Does Anyone Still Use A Fax Machine?

[blackstone]

When was the first time you used a fax machine?

Looking at the fax discussion from a different perspective.

When I worked on the UMass Daily Collegian newspaper, I would submit articles for publication by the Springfield Daily News. This was 1975, and the fax machine was the cylindrical type (like an Edison phonograph). To scan and send one page took about 4 minutes.

 

[mattl]

VOIP and Faxs

I've used a VOIP (voice over internet protocol..) for well over a decade now and occasionally use my FAX.  Never been a problem.  In fact  I keep a second line for it, $0.98/m, no big cost, but it's there if I need it.  Every so often friends and family just have to fax something, so it's there.  Plus, if I for some reason need a second voice line I have it,  I use an all in one Canon unit, so it's sitting next to my computer anyway.

 

[polkanut]

A window company  I worked for had wholesale customers that wanted faxes of  drawings before the window units went into actual production.  They would mark any changes the retail customer may have made, and then send them back to us.  We would make any changes on our end, and resend them for final approval.  It actually worked quite well that way. 

 

[gusherb]

I use FaxZero when I have to send faxes, which is perodically, maybe once or twice a year. The state government only accepts documents via snail mail or fax but ironically their faxes go to a server and are accessible online. They should offer email or submission via their web portal as another option. 

 

For fax reception we have an old fax number that I have forwarding to my VoIP providers fax reception service which then emails any faxes to me as a PDF. 

 

I would've just kept using our old fax machine but sending/receiving is rather hit or miss on VoIP even with a superb quality connection. 

 

[ea56]

“I would've just kept using our old fax machine but sending/receiving is rather hit or miss on VoIP even with a superb quality connection.”

When I still had a printer with fax capability I never had any problems sending a fax over our VOIP. It worked just as well as the old AT&T copper landline.
Eddie

 

[circlew]

The library I'm at now has fax capability as part of the printer/copier, but I've never had an occasion to use that function. I really can't remember the last time I sent a fax to anyone.

 

[davetranter]

Fax/Telex

A bit of background information for anyone who may not be aware...

'A few die-hard users' stuck with Telex (mainly in the financial and legal professions) because a Telex message was regarded as a 'legal document'. The header and footer of every message listed the sender's and receiver's number and ID code, along with the date and time of the transmission. Telex ran over a 'secure' network, and the identity was 'hardwired' into the machine. Consequently, a court of law would accept that a Telex message had been received at the date and time specified. Many contracts would be confirmed by Telex for this reason.

In the World of the fax machine, the number and caller ID were set 'on site' by the installing engineer, and any customer with a copy of the machine manual could remove the cover, shift a 'u-link', then alter the 'sender number and ID' before sending a 'bogus' fax. Because a fax message was effectively just a telephone call, in the days of electromechanical and/or early electronic exchanges, once the transmission/call had ended, no-one could identify the actual source of the transmission. I have no idea whether modern digital exchanges actually keep a record of the origin and destination of every call routed - it's a possibility, even though that strays into 'Big Brother' territory IMHO ...

All best

Dave T