Paper. Once, long ago, it was the reason for the printing press and the sole method for putting information into the hands of the masses. But, as many businesses and enterprises move toward a digital environment, we have to wonder if we are truly prepared for a “paperless” world.

When this question was posed today to an audience of resellers and vendors during a session on the paperless office during ITEXPO (News - Alert) East 2012, not one person could confirm that their office environment was solely electronic-based. However, only one admitted a discussion for this was in the works.

During today’s session, panelists Mike Coffee of Commetrex Corp., John Harrison of OpenText, Max Schroeder of FaxCore (News - Alert), and Quentin Dible of FaxSIPit – a provider of a VoIP replacement technology for fax -- focused on the reasons for why organizations are starting to consider a completely digitized environment, and what has to occur within SMBs and the enterprise to actually make it happen.

According to one audience member, the paperless environment is happening, but rather slowly and quietly. He recounted a recent visit to a corner café in which his entire transaction – from his food order to paying for the check – was performed electronically using an iPad.

Another audience member chimed in, sharing that he finds his customers are leaning toward a paperless office for physical real-estate and organizational purposes. Meanwhile, government regulations are pushing certain environments – like medical facilities -- to eliminate physical documentation and instead utilize tablet devices for patient visits.

Another example, raised by Schroeder, is the airline industry no longer requiring physical boarding passes, but rather enabling passengers to use their mobile devices to board. Meanwhile, UPS has employed a complete paperless customer interface, where the days of “signing off” on a piece of actual paper during a package transaction are long gone.

Unfortunately, similar scenarios in which physical documentation is necessary are a dime-a-dozen, as a generational gap and other factors, are instigating a resistance to next-generation fax technology among top executives and CEOs. Most of this resistance stems from a fear of a completely digital environment, where paper trails are nowhere to be found.

According to Coffee, a discussion with top-tier executives for a paperless office could be better framed by focusing on business process acceleration.

“The paperless office is a consequence of effective business process automation,” he said. “Fax is one of the several inputs of ‘so-called’ BPA. I think it’s important that when you look at something like [a paperless office], that it’s framed in the most productive way.”

Harrison later explained that his company uses a five-stage process for business process automation, a cycle that evolves from absolute paper to an automated ecosystem. Implementing this process must, however, be done so in incremental steps so the end-user can first wrap their head around the idea of fax, contemplate the value of archiving and storage, and then obtain a better perspective on BPA.

“One thing that paper has is universal communication,” Schroeder noted. “The electronic or paperless office has been challenged because people are like, ‘Yes, if I can control the systems, I can use them.’ The question is if I have electronic document can I send it to anyone, and anywhere? That question comes up a lot. SMBs don’t want to deal with it now – they want to stick with paper.”

On another note, Dible has observed that fax is moving from an outward standpoint into electronics, and people are instead retaining the fax machine not as an output device, but as an input machine. The cloud comes into this, as users still hold onto the actual fax machine but also rely on fax servers.

In addition, part of what’s halting the adoption of a paperless office is the challenge of a generation gap in the workplace. Whereas the younger generations are more likely to side with a digital environment, the older the management, the more difficult it is to get them to succumb.

“The impression is fax is going away,” Schroeder added. “It’s growing at 12 percent a year. It’s continuing to grow – that’s the concept that needs to be brought to senior management.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, happening NOW in Miami, FL. ITEXPO offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves