If you were to walk into an office and you saw a dial telephone, you’d think you’d have stumbled into an antique showroom! We wouldn’t blame you if you felt the same way if you saw a fax machine in a modern office.
But, believe it or not, many modern offices still have to fax documents. A fax machine is by no means an obsolete piece of office equipment.
If you are wondering whether faxing will be necessary for your personal/business use or why do businesses still use fax, this guide will show you why it still matters.
Yup! You Still Need to Fax Documents
Faxing revolutionized the workplace. It provided a much-needed way of sharing documents and other important information with others. It was an expedited method of sharing that was unprecedented.
But with email, cloud storage, and file transfer services many businesses have given up on faxing altogether. Yet, many businesses still offer faxing as an option for their clients.
They see it as a viable alternative for sharing information.
Here’s why faxing still matters:
It’s Used By Organizations
As odd as it may seem to you, faxing is still used by many corporates with no signs of slowing down. Faxing is also used by governmental institutions such as the Internal Revenue Service.
If you need to send a tax document to the IRS, or your financial information to your investment firm, or even your medical records to a hospital — they might prefer you send it via fax.
The Benefits of Faxing
Are there benefits of faxing that supersede more efficient methods of sharing files? There certainly are! You might remember using floppy disks once upon a time. You know that these floppy disks certainly cannot compete with cloud storage solutions — which is why they went obsolete.
But, as long as you didn’t lose your floppy disk, did you ever have to worry about your floppy disk being hacked? You didn’t — but you do worry about Dropbox or Google Drive being accessed by hackers or third-parties!
The same goes for a fax machine. When you send a fax, you are sending it to a specific machine at a specific location. You are only sending it to one location and you don’t run a high risk of anyone accessing the document.
Sending fax also can confirm the authenticity of the document. This is why governmental organizations, financial institutions, and medical institutions prefer fax over other file-sharing solutions.
Faxing Has Evolved
While a fax machine might look like an antique, the technology behind it certainly isn’t antiquated. Faxing is now moving online. If you need to send something via fax, you no longer need to invest in a fax machine.
There are online services that help you send a fax through a website. You might want to consider looking at the best online faxing service for your own use.
Digital faxing lets you send a document, image, identification card, etc. through a desktop application, online application, or even through your mobile device to a fax machine. This is an efficient service that is likely to continue to grow.
As a result of the evolution of faxing, we are likely to see a resurgence in the adoption of sending and receiving documents via digital fax.
Let’s look at some of the other advantages that we can still find with faxing.
Proof of Receipt
You want to make sure that when you send your fax, it’s received and inspected. You need proof of receipt.
When you send a fax, you will receive a confirmation page that shows proof of receipt. This way you can guarantee that someone has received your fax.
You can never know if your email attachment or cloud file is accessed or downloaded or inspected by others. This is another great advantage of faxing.
Especially if you need to send an important document to a governmental organization such as the IRS, you need to ensure that it was received so that you don’t run into trouble later.
That’s why faxing is much better than any other form of sending documents and other pertinent information.
The proof of receipt works as a signed confirmation that the document has been received and this is invaluable to many businesses, organizations, and individuals.
Efficiency
Many times, sending a fax is the most efficient way of sending documents. When you scan a document you have to make sure that you scan it properly.
This can include making sure the colors are clear. This can include making sure that no part of the document has been truncated.
Then you have to upload it to your cloud storage and share the link. Or you have to log in to a file-sharing website and then share the link or email your recipient. If you need to fax several documents, this will take longer than you would like.
With fax, you slide in the document, dial the number, and within a few seconds, it gets sent. With digital fax services, the process is just as quick.
If you need to send an urgent document or several documents, you should consider faxing as opposed to other forms of sharing files.
It Works and Receives Appreciation
One of the reasons why faxing won’t die anytime soon is because it works and is well-received by organizations and individuals.
As long as organizations find it a beneficial form of receiving documents, it will continue to be necessary.
While organizations have dismissed floppy disks, CDs, and other forms of storing and receiving data, they see the benefits of faxing that we discuss in this article. This is why faxing still remains popular and why digital faxing has blossomed.
If you need to regularly send documents to others, you might want to consider investing in a fax machine or signing up for a great faxing service.
If you run a business, you should definitely give your clients the option of faxing.
Send and Receive
Now that you know the benefits and necessity of why to fax documents, you can find the best faxing option for your needs.
Make sure to share this guide with others who are still curious as to why people still use fax.
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