Coming Soon: Death to the FAX MACHINE – Rated [G] |
I remember the days when fax machines were just coming out, and I remember the days when computers started coming with fax modems, and that was the beginning of the end for the FAX machine.
I was working with Microsoft the other day on an issue [pertaining to work] and as I was talking to the lady on the phone she said I could ‘FAX’ the information over to them and they would process it. –this just staggered me.
It was funny because I had received the information from them about an activation via email and yet they were expecting me to FAX them back something?!
I’ve been using a fax/modem for as long as I can remember; you can’t even buy a modem nowadays without a fax ability [if you can find a modem].
Let’s face it, using a fax is almost as bad as getting in your car and driving a PDF to Kinko’s to be printed.
Dying Technology
Faxing documents [and I’ve faxed a plenty], it was always an ‘iffy’ process.
There were speed issues, negotiating issues, resolution issues, paper jams, out of paper and then there were situations were the damn thing just didn’t work. I remember the paper being faxed and the paper just drifting side ways, faxing the document at basically a 45 degree angle. This was not even mentioning the transmission speeds and the busy signals.
A 45 pg PDF document, would take an hour to complete and it would kill a small forest on the receiving side. God forbid if the other fax machine ran out of paper or lost power, or someone just canceled it on their end [what page did it end on so I can send from there?]. I’ve lived all the horror stories.
It’s a stark comparison to what’s required now…
Email Replaces FAXES
Email is much more efficient as a way of getting information from point A to B. It’s faster, cleaner, more dependable and there’s a log or inbox somewhere, where it can be handled more organized/forwarded on to the right parties. I know only a single reason why anyone would still have a reason for a fax machine; signatures.
But if people can get past scanning stuff to a FAX machine to scanning stuff to a PC, the game is over; set and match.
Just about any type of file/document can be sent to any where with an email address and in just as quality as the person who sent it. If you try doing this with an old fax machine, you’ll be looking at some highly pixilated Van Gough artwork; you won’t know which end is up.
A lot of companies now have FAX servers; a simple PC or server waiting for faxes. Never using a single sheet of paper. The faxes come in, they’re placed in a cue and be forwarded to the proper person. Spam faxes are a thing of the past and faxes can be reviewed without a single piece of paper being used.
VOIP Doesn’t work
Not only is FAXing documents a dying skill, it’s being forced out the door. 15 years ago it wasn’t a problem cause everyone had phone lines or fax lines over an analog phone line, but that’s not the case now. Wireless phones are taking over and Internet connections are more common than fax numbers. Traditional telco lines are being replaced with Internet connections and VOIP. VOIP connections are not analog lines and they don’t like being used for old technology.
The long and short of it is that people like Vonage are selling VOIP, but people don’t find out they can’t fax until after the service is turned on/installed. The conception is that VOIP is a phone line, it’s not. It’s a digital version of a phone line.
Fax machines expect analog lines, and VOIP is digital. So the fax machines have to go to analog to digital signal and back to analog again somewhere in the world. The interesting part about this is, while some say it’s possible at 9600 baud, sending a fax via is not a 100% done deal.
To argue this point I’d say look at the article where Vonage was sued over faxing issues. VOIP companies don’t want to talk about it because it’s a problem issue and there’s really nothing to do about it. If you do a search on the Internet for VOIP compatible modems; there’s like small laughing noise you can hear from a distant corner. Almost to say, ‘what the hell are you doing?’
Solutions to the FAX MACHINES
The solution to dealing with those who are still living in the analog world is the introduction of FAX provider services. With these providers you can fax from your PC. Most of the time they have interfaces to allow faxing a document as easy as printing; choose print, choose the fax printer and then a small fax wizard will come up and basically your done.
But these types of services are not free. They work in a digital world, so your information goes through them to the other person. These services allow for sending and receiving of faxes. Providers like Efax allow for 20 incoming pages a month for free, but if you want to fax there could be fees. Here’s some other solutions – Internet FAX Services. Sending FREE Faxes.
Given the adoption of email, and considering email is a standard function of the Internet, I don’t see fax machines last too much longer because they’re grossly inefficient; they waste, time money and resources.
The providers that do these services, they’ll fade away in time. Confirmation and legal agreements will find their way around this faxed signature thing and then there’s no reason to have a fax.
AND when you hear a company say, ‘you need to fax that to us’, you can understand they’re not embracing and using technology properly.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
LHenryJr.
www.lehsys.com
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Internet faxing is maintenance free, fax spam free and has feature in customizing coversheets.
I agree.
Later,
Larry
With Popfax.com you can also email fax in pdf format, and displayed on iphone. It is an amazing service. Popfax.com is available in several countries so you can pay in your currency.
With the help of this services it's much easier and faster to send/receive fax documents. That's exactly helpful to any business establishments.
Nowadays, there are actually plenty choices to choose from but security, scalability and reliability is really important things to consider.
Well, I dont think that Fax machines are not going to last longer. Email has most definitely not killed Fax, in fact they are good friends. Though it may seem that nobody uses faxes these days since email has become so popular, many businesses still use fax machines on a regular basis. There are some types of documents that just cannot be sent by any other way. But email definitely is more convenient because it can be accessed from anywhere and it does not require expensive fax machines. For those businesses and individuals who want the convenience of email while sending and receiving faxes, the Fax to Email service is the answer.
You can set up a fax number which can be used with your existing fax machine. When somebody sends you a fax to this number, it is automatically forwarded to the email account you have specified. You may specify more than one email address, many people can receive the fax at the same time. There is no more the hassle of copying and sending the documents over to multiple recipients.
The fax messages are sent in the PDF format, they can be downloaded and stored in the hard drive. Organizing messages become quite easy with this. Fax to email even cuts down on paper, toner and maintenance costs.
Along with fax to email, you may also want to consider getting yourself 0800 numbers or 0844 numbers.
Outstanding response and reaction. Thanks for taking the time to
leave a comment. The technology to replace fax is there, but fax's
existence is a necessary evil right now.
Have a nice day!
Thanks,
L. Henry Jr.
http://www.lehsys.com
Call management systems are so full of features that one may think fax machines are passé. We are absolutely wrong if we think so. It is because there are many forms of documents that cannot be sent over any other system other than Fax.
Fax has of course lost its glory but what makes it interesting in this century is the way it is operated. By connecting fax machine to any 0800 number, 0845 number or any other non geographic business number you can benefit from the fax machine without realizing its existence in your office space. It would just act a facilitator that receives and sends documents from one source to another. It can receive docs and send them to your mail box automatically when someone sends you a fax. It is also capable of swiftly receiving many receipts at one single go and transform them in a pdf file and transfer to the assigned email address.
It is also cost effective because its saves an extra expenditure for employing a staff to take charge of incoming fax and distributing them to the respective departments. Moreover it allows you to receive fax 24/7 as it operates automatically. This is not possible in case of manually operated fax machines as the cost of employing staff in the night can be very expensive.
Call management systems are so full of features that one may think fax machines are passé. We are absolutely wrong if we think so. It is because there are many forms of documents that cannot be sent over any other system other than Fax.
Fax has of course lost its glory but what makes it interesting in this century is the way it is operated. By connecting fax machine to any 0800 number, 0845 number or any other non geographic business number you can benefit from the fax machine without realizing its existence in your office space. It would just act a facilitator that receives and sends documents from one source to another. It can receive docs and send them to your mail box automatically when someone sends you a fax. It is also capable of swiftly receiving many receipts at one single go and transform them in a pdf file and transfer to the assigned email address.
It is also cost effective because its saves an extra expenditure for employing a staff to take charge of incoming fax and distributing them to the respective departments. Moreover it allows you to receive fax 24/7 as it operates automatically. This is not possible in case of manually operated fax machines as the cost of employing staff in the night can be very expensive.
Call management systems are so full of features that one may think fax machines are passé. We are absolutely wrong if we think so. It is because there are many forms of documents that cannot be sent over any other system other than Fax.
Fax has of course lost its glory but what makes it interesting in this century is the way it is operated. By connecting fax machine to any 0800 number, 0845 number or any other non geographic business number you can benefit from the fax machine without realizing its existence in your office space. It would just act a facilitator that receives and sends documents from one source to another. It can receive docs and send them to your mail box automatically when someone sends you a fax. It is also capable of swiftly receiving many receipts at one single go and transform them in a pdf file and transfer to the assigned email address.
It is also cost effective because its saves an extra expenditure for employing a staff to take charge of incoming fax and distributing them to the respective departments. Moreover it allows you to receive fax 24/7 as it operates automatically. This is not possible in case of manually operated fax machines as the cost of employing staff in the night can be very expensive.
Call management systems are so full of features that one may think fax machines are passé. We are absolutely wrong if we think so. It is because there are many forms of documents that cannot be sent over any other system other than Fax.
Fax has of course lost its glory but what makes it interesting in this century is the way it is operated. By connecting fax machine to any 0800 number, 0845 number or any other non geographic business number you can benefit from the fax machine without realizing its existence in your office space. It would just act a facilitator that receives and sends documents from one source to another. It can receive docs and send them to your mail box automatically when someone sends you a fax. It is also capable of swiftly receiving many receipts at one single go and transform them in a pdf file and transfer to the assigned email address.
It is also cost effective because its saves an extra expenditure for employing a staff to take charge of incoming fax and distributing them to the respective departments. Moreover it allows you to receive fax 24/7 as it operates automatically. This is not possible in case of manually operated fax machines as the cost of employing staff in the night can be very expensive.
Call management systems are so full of features that one may think fax machines are passé. We are absolutely wrong if we think so. It is because there are many forms of documents that cannot be sent over any other system other than Fax.
Fax has of course lost its glory but what makes it interesting in this century is the way it is operated. By connecting fax machine to any 0800 number, 0845 number or any other non geographic business number you can benefit from the fax machine without realizing its existence in your office space. It would just act a facilitator that receives and sends documents from one source to another. It can receive docs and send them to your mail box automatically when someone sends you a fax. It is also capable of swiftly receiving many receipts at one single go and transform them in a pdf file and transfer to the assigned email address.
It is also cost effective because its saves an extra expenditure for employing a staff to take charge of incoming fax and distributing them to the respective departments. Moreover it allows you to receive fax 24/7 as it operates automatically. This is not possible in case of manually operated fax machines as the cost of employing staff in the night can be very expensive.
Yes, the analog fax had past away. It's just that the fax messaging has evolve and ready to get along with the new trend.
Right now, all you have to do is send/receive fax messages through the internet. That's faster and safer if you choose the right fax provider. :d