Fax Machines
Introduced in the mid-1980s, facsimile machines have become a must-have for all offices. They began as large, noisy, and slow machines that required a dedicated telephone line and special paper but have developed into a high-technology piece of hardware designed for speed and convenience.
Early fax machines could take up to 6 minutes to scan a page for transmission. Today, modern fax machines use flatbed scanning technology and can scan a page in as little as 10 seconds. Newer fax technology and software also allow users to send and receive faxes directly from their computers.
For the home user, the need for a phone line is still a consideration. Smaller fax machines designed for infrequent use don’t necessarily need their own phone line and should come with a splitter to allow for sharing of the regular phone line.
Price range and frequency of use should determine the type of fax machine needed. Some features available include automatic feeders and programmable memory. See below for some fax machine basics.
Fax Machine Basics
- Transmission speeds at least 14.4 kbps
- Forward/Paging capabilities
- Color models available
- Various memory sizes available
- Varying replacement ink cartridge costs