Hello, I see you’re back for more! Today, we’re going to talk about something that, despite not many people thinking about as much anymore, is still a very popular feature in many industries.

I am talking, of course, about Fax.

…..WHAT IS FAX?

Fax, short for Facsimilie, is a tried and true method of sending a document from point A to point B without the use of a courier service. Faxing works using a standard analog phone line between two machines equipped with fax modems. Back in the late-1980s, the ability to send and receive a fax from a personal computer was also brought to life, thanks to the availability of fax modems for PCs. This functionality was usually included with most dial-up internet modems of the time. This let you transmit a FAX to a fax machine from your PC, receive a fax from a fax machine, or even send a fax from one PC to another (Without the need for an internet connection).

Since the majority of the country (and even the world) had an analog phone line of some sort, Faxing became a highly popular way to quickly send a document from point A to point B without getting a courier involved.

As the internet and email began to pick up in popularity, the use of fax declined, but only slightly, and that holds true to this very day. Despite the technological advantages that Email has over fax, Fax holds many that email does not, with the biggest advantages being that it only requires a simple phone line, and that it is truly point to point. (Fax machine direct to fax machine through the phone network). Fax is not affected by network or internet outages like Email can be, and it is not as vulnerable to cyberattacks as Email is. These are two of the biggest reasons why some industries still trust Fax over Email.

The concept of fax, as technical as it sounds, came about in 1843. Alexander Bain is the father of FAX. He invented the technology to send an image over a wire. This system involved the use of synchronized pendulums to scan an image on a line by line basis. While this worked, the quality, as one could expect, was quite poor. Frederick Bakewell is credited with improving this tech, which is similar to today’s equipment.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that fax use truly picked up and caught on, and in many industries, that trend continues today. Despite other digital communication mediums taking over, Fax is still a trusted method to securely transmit a document.

Some industries regard fax as being quite secure. This can hold true. While it is not as secure as encrypted email, someone who would want to eavesdrop on your faxes would need to find where your fax line is on a phone system, then somehow tap into it without disturbing your transmission. (Think of your sibling picking up the phone while you’re on AOL, or in my case, my grandmother!) While fax and email can both be tapped, intercepting a fax takes considerable skill and proper timing.

In fact, you’ll find fax machines in use in the following industries:

– Healthcare
– Law/Legal
– Construction
– Real Estate
– Banking & Financial
– Government

Neat, huh? Let’s have a little fun with learning more about the technological marvel that is sending a document over telephone lines!

HOW DOES FAX WORK?

A fax works by electronically transmitting and receiving data over a traditional phone line. When you send a document through your fax machine, your machine will start to dial the phone number of the fax on the other end that you enter, and will wait for an answer. Once the fax on the other end “answers”, the two will begin what’s known as handshaking and negotiation. Both ends will determine the quality of the connection with each other, and agree on what transmission speed should be used. This is all of the “Screeching” noise you generally hear when sending a fax. This is known as the carrier. (Those of us who grew up with dial-up internet will remember these sounds very fondly!)

Once the negotiation phase ends, the fax machine will go silent, and begin to transmit your document. Of course, your machine is compressing your document as much as it can to get it sent to the other end as fast as possible. Once the document is fully sent and the fax on the other end confirms receipt, the two will hang up. In some cases, depending on how your machine is set up, you will get a confirmation that the fax transmitted properly. With this, it is possible to send multiple pages at once, although the more you send, the longer it will take to fully send.

On the receiving end, the fax machine will temporarily store the document in it’s internal memory, then print it out once it has been fully received.

There are pros and cons to fax, as you will see below:

Pros:

– Reliable: Unlike email and other digital communications, which can be affected by network outages and cyberattacks, Fax works over analog phone lines. Thus, the only thing that can really disrupt fax is a down phone line.

– Secure: Unlike digital communications that can easily be intercepted, intercepting a fax transmission takes precise timing and skills to not corrupt or disrupt the transmission process. Intercepting a fax transmission often requires physical access to the phone line the transmissions are taking place on.

– Affordable: Unlike digital communications, which requires (often costly) internet access, all you need for fax is a simple landline. If you’re only faxing locally, or to toll-free numbers (800, 855, etc), you won’t really need to worry about a monthly long distance plan.

– Easy to set up and use: Unlike digital communications, which can require a lengthy set up process, fax only requires a few short steps:
* Install the ink/toner
* Load paper
* plug in the phone line and power cord
* Configure your fax number on the machine (Optional step, but HP machines won’t receive faxes without this for some reason)
And that’s all you need to start faxing like a pro! To send a fax, simply put your document on the scanner/in the feeder, dial in the fax number, and hit the start button! The machine will handle the rest.

NOTE: Depending on where you are faxing to, you may need to prefix the destination fax number with a 1. (eg, 1-239-939-5383). If the fax fails to send and spits up an error, or you can hear a spoken message instead of carrier tones, try this method. Note that this would be considered a long distance call, and can even happen within the same area code.

Cons:

– Low quality output: Unlike digital communications, when you send a fax, the other end will receive it in substantially lower quality than the original. While this is not an issue at all for sending text-only documents, this can be an issue when sending anything with an image on it.

– No color output: While color faxing is a thing, it is not a widely use thing. Even if your fax machine supports color faxes, chances are high that the receiving end does not. Even if the other end does support color faxing, the standard for this feature is not widely implemented. Instead, these manufacturers choose to implement their own proprietary color fax format, which requires both ends to have a machine made by the same manufacturer. The majority of fax machines on the market today only support black & white.

FAX IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

Fast forward to the present day. In many places of the world, traditional copper landlines are slowly being replaced with high speed fiber optic cabling. Land line phones are starting to see a sharp decrease in popularity, especially in the US. One such replacement for a traditional analog phone line is known as Voice over IP, or VoIP. VoIP generally requires an internet connection to function, unlike a traditional analog line.

Phone companies who are slowly retiring their copper networks for fiber optic are implementing their own VoIP systems into these newer networks, while providing the customer a working analog phone line on site. This is handled at the ONT (Optic Network Terminal). In a fiber optic network, the ONT often provides multiple services, but the most common are internet, phone and video.

It is possible to fax over VoIP, and in the case of phone companies who are switching to fiber cabling, they will be able to configure your line for fax use, so you won’t have to worry about any extra equipment.

If you choose to use your own provider with your fax machine, there’s several considerations you’ll need to keep in mind:

– Your connection to the internet needs to be as stable as possible: While fax machines have some level of error correction, it’s generally only good at correcting errors caused by random noise on the line. It’s not as good at correcting errors caused by latency or dropouts in an internet connection. Too much latency or connection dumping will cause your fax transmission to either get corrupted, abort partway through, or even outright fail. This can also cause both ends to negotiate at the slowest transmission speeds possible, which can cause your fax to take a long time to go out.

– Not all VoIP Adapters are the same. Your adapter must support T.38. T.38 is a standard published in 1998 as a way to permit faxes to be sent over digital IP networks. when in doubt, consult your VoIP provider. They will be able to provide you with the equipment you need.

– Fax will NOT work if your internet is down. Unlike the phone line provided by your local phone company’s ONT, which often operates independently of your internet connection, an external VoIP service relies solely on your internet connection. If this goes down, so does your fax line.

– Your internet connection MUST be wireline-based. What does this mean? Well, this means that your internet connection must come in on a physical wire (Cable, DSL or Fiber). You CANNOT use Cellular, WiFi or Satellite connections (Not even Starlink!). Wireless connectivity is not stable enough to sustain this type of a connection. The latency of a wireless connection is also an enemy to fax signaling.

No matter how you do it, it is simple, fun and quick to send a fax. Never underestimate this technology. It’s not old, it’s tried and true, and has withstood the test of time and technological innovations over the years!