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 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.

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?’

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.