When COVID-19 hit in 2020, health departments nationwide were suddenly receiving thousands of test results daily via fax. In Austin, Texas, it took 11 days to process information after a test was taken. In Washington state, officials deployed 25 members of the National Guard just to handle manual data entry. The pandemic didn’t create the fax problem. It simply revealed how fragile government communication infrastructure becomes when legacy systems face unexpected stress.
Federal agencies spend 80% of IT budgets maintaining legacy systems. Yet 71% say replacement costs are too high. Luckily, modernization doesn’t have to mean replacement. The goal is to evolve fax workflows without disrupting legal frameworks and public safety systems that rely on interagency coordination.
For government agencies, keeping fax is non-negotiable. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. Keep reading to learn how Faxination by Fenestrae eliminates the need to choose between reliability and efficiency.
Why Fax Modernization in Government is Different
Government agencies can’t modernize like private enterprises. A U.S. Government Accountability Office review found 65 critical federal legacy systems still in use, with only 43% fully modernized as of early 2025. The reason is simple: these systems still work, and they’re doing jobs that matter. Fax remains embedded in compliance frameworks, legal discovery processes, and inter-agency coordination protocols that have been built over decades.
Unlike private sector digital transformation, government modernization must account for legal admissibility standards, regulatory audit trails, and the risk of service disruption to public-facing operations. Around 55-63% of government IT decision-makers say modernizing legacy systems is a priority, but 71% report that transition costs are prohibitively high. The challenge spans organizational priorities, legal constraints, and operational realities.
Even internationally, the pattern holds. In 2021, Japan’s government announced it would eliminate fax machines from all ministries. Within months, 400 different government offices filed formal objections, insisting the move would be “impossible.” These agencies had built entire workflows around fax over decades. Eliminating the technology meant rebuilding institutional processes at a cost far exceeding new hardware.
The Risk of Breaking Legacy Fax Workflows
When agencies rush modernization without proper planning, critical workflows fracture. Fax numbers become embedded in legal notices, court filings, emergency response protocols, and inter-agency agreements. Staff rely on established procedures that have been refined over years. Switching systems disrupts muscle memory and creates gaps in institutional knowledge that require expensive retraining.
Compatibility between agencies is another hidden risk. If one agency modernizes while its partners haven’t, communication breaks down. Many agencies have already invested significantly in fax hardware, dedicated phone lines, and on-premise infrastructure. Abandoning those investments wholesale creates budget strain and political friction. The risk isn’t just technical failure; it’s workflow disruption that cascades through dependent processes, delayed public services, and compliance gaps that expose agencies to legal risk. But agencies have another option.
Modernizing Fax Without Replacement
The alternative is evolutionary modernization: keeping what works while reducing costs and improving security through better integration.
A hybrid approach builds on existing infrastructure, reducing operational friction. That means preserving existing fax numbers, maintaining compatibility with legacy hardware, and introducing cloud capabilities gradually. Agencies can automate manual processes, integrate fax with digital workflows, and improve auditability without breaking established communication channels.
Hybrid Fax Architectures Protect Continuity
Hybrid fax solutions combine cloud infrastructure with on-premise systems, allowing agencies to modernize incrementally. Existing fax numbers remain active, legacy hardware stays operational, and staff workflows continue without interruption. Cloud fax services can handle new traffic while on-premise solutions manage sensitive or regulated transmissions.
This coexistence model eliminates the “big bang” migration risk. Agencies can phase in modern capabilities like cloud routing, digital archiving, and API integrations while keeping legacy systems as backup. Over time, as confidence builds and staff adapt, more traffic shifts to modern infrastructure. The transition is managed, not forced. Nearly 90% of state and local agencies are expected to adopt hybrid cloud models, balancing legacy reliability with modern scalability.
Why Automation Matters
Agencies do not typically use fax on its own. It’s normally part of larger workflows involving intake, routing, approval, and archiving. Modern platforms streamline workflows by automating repetitive tasks: routing incoming faxes to the right department, converting documents to searchable formats, and triggering downstream processes through system connectors.
Fax workflow automation reduces the risk of human error, the leading cause of compliance failures. Instead of manually logging transmissions or re-entering data, systems handle it automatically. Integration with document management platforms means faxes become part of a unified information architecture, not isolated paper trails. This doesn’t just save time; it creates audit trails that satisfy regulatory requirements and reduces the risk of lost or misfiled documents.
Security and Compliance Are Non-Negotiable
Fax persists in government because it meets compliance standards that email often can’t. Modernization must strengthen, not weaken, these protections. Cloud fax platforms offer encryption, access controls, and immutable audit logs that exceed legacy capabilities, but only if they’re designed with regulatory frameworks in mind. Secure fax solutions for government agencies must ensure compliant document transmission at every step.
Agencies need transmission records, proof of delivery, and tamper-evident storage. Modern cloud fax for the public sector provides these capabilities while eliminating the need to maintain physical records. Faxination’s built-in encryption, access controls, and audit logging meet HIPAA and PCI standards, helping agencies satisfy security requirements faster.
What Government Agencies Should Look for in a Modern Fax Platform
When evaluating fax modernization options, agencies should prioritize deployment flexibility, protection of existing investments, and integration readiness. The platform should coexist with legacy hardware and support both cloud and on-premise deployment. Integration capabilities matter too. Can it connect with existing document management, case management, and identity systems?
Maintenance burden is also important. Platforms that reduce fax maintenance overhead free IT staff for higher-value work. Migration paths should be gradual, not disruptive. The platform should support legacy fax protocols while offering modern APIs for new integrations. And vendor support for regulatory compliance or state-specific mandates is essential. The right platform acts as a bridge between old and new.
Modernize Government Fax Without Breaking What Works
Government fax modernization is both possible and necessary, but only if done carefully. The right approach preserves continuity while enabling automation and better security. Agencies don’t need to choose between legacy reliability and modern efficiency.
Faxination by Fenestrae is built specifically for this challenge. Our hybrid architecture lets agencies modernize one workflow at a time while keeping existing fax numbers and legacy hardware fully operational. With over 64% of government agencies implementing cloud-first frameworks and 51% investing in cloud-integrated tools, the path forward is clear.
See your modernization roadmap today: Schedule a free assessment to discover exactly which workflows can be automated without disrupting operations.
