Centuries-old technology, the fax machine is well past its prime. But that doesn’t mean fax is obsolete; in fact, far from it. In this blog, eFax explains why fax is still as important as it ever was, even if the fax machine is becoming a technology of the past.
Article overview:
Why Fax Machines Are Obsolete
Outdated and unsuited for the modern working environment, fax machines have proven to be ineffective and inefficient compared to digital alternatives. With in-built security flaws and excessive resource wastage, there is no place for them in your business.
Why Fax Isn’t Obsolete
While fax machines may be obsolete, faxing as a practice remains of critical importance to business communication. Without the ability to fax, your business will lose out on vital functionality required for optimised development. There are just too many benefits of fax to give the platform up.
Faxing without a Fax Machine
Online fax solutions provide businesses with the ability to remove obsolete fax machines from their working environment while continuing to send fax documents. Just because the original hardware behind fax has run its course doesn’t mean you can’t continue reaping the benefits of the platform.
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The Slow Death of the Fax Machine
The fax machine is obsolete technology. There is no getting around this fact. Conceived in the 1800s, popularised in the 1970s and supplanted in the late 90s by digital innovations, the hardware really does deserve its place in museums. But why are fax machines obsolete?
As we move further into the digital era, it has become painfully obvious that outdated fax machine hardware is just not up to the task. The technology has many faults and flaws that stop it from supporting modern work environments. From issues with data protection compliance and dangerous security flaws to simple cost-efficiency concerns and a lack of versatility when it comes to enabling better workflow, there are plenty of reasons the fax machine is becoming obsolete.
And that’s not all. Many organisations in the UK are now pushing for the removal of fax machine technology, spurred on by the axe the fax movement. Add to this the fact that Britain will soon be facing the ISDN switch-off, forcing businesses to abandon landlines vital to fax hardware, and it becomes clear that fax machines will soon be a thing of the past in the United Kingdom.
Why Does Fax Still Exist?
If fax machines are obsolete technology, a relic soon to be removed from the British business landscape, why are billions of fax still transmitted annually?
Fax itself is not a poor choice of communication. Contrary to what you may have heard, it’s a powerful form of document transmission that holds a wealth of benefits for businesses and organisations. Instead, the problem is that the way we do business now is very different from how it was during the golden era of fax machines. Security of data is more important; mobility is key to success in the modern day, and new technology offers better opportunities for improved productivity.
The fax machine is certainly obsolete, but faxing isn’t.
The first important faxing benefit to consider is that while fax machines are dying off in some places, in other areas and industries, they still thrive. Many international economies maintain high volumes of fax machine usage, as do entities like the NHS. To communicate with these entities effectively, your business needs fax.
Fax also supports your business in other ways. The practice is considered more authentic in terms of legal documentation than other methods of document sharing, such as email. The sharing of visual files quickly is also highly important for many industries, for which fax still provides the ultimate solution.
What’s Next for Fax?
Businesses cannot afford to remove fax from their communication repertoire if they want to provide true versatility and enable comprehensive connectivity with all potential clients, customers and partners. They also don’t want to remove fax, either, given the benefits it can provide. But we also can’t argue with the fact that the fax machine is a piece of legacy hardware that no longer has a place in our modern world.
So where does that leave us? It leaves us with online faxing.
Online faxing is no obsolete technology. Instead, it uses very modern techniques and tools to provide your business with the fax functionality it needs. This includes advanced data encryption, computer and smartphone compatibility, cloud-based document sharing, electronic signature verification and more. It does all this while still providing the same basic functionality as a fax machine. You can quickly and efficiently send visual documents. You can also easily receive them, whether sent from other digital fax services or via email or fax machine hardware. Become fax-capable without outdated fax machines. There is no solution like it, and it’s exactly what your business needs.