Most of us can probably remember the introduction of the fax (facsimile) machine. The fax has been an invaluable asset to many homes and businesses over the years, making it easy and fast to send documents and other printed material, to virtually any location around the world, for the cost of a phone call. Initially fax machines were all based on a thermal paper system, and although effective for the immediate use of the machine, the paper degenerated over time, leaving some older faxed pages blank within a couple of months. Then of course we saw the introduction of the plain paper fax machines, and these were a lot different in the way that the delivered documents were able to maintain their originality and quality.
I don't think too many people would have stayed with the thermal machines long after the introduction of the plain paper fax machines. Then it seems technology advanced at lightening speed, and we saw fax machines being replaced with email, computer based fax software, and online fax services. However all being said and done, there is still a large number of homes and businesses using the fax machine today.
Although there are similarities in what the alternatives can achieve, a fax machine is still in most cases, the cheapest form of paper transmission that involves the need for printing. Sure an email is faster, attachments are faster, and if the document or attached file is going to be housed on a hard drive, then email far surpasses what a fax can do in this regard. Where a fax machine comes into its own though, is whe a document needs to be printed at the receiving end. The cost of printing, particularly color, can be very high. The replacement of inks, toners, and drums in a laser printer, is something that needs to be taken into consideration when printing something from the computer.
This is where the sending of a fax to another fax machine can be a lot cheaper. For the cost of the call, which is no more than a couple of minutes for a double-sided piece of paper, and a few cents for the resulting printed copy at the receiving end, the job is done. Another thing that continues to see the fax machine as a viable and needed piece of communications equipment, is that it doubles as a telephone. If you are on the phone with someone and you want to send them a copy of something on paper, you can do it then and there, rather than fire up the computer, locate their email address, attach and send the file, hope they have enough ink to print the file their end, and wait for a response.
With a fax machine, the transmission is virtually instant, and extremely cost efficient. Today we see fax machines built into printers, scanners, photocopiers, and telephones, and they continue to be amalgamated in the manner. This is of course a great indicator as to their market viability. If a fax machine was no longer a relevant piece of technology you would actually see manufacturers removing the capability from all of these other sources.
Author Resource:-
Jennifer Robinson writes for OnlineConnect.co.uk. They supply a comprehensive range of inkjet fax and laser fax machines with multifunction capabilities - including internet facsimile. They also supply photocopiers,printers and office equipment solutions for document management.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlesbacklink.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
