S 2.53 Deactivation of fax machines after office hours

Initiation responsibility: IT Security Officer, Fire Safety Engineer

Implementation responsibility: Person in Charge of the Fax System

In order to reduce the risk of fire fax machines may entail, devices not required after office hours (department fax machines, personal devices) should be shut down at closing time. This way, it is also possible to prevent incoming fax transmissions remaining in the fax machine in an uncontrolled manner for an extended period of time. The shutdown can be implemented easily with the help of timers that limit the power supply of the device to the normal office hours.

For transmissions received later, a different (continuously monitored, as far as possible) fax connection can be specified or call forwarding may be configured for state-of-the-art PBX systems.

Simultaneously, the device can be protected from being overloaded due to technical failure or deliberate mass fax transmissions after office hours by shutting down the fax machine.

The fax machine should not be shut down if the device is subject to specific availability requirements that cannot be implemented with alternative solutions.

Review questions:

• Are fax machines shut down after office hours if they are not required?