Item - 2021.GL27.25

The General Government and Licensing Committee received the report (November 16, 2021) from the Chief Technology Officer, Technology Services for information.

This report is pursuant to City Council direction made at the May 2021 meeting for the City Manager, in consultation with the Chief Technology Officer, to draft a plan to phase out traditional telephone fax lines for City divisions by the end of 2021. 

Traditional fax machines continue to be used across all City divisions despite the availability of more modern forms of communication such as e-mail and instant messaging. The continued use of traditional fax lines carries extra costs, creates inefficiencies and can expose the City to regulatory compliance risks such as privacy or data breaches through unauthorized document access. The Technology Services Division has been consulting with other divisions in assessing the current state of traditional fax lines. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the action plan to systematically phase out traditional fax lines and implement a modernized virtual fax solution across City divisions. This plan will highlight the road map for the transition from current state (physical fax devices) to the future state (virtual fax services), based on best practices and experience of the divisions that have already and successfully transitioned to the virtual fax solution.