T 4.15 Fax transmission errors

During fax transmission, malfunctions may occur both on the transmission route and in any of the devices involved. As a result, fax transmissions may be incomplete, illegible or fail to reach their intended recipients. Decisions based on this information may be inappropriate, resulting in loss or damage.

There is also a danger that the fax could be sent to the wrong recipient. This could be due to a wrong connection in the public telecommunications network. It is also possible on conventional fax machines that the wrong call number is dialled or that the direct dial keys are incorrectly programmed. If a fax server is used, a recipient's call number may be incorrectly input or an incorrect version of it may be stored in the address book. As a result, confidential information may be disclosed to unauthorised persons. The amount of damage this could cause depends on the confidentiality of the information. Moreover, the sender of the fax will incorrectly assume that the fax message was transmitted successfully to the intended addressee. The resulting time delay could prove detrimental.

Example:

A well-known German company lost a major order because the offer was accidentally sent to the wrong recipient.