A Brief History of Faxing: Then and Now

Whether it is faxing hospital records from one doctor to another, or verifying that you own the bank account you are attempting to close, fax messaging is not as ‘yesterday’ as you might think – it is still required in many circumstances on a daily basis.

Many businesses may not yet have moved fully into the digital age, and have not gotten an email address, and of those who have, there may be many who are wary of any file attachments on emails, fearing viruses and spyware. Hence, the age old technology of faxing documentation has not quite been swept under the rug as yet.

It has advanced with the times, and today being able to fax online has become a staple form of communication of many businesses.

What is Faxing?

As ancient as the equipment may seem – the first fax machine was patented over 160 years ago  - faxing was once at the forefront of technological advances. The purpose of the machine is in the name – ‘fax’ is a nickname for ‘facsimile’, or ‘to make an exact copy’: a fax will make a copy of the original document, sending it to a machine elsewhere, which will reproduce the original exactly.

Think what a marvel such technology was in the mid-1800s. Even today, in our world of instant communication – texts, instant messaging, emails… - the fax machine is not completely forgotten. While sales of stand-alone machines have dwindled, their combination with scanners and copier has seen an enormous increase in the popularity of multifunctional fax machines: between 2001 and 2007, there was a rise of 340% in the sale of these machines.

Most of these multifunctional machines probably see the fax function lying forgotten and ignored, but having one can come in very handy in a fix: what if your car broke down and the mechanic the insurance company calls to pick it up was one of those who fear opening email attachments? He will, most probably, have a fax number, and can receive a fax whether you have sent it from an original 80s machine or a new-fangled multifunctional wonder.

It was in the 1980s that faxing really took off, and the ruling by the courts that a faxed signature was as legally binding as one written in wet ink meant that, combined with the suddenly lowered price of the machines, most small businesses and medium-sized enterprises were the proud owners of such technologies.

Online Faxing

The internet has quickly become a utility as important as electricity or heating – many people can barely go a day without it. In fact, most people can barely go an hour without flicking onto Facebook or Twitter, or checking their emails – or, with eFax, their faxes.

No more is the leviathan equipment of a fax machine required for any business. With online faxing, businesses can send and receive faxed documents via their email. By emailing a document to a fax number, the document will be sent to that fax machine – arriving as though you had sent it from your own machine.

Online faxing means greater security – as faxes can be sent directly to your email – and easy access with secure storage which can be easily sorted and searched. It also means that you can access your account, and therefore all your faxes, without needing to be in the office or at the machine: they can be sent and received from your smart phone, laptop computer or tablet.

Nathan Morgan has been an IT professional for 14 years.