Who uses fax machines?

[2-step]

So does anyone here STILL use a fax machine for work related tasks?

We do, not often but now and then the dust gets wiped off it


(I tried to make this into a poll but I can't work it out if a mod could do that would be great)

 

[Biohazard]

Yes. Daily. Mostly in receipt mind you, I tend to email in return where I can.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I used one at work (left yesterday). It was a pain in the arse; you never quite knew whether anything had sent or not. I didn't trust it at all.

 

[G.s Glazing]

I still rock the fax machine for orders and quotes that I have drawn up.

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

They are the spawn of satan. I hate the damn things, why people insist on using such an old piece of technology (first fax patent was before 1850 I think) when much better alternatives exist is beyond me.

The best one I saw was a company using a fax machine to photocopy sensitive documents, it used a dye sublimation roll which meant there was essentially an inverted copy of the document stored on the roll for anyone to read... Why they couldn't just use a scanner I'll never know.

 

[J-FRO]

Yup, we still use them at my firm as do most law firms I think. The thing is the court system still uses them and a lot of existing and old contracts etc will have certain clauses specifying service by facsimile is ok.

I can't see us stopping using them any time soon, but most courts are using e-filing now as well which makes life a lot easier.

 

[Lysander]

I work for the NHS and fax machines are vital for patient referrals. We have three fax machines in district nursing which are literally hot, spewing out referrals most of the day from hospitals and GP surgeries all over South London.

 

[andy_mk3]

I work in a car garage and only this month has an e-mail system been introduced to replace the fax machine for the whole company!

 

[Hades]

I haven't used one in years. But I do remember them being introduced at work. Yes I'm that old :/

 

[wannabedamned]

I haven't used one in years. But I do remember them being introduced at work. Yes I'm that old :/

1850s?

 

[Hades]

1850s?

Not far off. Also to get a mainframe job re-run we had to write our instructions on a three colour carbon memo pack. Scribble the notes down, rip off one copy for yourself, hand in the other two copies to the other team. They would then action it and write a reply, keep the second colour and hand you back the last colour.

Waaaaaaay before email. You kids don't know how lucky you are (etc, etc, etc, lol).

 

[Gixer]

Ours is built into our photo copier. We also print black / white documents from PC's through the photo copier. Saves having multiple units.

 

[Gogl]

I remember never being entirely confident in the operation of a fax machine where I worked, but that was probably ten or more years ago. Some documents were quite time sensitive meaning that if you screwed up, it could be quite a big screw up.

Still, I do feel kinda sentimental about 'em.

 

[Unluckyalf]

Fax machines are still quite popular especially in remote/rural areas. They are much more robust than most modern technology. 90% of the faxes i repair have been victims of lightning strikes.. apart from that they pretty much run forever.

We still have clients that use impact printers also

 

[Maccapacca]

We are bringing fax machines back, part of the new jct certificate and payment process is proof of notification of calculation by a certain date with a fax we get a receipt. I'm just ordering one for work now.

 

[nutcase]

Ours goes through a modem and the server then emails it to the relevant person

 

[MBennett]

I had to use one last year for work. I use them so rarely that I am never sure I have done it right. My typical mistake is to forget to press 9 to get an outside line. The fax machine will then ring up a random within the company and you can hear them speaking to the fax down the line

 

[Nightglow]

Got a dedicated Canon inkjet fax connected at home, still used occasionally, plus I have three HP's all in one, all have fax, but not used.

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

I work for the NHS and fax machines are vital for patient referrals. We have three fax machines in district nursing which are literally hot, spewing out referrals most of the day from hospitals and GP surgeries all over South London.

Daft question buy why can't you just use e-mail.

 

[Werewolf]

Fax machines are still quite popular especially in remote/rural areas. They are much more robust than most modern technology. 90% of the faxes i repair have been victims of lightning strikes.. apart from that they pretty much run forever.

We still have clients that use impact printers also

IIRC they are also generally easier to use, and give instant notification of messages received, unlike computer/printer/scanner setups.
It's also more secure than a computer setup, in that I've never heard of a Fax machine being compromised (and data stolen), due to an exploit in how it handles incoming messages

From what I've read they still rule the roost in Japan and China to an extent, because it's still a pain in the neck to fill in forms on computers there due to the limits of the software, so quite often they'll fill the forms in by hand then fax them over.