Unless you need the exercise, theres less reason these days to walk from your desk to the office fax machine to grab a fax or to send one off. A few clicks of your mouse might do.


Desktop faxing capabilities on corporate networks are getting less expensive, more reliable, and subsequently more popular with Spokane-area businesses, say office-equipment and software vendors here.


As the name suggests, desktop faxing allows network users to fax documents electronically from their desktop computers, rather than printing out a document from a computer and then transmitting it via a fax machine. Some of the newer systems also include capabilities that enable a company to receive and distribute faxes electronically.


We probably have about 15 to 20 percent of (client-base) companies currently using it, but I think its a growing area, says Bill Riedlinger, Spokane branch sales manager for Ikon Office Solutions Inc., a Malvern, Pa.-based office supply retailer.


Desktop faxing sometimes is referred to as LANlocal-area networkfaxing or paperless faxing, and technology to do it has been available for 10 to 15 years. Home PC users also have had faxing capability for years, using their desktop computers built-in or attached modems to transmit documents. In a LAN environment, however, its more complicated to provide such capabilities.


Conventionally, desktop faxing has employed software that runs on a dedicated network server and costs about $10,000, Riedlinger says.


Now, however, such software can be installed on a companys regular network server, much like a print driver for a laser printer, and works in conjunction with multifunction networked office products that act as a printer, a copier, a scanner, and a fax machine, Riedlinger says. Such software sells for around $1,000, he says.


With desktop faxing, workers can send a document as easily as they can send it to an office printer or as an attachment to an e-mail.


With either setup, the document would reach its recipient as a fax. Conversely, desktop faxing systems can be set up so that incoming faxes are routed directly to individuals e-mail boxes, where they can sort through them using Microsoft Outlook or other e-mail software. That way, incoming electronic faxes dont necessarily even have to be printed out. Junk faxes can be deleted with a keystroke, rather than tossed in the trash or recycling bin.


Annette Shannon, district sales manager at Modern Office Equipment Inc., of Spokane, says about 70 percent of the fax devices that company sells now are part of a larger multifunction machine, and some of those come with the capability of desktop faxing.


Still, Shannon says, desktop faxing capability typically isnt the impetus for buying such multifunction machines; its just another benefit.


I would think it would be down the road, but right now, its not, she says of demand for desktop faxing.


Jonathan Ferraiuolo, president of Spokane business-software provider Cycrest Systems Inc., says desktop faxing technology is going through a common technology cycle. When it first emerged, he says, only large companies adopted it, because they were the only ones that could afford it.


Three or four years ago, more professional concernslaw firms, doctors offices, and accounting practices, for examplebegan having it installed. Now, he says, more small businesses are using it.


Some medical practices see desktop faxing as a good way to handle sensitive faxes more securely, says Riedlinger. He says new federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations set stricter standards for transmitting referrals and patient information more securely.


With the incoming desktop fax technology, he says, incoming faxed patient information is secure until the appropriate person in a medical group opens the electronic document.


More common benefits of the technology include savings on supplies, such as paper and toner cartridges, and on fax machine maintenance costs, Riedlinger says.


In general, Ferraiuolo says, the technology is becoming more dependable.


In the past, he says, a company that used desktop faxing couldnt be sure that its correspondence had been sent successfully, because there was no confirmation mechanism built into the system.


Thats one reason many companies got into the habit of calling intended recipients of outgoing faxes to confirm that their messages had arrived, he says.


Another common problem early on was that desktop faxing systems would get overloaded if too many people tried to send faxes at the same time, and would crash, leaving it unclear as to which faxesif anywere successfully transmitted, Ferraiuolo says.


Now, he says, software for desktop faxing typically includes confirmation systems that indicate whether a fax has gone through successfully and if not, why it didnt, he says.


Not everybody sees desktop faxing as a growing trend, however. Dennis Piepel, Spokane Computer Inc.s vice president in charge of software development, says that company hasnt seen any increased demand for its desktop faxing technology.


Piepel says more companies are using e-mail instead of faxing, and thats causing a lessening in fax volume.


Ferraiuolo says that while fax technologydesktop and otherwiseeventually might be obsolete, a lot of people still like to receive paper documents.


Theres a generation of two thats well aware of e-mail, but loves having a piece of paper in front of them, he says. Its still quite a few years before we get rid of (fax machines).