Questions to ask before choosing a cloud fax services provider

QUESTIONS
15
FAX SERVICES BUYER’S GUIDE
Questions to ask before choosing
a cloud fax services provider
www.cloud-fax-services.com
Looking to automate fax, but not sure which solution provider
has the most comprehensive and efficient solution to meet your
needs?
You understand the purpose and principles of cloud fax services
but would you benefit from guidance on the various features and
associated benefits?
This buyer’s guide provides you with the key topics and most important questions to ask
a cloud fax services provider so that you can select the most appropriate solution to meet
your business and technical needs.
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Why automate
fax delivery and
reception in the cloud?
Does your company want to address:
§ Lengthy order processing,
§ High error rates and incorrect shipments,
§ High labor cost per order,
§ Limited process visibility,
§ Or customer dissatisfaction?
If so, you could benefit from
implementing a cloud fax solution.
Cloud faxing offers real benefits over
fax machines and in-house fax server
software. Companies looking to integrate
fax with their ERP applications no longer
have to choose between efficiency, cost
and functionality, and can take advantage
of fax as a cloud service without having
to add software or hardware and without
sacrificing security or ERP integration.
Businesses are continually looking for ways to
improve the speed of fax delivery in order to get paid
faster, increase customer satisfaction and maximize
profitability. Using fax machines burdens enterprises
with the manual processes of printing and faxing,
managing paper and consumables, and maintaining
equipment. Fax servers typically require a heavy
investment in hardware, software, fax boards and
lines, maintenance, and training. Basic outsourced
fax services suffer from a lack of integration, requiring
users to learn a new interface, as well as a lack of realtime status notification.
Cloud faxing is ideal for organizations looking for
a solution that is: 1) Easy to set up, 2) Offers the
advantages of fixed costs and 3) Is flexible enough to
satisfy changing needs.
Key benefits include:
§ L ow up-front investment
§N
o hardware or software maintenance costs
§M
inimized operating costs (no hidden costs)
§U
nlimited capacity
§P
ay-as-you-go cost efficiency
§S
ervice availability 24/7
According to a recent report by industry experts Davidson
Consulting, the fax services market will grow from
$890 million in 2011 to $1.9 billion in 2016, a 14%
compound annual growth rate with the trend moving
toward cloud services. Fax is not going away — in fact it
is on the rise — and fax services is greatly contributing
to its success.
How to choose your fax services provider
To assist you in your decision-making process, Esker has developed 15 questions that address the most
important issues you should be discussing with fax services providers.
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1
No capital expenditure for a fax services solution
We cannot afford to invest significant IT resources or budget
into a fax automation solution, so what are our options to
easily and affordably automate our faxing process?
Why Esker
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a delivery model in
which software and its associated data are hosted
centrally (in the Internet cloud) and are typically
accessed using a web browser over the Internet.
This model delivers a more economical solution
for many customers. SaaS has become a common
delivery model for most business applications.
The Esker SaaS solution means you do not have to wait
for internal IT resources to be available or budgets to
be allocated in order to get your project moving.
Companies get the capabilities expected from an onpremise software solution, but move from capital to
operational expenditure and gain flexibility for variations
in document volume and number of users.
With no software of hardware to install locally, on-demand software
has companies up and running and seeing a positive impact on their
businesses quickly.
Rather than mobilizing IT resources and investing funds into a large
on-premise IT project, fax as a SaaS solution delivers a simple, scalable,
secure and affordable solution to quit paper and streamline faxing.
You can benefit from fax automation without having to find the budget
or IT resources.
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The Fax Services solution is scalable and capable of
managing increases in volumes, for both inbound
and outbound fax traffic, and adapting easily to
growing needs. With no traffic or volume restrictions,
peak-volume fax jobs, such as monthly invoicing,
can be handled with little effort. And, with no upfront
investment and no software to install, you can benefit
immediately from full fax automation, paying only for
what you need and as you go.
Flexible hybrid solution
Do I have to make a choice between an on-premise and an
on-demand fax solution?
No, you don’t have to settle for
one faxing solution. A hybrid fax
solution provides the advantages
of common on-site fax servers
with the benefits of cloud-based
fax services. Implementing an
on-premise fax server with an
on-demand fax service ensures automatic failover backup,
guaranteeing that your customers have around-the-clock
business faxing, delivering increased flexibility.
Additional hybrid configuration benefits include reduced
overhead and operational expenses, scalability to meet
economies of scale in further IT investments, and performance
integration with existing business applications.
Why Esker
Esker is the only solution provider capable of adapting to your
needs by providing an on-premise, on-demand or hybrid fax
solution. Some customers prefer to keep control and manage their
own fax solution in-house for internal security issues but like to
have the option of a hybrid solution for flexibility reasons.
Esker’s hybrid option offers them this flexibility, with access to
fax services as a need-based solution, without a commitment. Fax
loads can be intelligently distributed among local fax boards or fax
services to better manage overflow and offer improved handling of
fax peaks and unplanned fax mailings.
To ensure fax distribution continuity, jobs can easily failover to fax
services if local fax boards are not responding. Using predefined
failover, this feature helps to protect against costly downtime in the
event of fax board or telecom emergencies.
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3
Efficient and affordable faxing
How do we keep our fax costs down?
Ideally, your solution provider should offer a cloud-based fax solution
that does not require additional investment in IT infrastructure or staff,
and one that offers a flexible payment model based on consumption.
Furthermore, competitive faxing rates and optimized sending routes
should be proposed.
Why Esker
Esker offers the best faxing rates on the global market (unbeatable fixed low rate regardless of
the time of day for both inbound and outbound faxes) and thanks to its SaaS model, you only
pay for what you need (a pay-as-you-go billing model), delivering complete cost predictability
and control.
Esker’s strategically placed network of worldwide fax facilities enable customers to further save
money. In addition to benefiting from dramatically reduced operational costs (hardware and
maintenance) you benefit from least-cost routing which allows worldwide faxing at the lowest
possible cost.
Routing faxes to the facility nearest to the recipient results in significant savings on
telecommunications costs compared with faxing to all recipients from one location.
4
Seamless implementation
We can’t put our business on hold while a new solution is
integrated. How disruptive is your implementation?
Ideally your solution implementation should not
disrupt daily business activities for any long periods
of time. Integration should be seamless and involve
as little downtime as possible.
Why Esker
Esker guarantees quick, easy and pain-free implementation.
Solution setup takes only a few hours and no system disruption
is incurred. Connection to the service simply requires an Internet
connection and a web browser. Esker also offers a special
integration for SAP® customers executed by SAP experts.
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5
One platform for multiple business delivery needs
Beyond fax, what other communication delivery services
does your solution offer?
Because most companies also need to
send business documents by postal mail
or email, your solution provider should be
able to offer these different delivery services
without the need to invest in hardware,
software or maintenance.
Why Esker
Esker on Demand offers one platform for multiple
business needs, providing a solid document
communication foundation from the same interface
for delivery via email, SMS, or postal mail (in addition
to fax).
Esker offers on-demand services to transform
electronic documents into postal mail without the
need for mailroom equipment. Highly calibrated email
servers are maintained to ensure that email messages
are delivered in a timely manner. Quick and efficient
communication via SMS messages is available
directly from a desktop.
There is no need to worry about printing, sorting,
folding, stamping, mailing, faxing or supporting
mass email or SMS campaigns — the Esker platform
manages all document and communication service
needs.
6
Usability
We need to easily manage and control our faxing.
What tools do you have in place to do so?
Your fax services solution should
include a convenient and
practical tool to manage your
account and send faxes.
Why Esker
Esker’s secure web interface, a comprehensive setup
and administrative tool, enables you to manage your
account, schedule individual and batch jobs, tailor
sendings, manage corporate document templates, and
archive data (stored and searchable online for 60 days).
Additionally, you can pick inbound fax numbers directly
from the portal, giving you the autonomy and flexibility
you need to manage your account.
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7
Real-time visibility
How easily are we able to track our fax transmissions and
generate reports?
The ability to view, track the status of fax transmissions,
and generate reports in real time should be an essential
component to your fax solution.
Why Esker
The Fax Services solution from Esker provides real-time tracking and reporting
throughout the entire sending and receiving process thanks to its intuitive
web interface. With immediate fax status notification and extensive reporting
capabilities on process time and volume, you benefit from clear visibility to
balance workloads, identify process bottlenecks and put an end to lost faxes.
Quickly analyze the success rate of large jobs, sort individual messages, and
pull data such as “date and time opened” and “number of times opened.”
Specifically for SAP customers, fax statuses are visible directly within the SAP
business workplace.
8
ERP integration
Will your solution integrate with our ERP system?
Implementing a fax services
automation solution should not
require additional costs for custom
development. If your fax solution
does not work out-of-the-box with
your current ERP system, the payoff
will take longer, coupled with a
higher total cost of ownership (TCO).
A successful fax solution is one that
is compatible with a wide range of
ERP systems, and is configured to
address the unique needs of any
business, and integrate with your
current infrastructure.
Why Esker
With Esker, faxing is independent of the ERP system,
which provides flexible integration options if you need
to connect with several ERP applications (e.g., SAP,
Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle E-Business Suite, JD
Edwards EnterpriseOne, Sage, etc.) used by different
subsidiaries or departments within the company. There
are no compatibility issues and you can achieve secure
and seamless fax sending with existing business
applications.
Esker offers a unique value to businesses running SAP
applications. With SAP-certified technology, Esker
solutions are entirely integrated with SAP, providing
you with assurance that the solution will seamlessly
work with your SAP system and will still be compatible
if you upgrade your applications. Direct SAP integration
enables real-time tracking in exactly the same manner as
if it were on-premise inside the customer’s domain.
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9
Business continuity
We can’t risk delays in business processes or losing critical
information. Do you commit to delivering business
continuity?
Organizations must ensure business continuity. Critical
business documents must be transmitted on time and a
redundant always-on and backed up infrastructure is
imperative.
Crucial business functions must
be available to customers and
suppliers at all times.
Why Esker
Designed for dependable and confidential data processing, the Esker
production facilities guarantee that your documents and messages are
handled in a secure, confidential and traceable manner.
Esker production centers feature solid architecture to ensure the security
of your documents: data transfer by secure protocol (SSL) identical to
those used for banking transactions, secure server bays, temperature
controlled for humidity and pressure, electric infrastructure with backup
generators, fire prevention measures, and 24/7 monitoring to offer
worldwide service and continuous availability.
Additionally, each Esker server platforms uses high-availability
cluster technology offering internal redundancies to counter any
possible hardware failure, resulting in 24/7/365 service availability.
The platforms in North America, Europe and Australia back up one
another, guaranteeing that your documents are transmitted on time.
Esker upholds a 95% fax delivery rate within one hour and maintains an
overcapacity of 60% in order to deliver faxes rapidly.
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Comprehensive solution spanning
multiple business processes
Today we are in the market for a fax services solution but
tomorrow we may need to automate other business processes
— can you support our growing business needs?
You require a solution provider
capable of delivering a multitude
of proven automation solutions;
one that provides technology,
products,
solutions,
service
and support to respond to your
expanding needs.
Today you need a fax automation solution, however, in the
future you may be in the market for another business process
automation solution. Ideally, you should stay with the same
automation vendor, one with whose technology you are
familiar with.
Why Esker
As a company grows, so do opportunities to improve all business
processes. The Esker solution allows you to go beyond fax (e.g.,
invoices, orders, etc.) and maximize the benefits of document
process automation — all from the same integrated platform.
Fax is often a door opener to the automation of other business
solutions — account receivable (AR), sales order processing
(SOP) and accounts payable (AP). Since Esker automates every
part of your cash conversion cycle, there is no need to work with
different vendors to automate the different business processes.
You will benefit from familiar technology, products, service and
support provided by one comprehensive solution provider.
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11
Global presence
Can you support our multiple offices and multi-language
needs? As a global company we need to be sure your
fax services solution can be scaled out.
In today’s global marketplace you need an international
solution provider who will support your automation needs
across a network of offices around the globe, offer multilanguage capabilities, and have proven cross border
deployment successes.
Why Esker
Esker operates globally with offices around the world and has a track record of many successful
worldwide implementations. The Fax Services solution supports all countries with outbound fax
and over 43 countries with inbound fax. The Esker web user interface is available in numerous
languages, and local language support is available in many countries.
The Esker SaaS solution allows for a quick roll out of the fax services solution to various countries
without the need to plan for multiple instances or larger and more complex infrastructure, which is
the case with on-premise solutions.
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Electronic archiving
We would like our faxes electronically archived so we don’t
have to worry about mounds of paper. Will we be able to
access our documents easily?
Your faxes should be automatically
archived electronically, eradicating
the need for manual storage and
time-consuming filing.
Additionally, faxes should be backed
up with security guaranteed by your
solution provider’s infrastructure
and always accessible to authorized
personnel from any location for as
long as you choose.
Why Esker
The Esker solution ensures that your documents
and data are safely archived and easily
accessible. With Esker’s powerful multi-criteria
search engine you only need to enter one or
more search criteria in the Esker web interface
and your fax is quickly identified.
Documents are always accessible to any
authorized personnel from any location for as
long as you need them, and access is secured
using advanced login security policies. A backup
of your archive is always available and you can
also request a copy on digital media.
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Expert consultancy and project methodology
We need a solution provider who will look beyond our specific
product inquiry, evaluate our overall company needs and
objectives and deliver a solution that best fits our
requirements. Additionally, can you assure us that our
automation solution will be implemented on time and within
budget? We don’t want any surprises.
Your solution provider should
be capable of looking at your
company’s
automation
needs
as a whole. Beyond just specific
solution inquiries, the entire
perspective needs to be evaluated
and a proposed solution adapted to best meet your
business problems. Visibility before and during project
implementation should be provided in order to monitor
budgets and ensure that schedules are maintained.
A skilled solution provider with years of solution
implementation
experience
understands
the
importance of respecting timelines and budgets.
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Why Esker
Esker delivers expert consultancy throughout the entire purchasing
lifecycle — from presales assessment of your business needs and
determining the best solution for your company problems to solution
implementation and production.
Capable of analyzing the big picture and optimizing solutions to meet your
company requirements, Esker goes beyond the initial solution inquiry
to provide professional and knowledgeable advice and support for your
complete automation needs.
Based upon years of implementation experience, Esker has defined a strong
project methodology to guarantee that the project will meet the expected
goal, that deadlines and budget requirements are met and that the project
is an overall success. Esker consulting service teams apply best-practice
framework and proven methodology for successful project implementation.
Information security and integrity
How can we be assured that our business documents
are securely handled and stored?
Hosting and processing other
companies’ business and
financial documents brings
up the question of internal
controls and security issues.
A SAS 70 audit is an indepth analysis of a service
organization’s
control
over information technology and related processes. Successful
completion of a SAS 70 audit indicates that processes, procedures
and controls have been formally reviewed. It is highly recommended
that your solution provider be SAS 70 certified.
Why Esker
Esker is SAS 70 certified for its on-demand automation
solutions (following an audit conducted by Ernst & Young).
Based on 25 internal controls including data centers
security, incident management process, infrastructure
monitoring, logistics access and recruitment, Esker
processes, procedures and controls have been formally
reviewed and certified.
With Esker, you can rest assured that your business and
financial information is responsibly and securely handled
and stored.
C E R T I F I E D
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Safe Harbor Privacy Policy
As a European company, we need the guarantee that our
personal data will receive the highest levels of protection in
the United States, and that rigorous privacy legislation is
respected. How do you ensure this?
The United States Department
of Commerce and the
European Commission have
agreed on a set of data
protection principles and
frequently asked questions
(the Safe Harbor Principles) to enable U.S. and European
companies to satisfy the EU law requirements that
personal information transferred from the EU to the
United States be adequately protected.
Why Esker
Intended for organizations within the EU or U.S. that store
customer data, the Safe Harbor Principles are designed
to prevent accidental information disclosure or loss.
Not only does Esker strive to collect, use and disclose personal
information in a manner consistent with the laws of the countries
in which it does business, but it also has a tradition of upholding the
highest ethical standards in its business practices.
Esker recognizes that privacy is very important to its customers and
pledges to protect the security and privacy of any personal information
that customers, employees, partners and others provide.
The Safe Harbor Privacy Policy sets forth the privacy principles Esker
follows with respect to transfers of personal information from the
European Economic Area to the U.S. Consistent with its pledge to
protect personal privacy, Esker adheres to the Safe Harbor Principles,
and has been certified by TRUSTe, an independent third party online
solutions provider.
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Fax Services Solutions From Esker
Flexible and reliable faxing with Esker
Esker delivers fax flexibility and dependability,
quickly, easily and cost-effectively. Based on
over 25 years of experience in fax technology, Esker
has developed three cloud-based fax solutions to
meet and simplify all desktop and production faxing
business needs.
Fax Services for SAP enables faxing as a service
completely integrated with SAP applications and without
the need to install software on the SAP application
server. Fax Services for ERP offers the benefits of
automatic faxing as a service fully integrated into
a company’s business application — without investing in
and maintaining in-house telephony and fax hardware.
Fax Services for Desktop transforms the computer into
a convenient fax solution where business documents are
effortlessly sent from any desktop application via a process
as easy as sending an email.
Fax Services saves time over manual faxing — up to 90%. The
average Esker fax job takes around one minute, compared
to 11 minutes for a manual print and fax process.
Esker offers flexible pay-as-you-go options enabling
businesses to only pay for what they use on a
per-page basis. By providing complete cost predictability and
control, the Esker solution is the ideal solution for companies
whose fax requirements fluctuate monthly or seasonally.
Key features of Fax Services include:
§ Automated fax sending
§ 100% on-demand service
§ No more paper constraints
§ Enhanced productivity
§ Fax capability available 24/7/365
§ No hardware or software to buy and maintain
§ Virtually unlimited capacity to handle any fax volume
§ Real-time tracking and reporting
§ Secure and reliable infrastructure
§ Least-cost routing through redundant and secure
worldwide network of fax production facilities
§ Quick implementation
§ Simplified IT infrastructure
§ Original fax image automatically stored
for later search and retrieval
Fax automation has the potential to save costs and
increase speed of document distribution. The cost
difference between sending 200 one-page faxes
via manual and automated methods is significant.
Inefficiencies in manual process prevent cost effectively
scaling to large numbers of documents ($280 and
36 hours to send 200 faxes). Conversely, with fax automation
the entire process is taken over by Esker as soon as the user
clicks “print.” Time is reduced to only a few minutes and cost
is reduced to around $20.
In addition to outbound faxing from desktop and enterprise
applications, Fax Services can also handle inbound faxing.
In just a few clicks, inbound fax lines can be set up to receive
faxes via email.
Fax Services combines the intelligence of Esker
technology with a worldwide network of production
facilities. Designed for dependable and confidential
data processing, Esker production facilities located
in North America, France and Australia are monitored 24/7
to offer secure worldwide service and continuous availability.
Esker technology guarantees that documents and messages
are handled in a secure, private and traceable manner. To
avoid any possible hardware failure, the platforms in North
America and Europe are capable of backing up one another
ensuring minimal production interruption.
Real results achieved by Esker customers include:
§ Same-day processing of fax orders
§ 9 hours labor saved per day
§ Immediate access to orders
§ 99% reduction of average turnaround time
for entry of incoming fax orders into SAP
USA
FRANCE
AUSTRALIA
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How does it work?
Fax Services for ERP
Fax Services for ERP enables users to submit faxes directly from their ERP application interface or from ERP solution modules.
Users simply create a message, attach files to be faxed, and select fax number(s) from the recipient list. Every fax processed
by Esker is tracked with a unique identifier and the realENTERPRISE
ESKER PRODUCTION FACILITY
MEDIA
RECIPIENT
time status of each fax is visible directly within business
applications. Technically, documents are transmitted
2
3
from a company’s business applications to an Esker
4
Fax
production facility (1) and received by a multitenant Esker
CUSTOMERS
1
server platform through an authenticated, encrypted and
DATA CENTRE
secured connection (2). Once received, the documents
Mail
ERP
SUPPLIERS
are processed and faxed according to user specifications.
APPLICATIONS
Once the fax is delivered (3), a fax status is fed into the
Email
business application (4), where it’s updated in real time
PARTNERS
and visible to users.
SMS
Fax Services for SAP
Fax Services for SAP offers businesses the best of both worlds: automatic faxing as a cloud-based service and
integrated with SAP with no additional hardware or software to install. Users submit faxes from the SAP Business Workplace
interface or SAP solution modules. A certified solution transports the documents to an Esker production facility through
a secure connection. Once received, documents are immediately processed and faxed according to user preference.
A notification is directly fed into the SAP system so users can track the real-time status of their faxes in SAPconnect.
Technically, documents submitted from an SAP interface
are transmitted to an Esker production facility (1) using a
secure SAP Remote Function Call (RFC) communication
between SAProuters and received by a multitenant Esker
server platform with SAP Certified Integration (2). A
certified solution transports documents directly from the
SAP application to an Esker production facility through
an authenticated, encrypted and secured connection
(3). Once the fax is delivered to its recipient (4), a fax
status is fed into the SAP system (5), where it’s updated
in real time and visible to users.
ENTERPRISE
RFC
DMZ
ESKER PRODUCTION FACILITY
SNC
2
DMZ
RECIPIENT
3
5
SAP
router
MEDIA
Fax
SAP
router
4
CUSTOMERS
DATA CENTRE
1
Mail
SAP
SUPPLIERS
Email
APPLICATIONS
SMS
PARTNERS
Fax Services for Desktop
Esker transforms the computer into the perfect fax solution, allowing users to send and receive single or batch faxes from
desktop, ERP or CRM applications with only a few clicks. Documents created in a business application or word processing
software are securely sent via the Esker on Demand virtual printer to an Esker production facility where they are immediately
sent via fax to the designated recipients (fax number, cover page, attachments, archiving and notifications preferences options
are determined prior to sending). A preview feature makes it easy to proof the faxed document before it is sent. Faxes can be
sent immediately or scheduled for future delivery — providing both convenience and flexibility. Faxes are easily tracked online
in real time and email notifications sent when a fax has reached its destination.
ENTERPRISE
ESKER PRODUCTION FACILITY
MEDIA
RECIPIENT
Fax
CUSTOMERS
DATA CENTRE
Mail
DESKTOP
APPLICATIONS
SUPPLIERS
Email
SMS
PARTNERS
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Esker is a worldwide leader in document automation solutions dedicated to helping
organizations around the globe eliminate paper and improve business processes for higher
efficiency in sales order processing, accounts receivable, accounts payable and purchasing.
Esker offers a best-of-suite solution (on-demand and on-premise) to automate every type of
business information exchange, as well as a unique value to businesses running SAP.
Thousands of Esker solutions worldwide enable customers to reduce processing time and
costs by at least 40%, greatly increase their competitive advantages, gain significant and
immediate operational efficiencies, achieve cost savings, and realize measurable ROI in as
little as three to six months.
Esker helps over 80,000 companies across the world to reduce the use of paper and eliminate
manual processes while improving their productivity, efficiency and environmental impact.
Esker operates in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in
Lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, visit
www.esker.com. Follow Esker on Twitter at twitter.com/eskerinc and join the conversation on
the Esker blog at www.quitpaper.com.
©2012 Esker S.A. All rights reserved. Esker and the Esker logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Esker S.A in the U.S. and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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Contact Us
Worldwide Esker Locations
Esker, Inc.
1212 Deming Way, Suite 350
Madison  WI 53717
Americas  www.esker.com
Australia  www.esker.com.au
France  www.esker.fr
Germany  www.esker.de
Italy  www.esker.it
Tel: 800.368.5283
Email: info@esker.com
www.esker.com
Malaysia  www.esker.com.my
New Zealand  www.esker.co.nz
Singapore  www.esker.com.sg
Spain  www.esker.es
United Kingdom  www.esker.co.uk