
Let’s say a
customer using a hybrid GoldFax® server with an etherFAX telephony cloud sends
a fax to a trading partner who happens to be using Imecom’s Use IT® Messaging
server with etherFAX. In this scenario, the etherFAX network can recognize
another etherFAX destination number and instead of making an outside fax call,
the fax is delivered via “in-network” routing within the etherFAX network
itself. No outside fax call means the delivery is instantaneous, there’s no telephone
transmission and security is guaranteed from end-to-end. For record keeping, etherFAX
also marks SEN transactions as “SENt” for reporting and compliance purposes.
One of the
stand-out features of the SEN capability is that dissimilar products can enjoy
the benefits of secure transmission without making any changes to their
products.
The only
requirement for SEN is that both sender and receiver of the fax must be part of
the etherFAX network If customers want to leverage SEN but they don’t want to
replace their entire telephony they can use etherFAX for SEN destined
numbers. The upshot is the fast delivery
speeds, guaranteed delivery and improved security. They have customers using
SEN already so read more about SEN at http://etherfax.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/etherFAX-SEN.pdf
etherFAX API
In closing
I like how etherFAX is positioned in the marketplace.
They’re agnostic to any one particular fax server and can integrate with
applications directly via their API.
They’ve taken the telephony complexities of a fax server installation
away from the end customer and placed it into a very secure cloud environment.
Customers can enjoy not only security but scalability and number porting as
well. Combine that with their latest news and updates – this is a company worth
watching closely. Their ability to address PCI DSS and HIPAA compliance
mandates is a key strength that they can leverage to grow business.
More fax server ISVs should pay heed and look to supporting etherFAX
for cloud telephony alternatives. And, for those companies and software integrators
that are looking to automate fax processes directly, etherFAX presents a solid
solution. Make sure to check out and
contact etherFAX at www.etherfax.net.
Corporate Headquarters:
15 North Main Street
Marlboro, NJ 07746
(877) 384 - 9866
CEO: Paul Banco
Footprint:
· United States
· POPs overseas
Founded:
2009 as a Domestic Corporation – State of Delaware
(Privately Held)
Service Offerings:
· etherFAX
· etherFAX SEN
· etherFAX DR
· etherFAX Toolkit
· etherFAX Co-location Services
Network:
·
4 9’s Reliability
· Defense in-Depth Security and Redundancy
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