Wait, people still use fax machines? This is not an uncommon question, especially given that we exist in a current culture of rapidly expanding technology and lightning-fast communication. You might even get a “hold up, what does faxing even do?” from an unsuspecting, young Gen Zer…oh boy.
While the origin of faxing takes us back to a distant 1842, it might be hard to believe that people currently still use modern-day faxing—even with the advent of email and other cloud-sharing services that are great alternatives for sending and receiving documents. In order to understand how the world still uses faxing (and why), let’s take a look at the roots of fax technology and the direction it’s currently headed.
Invented back in the mid-1800s by Alexander Bain, the “Electric Printing Telegraph” became the world’s first faxing device by synchronizing the movement of two pendulums through a clock, and with that motion, allowing it to scan a message on a line-by-line basis. While this device was able to transfer an image, it was of quite poor quality.
Through a number of inventions in the late 1800s and early 1900s different methods to faxing soon appeared that offered an improvement upon this initial technology. It was during this time that people were beginning to recognize the usefulness of the technology. By 1888, the range of fax transmissions was increased to allow for long distances, and in 1924, faxes were made wireless by transmitting them over radio waves. Two decades later, the first color fax was transmitted.
By 1964, Xerox Corporation patented and introduced the first commercialized modern fax machine. Not too long after, by the 1980s, the faxing industry went global, with Japanese companies entering the industry. This era was the golden age of fax technology, which some people thought would end once another technology crept onto the market: The Internet.
As the world migrated to the World Wide Web for most of its data needs by the 1990s, including email, cloud storage and document editing, a new evolution in fax began—allowing anyone to send a fax straight from their computer. Today, cloud faxing methods offer several advantages from its predecessor, providing an inherently secure method for sending sensitive information (unlike email).
There are many flaws and limitations of traditional faxing that that cloud fax solutions, like Secure eFax, readily overcome, including faxing secure sensitive information with email. Between more employees working remote or on the go, higher customer expectations for streamlined document processing and faster response times, and the reliance on mobile devices and apps, businesses need an Internet-based alternative to traditional paper-based fax machines.
Cloud faxing is the anytime, anywhere, always-on way to exchange business-critical documents that offers the following features and benefits:
Fax still has a massive user base in the business world. The technology is still used in many organizations that need a fast, easy and secure way to send private documents across the world. If you work in the following industries, switching to a cloud fax solution can offer significant improvements in document security and reliability over traditional faxing:
Secure eFax from Windstream Enterprise is the world’s leading enterprise-grade, cloud-fax solution, providing state-of-the-art Digital Cloud Fax Technology (DCFT) through a platform that is convenient, reliable and highly secure. Secure eFax is in line with the highest compliance levels required by heavily regulated industries, as well as eco-friendly and simple to use. With Secure eFax, you’ll gain all the benefits of:
Making the move to secure cloud faxing doesn’t require a large investment. Trust Secure eFax for all your critical documents and gain peace of mind with the most innovative and secure faxing solution out there.
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