In today’s data-centric environment, the need for streamlining to achieve benefits such as cost-savings and greater security has never been more paramount for the enterprise.

 

Mumbai – one of the most populated cities in the world with increasing traffic as the financial center of India – accommodates millions of travelers every year. The Airports Authority of India recently mandated modernization of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, India’s busiest airport. MIAL directs the expansion and improvement of CSIA infrastructure to accommodate nearly double its existing capacity, eventually serving 40 million passengers and handling one million tons of cargo per year.

 

According to airport officials, initial upgrades focused on training employees and refurbishing areas of passenger convenience, such as terminal entrances and passenger lounges. More recent developments include additional taxiways, a multi-level car park at the international terminal, and resurfaced runways. Managing multiple projects across an airport that employs hundreds of people and spans an operational area of 1,450 acres demands swift and secure communication.

 

“MIAL employees send and receive hundreds of faxes every month to and from vendors and government agencies. And, many faxes require signature,” said Pankaj Srivastava, manager of information technology for the MIAL project management office. “Incoming faxes are more important,” he continues. “We have emergency faxes coming to the airport control center or from various consulates regarding regulations or VIP passengers. For those, fast turnaround and security is needed.”

 

The airport relied on close to 50 fax machines that required consistent and costly maintenance as well as constant supply refills – what’s more, sensitive documents were not private or secure.

 

MIAL officials said the airport has eliminated fax machine queues and gained reliable security for all faxed documents with Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition, which creates a unified fax and e-mail solution. The Open Text Fax Server Connector for Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange is an add-on to fax server, acting as a communication link between the fax server and exchange server.

 

Instead of printing pages to feed through fax machines, employees can fax documents from any Microsoft application right at their desktop computers. Integration with Microsoft Exchange allows users to select recipients from their Microsoft Outlook address books. In addition, senior managers or their secretaries can receive documents via individually assigned direct inward dial – or DID – numbers.

 

The airport’s senior managers use smartphones, so even when they’re traveling, they can receive an email as soon as a fax arrives, according to Open Text officials. They can see faxes via a PDF viewer and forward them directly from the wireless device.

 

MIAL estimates saving hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars per month with Fax Server. The company also expects to eliminate close to 40 fax machines, with the remainder as backup devices in case of email failure.

 

“Our staff members have increased efficiency because we have optimized their time. I don’t see anyone standing around fax machines nowadays. If someone is standing by a machine, I wonder, ‘What are you doing there?’ That non-productive time is now used for a better purpose,” said Srivastava.

 

Today, Ontario-based Open Text has sold over 100,000 fax servers worldwide. Thousands of Open Text users have realized “hard cost savings through the displacement of traditional fax and document management infrastructure,” company officials said.