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Who uses fax machines these days?
- Thread starter ctt1wbw
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That is strange. I have to use E-Sign to sign my education benefits and student loan information with FAFSA.
Wow. Let's all get up to date on technology and buy a scanner/copier and start emailing pdf files. It's cheaper.
But is it a faster process? Sometimes it's nice not to have to have to load the sheets in, trek to the computer (when the scanner/fax is centrally located), hit the scan, make adjustments to the size, save, then email. Fax is sometimes just easier/faster.
Our law office (and pretty much all the law offices and courts we deal with) still uses a fax machine. We aren't even on the internet at the office (trust and believe, I've been banging my head against that particularly brick wall for two years. I think she's paranoid about viruses, although the paralegal thinks LawyerBoss is afraid we're going to be playing WoW on the clock. Like I have the time for that...)
We often send out docs for review and signature. We have to remind people "Just send the signature page back, please! We know what the judgment looks like -- we wrote it!"
I am going to check out those eFax and similar services, in case I need to fax something from home.
We often send out docs for review and signature. We have to remind people "Just send the signature page back, please! We know what the judgment looks like -- we wrote it!"
I am going to check out those eFax and similar services, in case I need to fax something from home.
Let's don't, but say we did.
Seriously, this isn't a burning issue that keeps me awake at night... YMMV
Emails have header info. Plus, when you print out a document attacthment from an email, it looks suspiciously identical to a printout from a fax machine...
We still use them, but we are trying to at least reduce the number of them that we have sitting around. Trying to move from the model of everyone having their own machine, to being able to do network faxing through our copy machines. Also, we've started to move some people to eFax. Just no need for so many standalone machines anymore when for the most part the documents you're sending are on the computer to begin with.
For small scale faxing there are some inexpensive alternatives out there costing about 4 bucks a month. These would be cheaper than having a line just for faxing. Or perhaps you can bundle your internet or cable use to get a phone line?
The fact of the matter is while faxing is close to obsolete it is still in use. True, twenty years ago my small office would receive /send probably 100 faxes a day. Today it's one a week. But that one fax is still important. Yes, the fax collects endless spam but when I have to fax it's there. I still pay for a dedicated fax line which is probably silly but it's something a business, even a small one like mine, has to do.
The fact of the matter is while faxing is close to obsolete it is still in use. True, twenty years ago my small office would receive /send probably 100 faxes a day. Today it's one a week. But that one fax is still important. Yes, the fax collects endless spam but when I have to fax it's there. I still pay for a dedicated fax line which is probably silly but it's something a business, even a small one like mine, has to do.
For better or worse, fax machines are still in extremely common use in every hospital I've ever worked in, and I don't think it's likely to change, for several reasons:
1) Privacy procedures in some cases draw up all kinds of problems if medical documents are transfered via unencrypted e-mail
2) There are dozens of fax machines strewn throughout the hospital, and often maybe a couple scanners altogether (which could of course be addressed easily enough).
3) In terms of simplicity, some of the people we deal with might be able to scan and send files (and we might accept them), but everyone has a fax machine in their office.
I'm not saying it's the best technology. I think it's terrible. I do like services that automatically route incoming faxes as PDF files into your e-mail inbox, and I've seen a few people use them clinically. I like this a lot better, since I am much less likely to lose a digital file than a paper one.
1) Privacy procedures in some cases draw up all kinds of problems if medical documents are transfered via unencrypted e-mail
2) There are dozens of fax machines strewn throughout the hospital, and often maybe a couple scanners altogether (which could of course be addressed easily enough).
3) In terms of simplicity, some of the people we deal with might be able to scan and send files (and we might accept them), but everyone has a fax machine in their office.
I'm not saying it's the best technology. I think it's terrible. I do like services that automatically route incoming faxes as PDF files into your e-mail inbox, and I've seen a few people use them clinically. I like this a lot better, since I am much less likely to lose a digital file than a paper one.
Deaf people used to be very heavy fax users - this was before mobile texts came out and the current crop of telephone relay services 
Pagers were useful, but you couldn't call back, and if you were deaf yourself, you couldn't page another deaf person. Hence the fax.
I know some old deaf people who still use fax machines almost daily. It works, you get a nice printout, you can write nice and large, do drawings, doodles etc, and it's simpler than maintaining a computer and internet connection.
I haven't used a fax in 5 years, but just before Xmas, I had to commission a structural survey of a building in a hurry, and the surveyors wouldn't start the survey till they had my signature on a contract. So I faxed it to them. Job done.
Pagers were useful, but you couldn't call back, and if you were deaf yourself, you couldn't page another deaf person. Hence the fax. I know some old deaf people who still use fax machines almost daily. It works, you get a nice printout, you can write nice and large, do drawings, doodles etc, and it's simpler than maintaining a computer and internet connection.
I haven't used a fax in 5 years, but just before Xmas, I had to commission a structural survey of a building in a hurry, and the surveyors wouldn't start the survey till they had my signature on a contract. So I faxed it to them. Job done.
This is true. The Digital Life is not so alluring to many, many people. Nor is it necessarily easier. Scanning, organizing, attaching, opening is not all that easy and without drama. Then there is the printing and filing, or backing up process.
Medical and Rx insurance companies require faxed prescriptions, even though nobody in the entire world would use my drugs for anything fun. I suspect the Rx is just to keep the price up on a lot of drugs.
Auto/home insurance companies want faxed estimates. I tried for years to get them to do it email, but it was easier to get a fax out of the machine and then stick it in a folder in a file cabinet.
The idea that private insurance companies are somehow efficient and competent is an erroneous one at best.
There are still many people who need physical fax machines. Not everyone has internet access, or can use computer fax applications.
I think the initial thinking was that faxes were better for sensitive information. Emails are routed through servers that could, potentially, be reading the contents of the emails. Emails can also be routed internationally, even if receiver and sender are in the same office. Faxes are point-to-point, and can not be intercepted except by court order (in theory at least). That's why you will see so many faxes in the medical and legal profession.
Secondly, the sending fax receives a confirmation code when the fax is successfully received. If there was every any dispute about whether a fax was sent you could use the confirmation code to prove it was received (not just sent as with email programs.)
And thirdly, it's easier to sign and fax a sheet for most people than to print, sign, scan, attach and send. Not everyone has a scanner available.
All of the above said, there are obviously ways keep your emails safe from prying eyes (but its not a default setting and requires some set up at both ends); confirm that the email was received (again, not a default setting. And I've never used the confirmation. Does it actually work as advertized?); And of course you can sign and scan emails, but its not really as convenient as signing and dialling.
Ironically the email-to-fax services have totally negated the privacy advantages of the point-to-point fax system. I have a scanned copy of my signature on file, so if I get a fax by email I can cut and paste my signature onto the document (avoiding the print, sign, scan steps) and then just send it back as a fax by an email to fax service. And somehow this is considered "legal" because it was received back as a fax, but sending the exact same PDF document by email is not. Oh well....
Secondly, the sending fax receives a confirmation code when the fax is successfully received. If there was every any dispute about whether a fax was sent you could use the confirmation code to prove it was received (not just sent as with email programs.)
And thirdly, it's easier to sign and fax a sheet for most people than to print, sign, scan, attach and send. Not everyone has a scanner available.
All of the above said, there are obviously ways keep your emails safe from prying eyes (but its not a default setting and requires some set up at both ends); confirm that the email was received (again, not a default setting. And I've never used the confirmation. Does it actually work as advertized?); And of course you can sign and scan emails, but its not really as convenient as signing and dialling.
Ironically the email-to-fax services have totally negated the privacy advantages of the point-to-point fax system. I have a scanned copy of my signature on file, so if I get a fax by email I can cut and paste my signature onto the document (avoiding the print, sign, scan steps) and then just send it back as a fax by an email to fax service. And somehow this is considered "legal" because it was received back as a fax, but sending the exact same PDF document by email is not. Oh well....
Some of the newer mid-large office document stations (also known as copiers) offer attach-to-email function right on the device, and this is probably the only thing that will ever eventually replace the fax machine.
Not everyone has room in their cubicle for a flatbed scanner, and it's a pain in the butt to use a shared scanner.
Fax machines are simple devices that do what they need to do in a simple fashion and still work for a large number of people who have paper-based document systems. Why replace what isn't broken just because it is old?
Personally we have gone mostly paperless at work since we changed over our inventory and rental system to a more modern application that allows for direct emailing of work orders, quotations, billing, ect. But there are still plenty of times when people still ask to have a WO faxed over to them, or when we need a purchase order or contract signed. Most of our clients just aren't set up for digital document signing, and a fax is just easier.
Not everyone has room in their cubicle for a flatbed scanner, and it's a pain in the butt to use a shared scanner.
Fax machines are simple devices that do what they need to do in a simple fashion and still work for a large number of people who have paper-based document systems. Why replace what isn't broken just because it is old?
Personally we have gone mostly paperless at work since we changed over our inventory and rental system to a more modern application that allows for direct emailing of work orders, quotations, billing, ect. But there are still plenty of times when people still ask to have a WO faxed over to them, or when we need a purchase order or contract signed. Most of our clients just aren't set up for digital document signing, and a fax is just easier.