You could easily add it yourself but it there could be other uses if they implement it. They could use the barcode data to add additional meta data to the fax file record. The meta data could then be used in task router.
For us — we send out requests for medical records to doctors' offices. When doctors send records back to us, they usually include the cover sheet we sent over. Since that cover sheet has a barcode on it, we know which record request the incoming records are for.
Same. At work we are in the process of rewriting an application that sends FAXes to doctors for their signatures. The barcode is on the edge of the doc, rather than the coverpage, but otherwise, same. The barcode is used as less error prone OCR for a record number so the FAX can be associated with the right "file". The users requesting the FAX loop view the returned document when it comes back to verify it (or at least, they will, when I finish recreating that feature :-) ). HOWEVER, users DO NOT sift through all incoming documents with data for other people which is none of a given user's business. Having to do so would be not only an inconvenience, but a data privacy issue.
Plus, I would rather somebody else build doc ID OCR in a language other than Java so I don't have to build it myself. This is going to come up time and time again.
Some companies use the barcode value to route the fax to certain person or group or filing into a specific area. There are lots of industry specific applications.
