What is a Fax? Understanding Faxing Technology

Before the invention of the Internet, businesses and individuals used facsimile machines to quickly and securely send documents to their clients, colleagues, friends and family members in different locations. So if you’ve ever questioned “what is faxing” or “what is a fax,” here’s your answer – fax machines scan information on a piece of paper and digitally transmit it via a telephone line to the fax machine of a user’s contact. 

Fax machines were a common sight and sound in offices worldwide through the 1980s and 1990s. But, as the Internet took over, it became much more practical for people to share information electronically from their laptop, PC or mobile phone, rather than going into the office to use the corporate fax machine.

Many businesses, especially those in highly regulated industries, aren’t wondering “what does fax mean,” as it remains critical to sending and receiving sensitive information. However, it’s now more convenient, cost-efficient and secure to share fax messages via the Internet through online faxing services like eFax.

Fax Definition and Meaning

Fax is short for facsimile, a form of communication that involves scanning and transmitting printed documents from one machine to another. Faxing a document traditionally involves fax messages being sent from a telephone number associated with a fax machine, printer or other electronic device. In the modern world, fax technology operates digitally without physical paper or printers.

Fax systems are often used when businesses need to share documents quickly and securely. Fax technology works by enabling people to instantly send data over long distances, saving time and money compared to other communication methods. The systems use fax numbers, which offer security as each document receives a code that ensures only authorized recipients can access their contents.

Related Reading: How to fax from a printer.

How Do Faxes Work?

A fax is a digital image of a document or file that is transmitted either over a traditional fax network or via the internet in the case of online faxing. In both cases, you’re taking a document, converting it to an image and sending it to a specific recipient. 

Faxing a document with a traditional fax machine worked by scanning a document, which transforms the original text and images into a single fixed graphic image and converts it into a bitmap. Now in digital form, the data can be transmitted to another fax machine through electrical signals over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). At the other end, the receiving fax machine converts the digital version of the data to print a copy of it.

The encoded bit stream is submitted to a modem that transmits it to the telephone network. The transmitting and receiving fax machines then exchange signals to establish features like modem speed, printing resolution and source code. Page information is transmitted and followed by a signal that informs all pages have been sent and the calling machine can disconnect the line. The receiving machine then demodulates, decodes and stores the signal to release it to the printer. 

The age of internet fax solutions like eFax has simplified this process by eliminating the need for a physical fax machine, fax paper, fax toner or physical phone lines for your fax. Digital faxes allow you to attach your document directly to your fax using your chosen internet fax provider. Those files are then sent to a fax number, where they can be printed out on a traditional fax machine or retrieved from the recipient’s own digital fax app or portal. 

Breaking Down the Technical Specs and Capabilities

Fax jargon includes a lot of numbers and terms you might not be familiar with. Many of these have been made redundant by internet fax solutions, which don’t rely on analogue machines or PSTN lines to transmit data. This makes digital faxes more capable. Let’s quickly look at some common specs and capabilities of fax machines: 

• Baud Rate, AKA Data Transmission Rate: Analog faxes had varying speeds from 9,600 bits per second or BPS to 33,600. This means it could take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes to send a fax. Digital faxes sent through the internet transmit at the speed of your digital connection, so they are much faster. 
• Resolution: Image resolution could be as low as 200 dots per inch (DPI) on an older analog fax to about 400 DPI. Internet fax documents send at much higher resolutions because they’re not limited by the fax machine capability. This leads to clearer text and images, saving miscommunication and helping improve readability. 
• Printing Process: Analogue fax machines may use thermal paper, while modern multi-function device (MFD) fax machines often use inkjet or laser printing. Digital faxes do away with this need as you can read and send faxes without using paper. 

How Fax Systems Have Evolved Over Time

Have you ever wondered when the was fax machine invented? Fax technology traces back to Alexander Bain’s 1843 electric printing telegraph, the first device capable of transmitting a two‑dimensional image over a wire. RCA advanced the field in 1924 with the Radiophoto, which sent images via radio waves, and Xerox later modernized telephone‑based faxing in the 1960s. Fax machines became common office equipment in the 1980s after universal standards and multifunction copy‑scan features accelerated widespread adoption.

Modern fax machines use laser technology, the Internet and energy-saving features to maximize performance. Internet-based fax systems were introduced in 2010 to enable paperless faxing, allowing users to send documents quickly and securely from home. 

The age of internet faxing freed faxes from clunky machines, paper, toner and fax lines, and took faxing online. Since then, digital faxing has evolved to add important features like e-signatures and editing. It has also developed to meet modern privacy and data protection laws like HIPAA and GDPR. 

Fax encryption has evolved, too, with many internet fax solutions using state-of-the-art  256-bit AES and Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. This protects documents from the wrong hands and allows the medical, legal, financial and other sensitive industries to use digital faxes safely. 

Cloud-based document storage has also improved document management allowing you to sort and label faxes for easy record-keeping and reuse.

Common Ways to Send and Receive Faxes

You don’t need a clunky fax machine and phone line to send faxes anymore. You can do it digitally. Here are some of the common fax terms you might encounter while sending faxes and what they mean.

• Internet fax/digital fax/online fax/virtual fax: These are all general terms for sending faxes over the internet instead of using a fax machine and phone line. To send a digital fax, you use a computer or mobile app to upload and send the document, which is converted into a digital format and transmitted online.
• Cloud fax: This is a specific type of online fax service in which your faxes are stored and managed in the cloud (remote servers). You can access them from any device with an internet connection.
• Email fax: This service lets you send faxes by attaching the document to an email and sending it to a special address provided by the fax service. The recipient receives the fax electronically.
• Paperless fax: This emphasizes that these faxing methods don’t involve any paper. You send and receive documents electronically.

These are all ways to send and receive faxes electronically, eliminating the need for a traditional fax machine and phone line. Learn more in our guide, How to Fax Without a Fax Machine.

4 Benefits of a Fax Communication System

Modern digital fax systems offer significant benefits for companies across all industries. They enable fax-to-print solutions, removing the need to rely on physical paper copies of critical documents or information and reducing the risk of data being lost or stolen. Some benefits of communicating via online fax include:

Cost Reduction

Sending faxes can rack up significant costs, from maintaining fax machines and stocking up on paper, ink and toner to purchasing dedicated phone lines. Online faxing removes the need to acquire physical machines and companies can buy toll-free fax numbers.

Secure Communication

Online fax systems use encryption to ensure faxed documents aren’t damaged, modified or stolen during transmission or left sitting unattended on a fax machine. Faxing helps reduce the chances of a security breach by using point-to-point fixed connections.

Environmentally Friendly

Using digital transmissions rather than paper copies helps organizations reduce their carbon footprint while maintaining regular communication with clients and colleagues worldwide. 

Document Management

Online fax systems allow companies to gain instant confirmation of when faxed documents are sent and received. They also enable fax tracking, ensuring users can manage message trails and guarantee sensitive data is protected and delivered safely, which is more challenging to ensure through email or physical mail.

3 Modern Uses of Fax Machines

Fax remains a popular form of digital communication across various industries. Uses of fax in the modern business world include:

Sending and Receiving Files

The most obvious use of fax in modern business is for users to share files with clients and colleagues. For example, fax is helpful for quickly signing and sharing documents that require a physical signature without having to download additional e-signature apps. Additionally, faxed documents are official records that can be used as legal evidence.

Sharing Confidential Data

Sharing information via online fax offers a more secure way to share confidential data than other communication methods like email and instant chat. Fax messages are transmitted via analog phone lines rather than through the Internet, and modern systems use security features like encryption and password protection. So sending data through fax makes it less susceptible to common hacking methods and helps to ensure only authorized recipients can access documents.

Sending Large Files

Fax communication helps send large files that may get blocked by email providers that have file size limits. Fax systems are designed to process large files over telephone lines, so organizations don’t have to use online file-sharing services.

How Faxing Simplifies and Streamlines Communication in Different Industries

Fax communication remains widely used in critical industries and businesses operating in areas with poor internet connectivity. Industries that still rely on fax communication include:

Financial Services

Banks and insurance firms rely on fax to share documents that require a signature and other verification methods. Financial agreements and loan applications often require people to sign them physically, so faxing ensures this information can be signed and shared with ease.

Healthcare

Healthcare providers rely on fax technology to share sensitive medical information like patient records and prescriptions. The communication method is crucial to quickly sharing critical data without the risk of hacking.

Legal

Faxes are widely used across legal firms and courts and government agencies. For example, some agencies and courts, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), require companies to use fax to transmit certain documents like emergency motions, legal filings and tax forms.

Real Estate

Real estate firms widely use fax to share purchase agreements and other documents related to critical transactions. The industry uses fax to ensure all parties involved in property sales are on the same page and can easily share inspection reports, loan documents, property disclosures and more.

Why Choose eFax for Your Faxing Needs? 

eFax is an online fax solution that enables businesses worldwide to reap the simplicity and security benefits of online faxing. Faxing online with eFax offers greater convenience, simplicity, and versatility over purchasing and maintaining bulky and costly fax machines and dedicated phone company lines. With eFax, employees no longer have to visit the office to fax critical documents; they can fax clients and customers from anywhere, anytime and on any device.