Facts About Fax

While the leaves have not yet begun to turn, we thought it appropriate to turn our attention to a communication technology that has proven to have a staying power and tenacity far greater than most—fax.

Few realize that the first fax, or facsimile, machine was invented in 1843 by a Scottish mechanic and inventor, Alexander Bain. It was an evolution of Samuel Morse’s telegraph, invented several years earlier. The next 100 years saw creators from radio technicians to watchmakers, and companies such as AT&T, try their hand at improving and enhancing the technology. As early as 1860, the first fax recorded was transmitted from Paris to Lyon on a fax machine dubbed the Pantelegraph.

Despite predictions over the last 10 years of the demise of fax, it is a larger business today than ever and includes traditional fax machines, multifunction devices, fax servers, and fax services. Servers and services are growth areas with analysts projecting double digit CAGR through 2011.

In the fax server segment, the market is mirroring the phone system climate and transitioning from conventional fax servers to Fax over Internet Protocol, or FoIP. FoIP refers to the process of sending and receiving faxes over an IP network instead of the public switch telephone network [PSTN] which fax machines use. Fax Servers promote savings in several ways.

Using a software solution provides the benefit of going paperless, or green, in today’s vernacular—saving both ink and paper. Transmitting the fax image over the public Internet instead of PSTN saves enormously on long-distance charges. In addition, there is no telephone charge at all – not even a local charge – for a call to any location connected directly to the IP network. Other advantages abound in confidentiality, supportability and productivity.

In the coming months we will provide insight into why you should tune up your current fax solution, provide tips for selecting the right fax solution for your business, and explain the benefits of different fax applications.

If you are still rummaging papers off the floor that spewed from your fax machine or waiting until everyone has left the office to give the go-ahead for someone to send confidential information to you via fax, you need no longer endure these inconveniences. Fax Servers are here and ready for you.

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