The fax idea goes back over 100 years; the technology has been around almost as long and was influenced greatly by the telegraph (it being the first thing that allowed people to send information from one place to the other via wire and electricity). Although emails, texting, and social networking have taken over most modes of communication, the fax is still king for receiving important documents.

The telegraph is the first true “fax” in that it moves information from one point to another electronically. It came to be under the innovative hands of German scientist, Carl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber. Later, Alexander Bain began to think and work on moving images through wire in the same fashion. The first chemical fax was patented in 1843, this was prior to the phone and only 10 years after the inception of the telegraph.

Giovanni Caselli years later improved on the science and created the very first commercial linking fax. The link was between Paris andLyon,France. This link sent several thousand images and bits of information per year.

Arthur Korn in 1903 created the first photo fax and by 1910 had addedBerlinto the French link. This was used and improved upon. AP used this to send pictures all over the world of various note worthy happenings and events.

Later around 1947, Alexander Muirhead added spinning drums to the process which vastly improved the function ability. Every model was a build on the previous, and this is true even today. These days instead of drums, faxes use scanners or eyes to obtain the image for sending.

You are able to obtain them in a wide variety, stand alone, all in ones, or even with the ability to fax to email.  This is another innovation. You don’t have to actually have a fax machine to send or receive a fax.

There are many services that allow you to fax a document from a traditional machine and receive it in your email or in a fax server account. If you don’t own a fax machine, that is ok as well, if you have an online documents, or a scanned document, you can send it to a regular fax via a internet service or you may send it to another user with a online fax number. This is all great in the way that the environment is saved by reducing the amount of paper used, but you are still able to conduct business in a traditional manner.

If your business requires that you do a lot of faxing, than taking your beat up fax machine that you have had for years to the dump and considering switching to online faxing via the internet can be a great idea. If you have a busy life and a busy business faxing via the internet can be very useful.  However it is important to understand that there are some negatives about faxing via the internet.

You must look over both the advantages and disadvantages to decide whether online faxing is right for your business.  Be informed before you decide what is best for you!

Advantages

• One of the most obvious advantages of faxing information via the internet is how much time it saves you.  An online fax via the internet will be received by the recipient quicker than if you were to send it via a phone line, and you don’t have to take the time to worry about being stocked up on paper and that your fax machine is running properly. You don’t even have to worry about filling out cover sheets.
• Setting up a monthly membership to send faxes via the internet can also be much more cost efficient. You will save on the extra phone line that the fax machine would be using, the cost on fax machine repairs, and on paper.
• Faxing via the internet is also efficient in that it helps keep you organized as you don’t have to worry about space for your fax machine, a spot for the various faxes coming out on paper, and faxing via the internet usually sends it straight to the email address it needs to go to, so you don’t have to worry about getting the fax to the right individual or filing it.

Disadvantages

• Although online faxing has many advantages, you may be risking you privacy. People can easily hack into email accounts and see private information that maybe on your faxes, which could result in identity fraud. So if you are sending important documents, with private information, this may be something to think about.
• Faxing via the internet my also lack services that your fax machine and phone line provided you with. This is because using a fax machine provides you with extra services and let’s you send documents via fax in many different ways.
• Something else to take into account is that you will need to already have or purchase a scanner if you are going to be sending hard copy documents. A scanner is likely to need repairs and room just like a fax machine would.

There are both benefits and flaws of faxing via the internet; it can be a great advantage to some, but maybe a pain to others. It is important to be well informed and look into the factors of faxing via the internet before you decide to set up an online faxing membership.

ONLINE FAXING.

Online Faxing (internet faxing, digital fax or e-fax) refers to sending a document facsimile using the internet which converts a fax transmission into a file or document that can be received through a fax machine. It is secure, convenient and saves money on supplies. Online Faxing can be used anywhere whether one works in an office or at home.

Online Faxing can be a big help especially to those who cannot afford to buy a fax machine. All businesses gain a lot from making use of online faxing since it cuts down on electricity bills and maintenance costs.

How Online Faxing works:

Create a document or scan a hard copy document to your computer. Choose the document one wants to send and fax number of the recipient. When one is ready to send the fax, he or she is supposed to type the recipient’s phone number, add a brief note, select the document file and send the fax. The document is usually converted and sent by the Web server to the fax server which transmits it to the recipient fax machine through Standard Telephone Network then the user receives an email that proves that the fax has been sent successfully.

When one is choosing an online faxing one should look at:

i)                    Good customer maintenance.

ii)                   Free testing period to try it out before becoming a member.

iii)                 No hidden fees.

iv)                 No start up fees.

v)                  No annulment fees.

vi)                 200-300 liberated pages.

vii)                 The online faxes are normally stored in an electronic file leading to less need of storage space for paper faxes. One can also think of a password to protect the information stored in the electronic file.

viii)                 Even if one’s computer might be switched off at the time one is sending a fax, the receiver will still be able to obtain the fax the next time he or she puts it on. So it does not matter whether the computer is on or not when the fax is being sent.