Internet fax

Internet fax, e-fax, or online fax is the use of the internet and internet protocols to send a fax (facsimile), rather than using a standard telephone connection and a fax machine. A distinguishing feature of Internet fax, compared to other Internet communications such as email, is the ability to exchange fax messages with traditional telephone-based fax machines.

Purpose

Fax has no technical advantage over other means of sending information over the Internet with technologies such as email, scanner, and graphics file formats; however, it is extremely simple to use: put the documents to be faxed in a hopper, dial a phone number, and press a button. Fax continues to be used over the telephone network at locations without computer and Internet facilities; and sometimes a fax of a document with a person's handwritten signature is a requirement for legal reasons. Faxes can be sent from electronic devices, often referred to as online faxing which allows faxes to be sent and received without the need for a physical fax machine. Online faxing is still popular as it allows the user to send and receive documents using a secure line without the worry of being hacked, as online faxing services use end-to-end encryption to protect the documents from being hacked. Fax machines have increasingly been replaced by fax apps or websites offering fax server services, but the function is still very much a viable part of business transactions.

Traditional fax

The traditional method for sending faxes over phone lines (PSTN)

Fax machine → Phone line → Fax machine

A fax machine is an electronic instrument composed of a scanner, a modem, and a printer. It transmits data in the form of pulses via a telephone line to a recipient, usually another fax machine, which then transforms these pulses into images, and prints them on paper.

The traditional method requires a phone line, and only one fax can be sent or received at a time.