Faxing was once a cutting-edge communications technology. Today faxes may seem like a quaint relic from the past, but some people still rely on them. In an age where telephone landlines are disappearing, can you still fax if needed? The answer is yes. Read on to learn how.
Newer method, same result
Wireless and digital technology has created a better method of transmitting pages of text, pictures and graphics. Now, instead of sending faxes of written pages over a telephone landline to be printed, a digital page can be sent to another device for digital storage with no hard copy at either end, or a hard copy page can be sent and received as a digital file. None of this requires a physical landline.
When dealing with a customer that requests that you send or receive a faxed document, first ask if it can be scanned, saved as a digital file and attached to an email. If his answer is yes, then the problem is solved without buying a fax machine for the one-off customer who needs it.
New life for the old fax machine
If you can’t get around the requirement of sending faxes and you don’t have a landline, your first resource is an all-in-one printer that copies, prints, scans and sends documents. Simply scan the document and save it to your PC or to the cloud.
From there you have delivery options. With an online service such as Interfax, Fax.com, or My Fax, you can send that saved digital file to a specific phone number where it can be digitally saved or printed as hard copy, all for a monthly fee based on fax volume.
Put simply, the Internet has replaced the telephone line for the transmission of faxes. The old notion of faxes as paper documents sent by telephone has been eclipsed by the Internet. Even if you have a customer who still requires faxes, there are work-arounds.
Related – Inkjet or Laser? Picking a Printer for Home Use
