# Have you sent or received a fax in the past four weeks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2013, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574 "2013-07-26T10:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/41 "2013-07-26T17:44:25Z")
We deal with Personal Health Information, and a fax is more secure than email. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/42 "2013-07-26T17:48:33Z")
I received one fax about a year ago from my bank. I sent one fax about two years ago, from a scanner to a fax number at Revenue Canada. Apart from that I don’t think I’ve touched a fax in maybe 17 years, and I used to send and receive a lot of faxes. It seemed like overnight everyone switched to email and scanners. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/43 "2013-07-26T17:59:55Z")
Yes. I work for a small market research company. We primarily use it for two things: 1. Getting signed proposals back from clients. Some of them scan the signed documents, and e-mail us back a PDF, but others sign and fax. 2. Submitting receipts for expense reports. Our expense reporting system still requires us to fax in the copies. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/44 "2013-07-26T18:00:55Z")
Not even in the last decade. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/45 "2013-07-26T18:19:12Z")
Wow, I was not expecting this poll to be tied! I haven’t used faxes in the last 10 years, and I don’t think I know anybody who has. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/46 "2013-07-26T18:28:03Z")
I don’t think I’ve _ever_ sent a fax. I’ve scanned documents, and emailed them, but a fax…no. Never. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/47 "2013-07-26T18:28:59Z")
Faxes now come to me as email. But I rarely get them anymore. Vendors that I used to send fax orders to have all added or are developing online ordering systems. The ones who don’t offer online ordering are ones I’d be placing a small enough order to phone in anyway. I do still receive plenty of junk faxes offering me discounted vacations, health insurance, and loans. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/48 "2013-07-26T20:53:11Z")
Sent three in the past week. Two for medical claims and the other was a credit card authorization form with my signature for the lawn service. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/49 "2013-07-26T23:29:47Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I don’t think I’ve sent or received one in the last four years even… Quoted for Truth! (The last time someone asked for a fax, I emailed them a scanned image instead, and they were fully satisfied with that.) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/50 "2013-07-26T23:40:49Z")
I send and receive faxes all the time. I work in a law firm, and many of the government agencies we deal with have dedicated fax lines for specific purposes, but not necessarily e-mails. Also we often need to be able to prove that something was actually transmitted, which is easier via fax than via e-mail. And then we have lots of clients who aren’t internet-savvy, but they can certainly go to OfficeMax or wherever and have them fax us documents. So I send and receive faxes at least a few times a week most weeks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/51 "2013-07-26T23:46:01Z")
I used to have an eFax account for the 2 or 3 times a year someone would need me to fax something (I run my own business), but I haven’t needed to fax for about two years now, so I dropped it. Everyone I’ve dealt with recently is fine with scan and email, and I do scan and email documents throughout the year, from signed certificates of insurance to hold harmless agreements to waivers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/52 "2013-07-27T02:58:32Z")
I had to vote “yes”, but I’m not happy about it. My industry is old - not in that the technology is that old, but the people working in it are old. It’s infuriating. Some of them still like faxes, because “THAT’S THE WAY WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT!” Never mind that faxes are shit quality, are slow to send, can’t easily be copy/pasted, etc. Plus like every copier can scan these days. Hell, even a photograph by a smartphone has better quality, and can be e-mailed and therefore more easily saved. I hate the fax so much. I have to have a fax number on my business card, and that alone makes me angry. I might as well just specify “telegraph only”. Things are moving in the right direction, and people are getting away from this fax nonsense, but not less than a month ago I had to deal with an _ancient_ potential customer that had a fax number, but no e-mail: “I’VE JUST NEVER SEEN THE POINT OF EMAIL” /urge to kill…rising ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/53 "2013-07-27T04:15:20Z")
It’s not that often, but I just happened to get my MRI referral from my doctor via fax today. Before that I got a copy of my bloodwork from her in March, and then for work I have to occasionally send a fax of either my doctor’s license or our Tax Exemption Letter for purchases. I can send those via email, but some places prefer faxes still. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/54 "2013-07-27T08:42:44Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Things are moving in the right direction, and people are getting away from this fax nonsense, but not less than a month ago I had to deal with an _ancient_ potential customer that had a fax number, but no e-mail: “I’VE JUST NEVER SEEN THE POINT OF EMAIL” Funny that an “ancient” person said this. I’ve heard pretty much the same thing from younger people (teenagers and college students) … “I never check my email. I use texting and Facebook for everything.” I used to work at a university and they had problems with students never checking their personal email accounts, so they weren’t getting important information and were screwing up the university’s efforts to phase out paper bills and so forth. To them, email was something old people do. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/55 "2013-07-27T12:24:53Z")
Home fax was a godsend while buying a new property out of state. I’ll go a while and not use it and think we should get rid of it, and then something crops up and I’ll use it multiple times a day for a while. Love the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/56 "2013-07-27T13:47:50Z")
Maybe three or four years ago for me. Car insurance claim. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/57 "2013-07-27T13:57:37Z")
I haven’t, but was wishing to heck I could last Tuesday. Guy had written a report which I desperately needed, and then rushed out of town to support his wife through her Fathers funeral. He only left behind the hard copy, and his PA didn’t have a scanner. The poor PA had to re-type 7 pages, which turned out to be just as well as the original was muddy with typos. That’s life dealing with old-school geniuses though. At a certain point they decide they’ve learned all the technology they need, and will waste no more brainspace on the newest contraptions. If you want the benefit of their expertise, you’ll just have to find a way to work around it. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/58 "2013-07-27T14:39:01Z")
Most recent FAX received: 6/6/13 I get my FAXes emailed to me as TIFF files (eFax). It had been so long I took 10 minutes staring at the email trying to remember how to see the actual FAX. The one before that was 3/14/12 As for sending… hmm, yeah, I had to send a FAX some time back in February or March: “Oh yeesh, I need a land line. Not the phone itself, the cord. Let me get my old laptop, it has a _modem_, the new one doesn’t. Can I unplug this from your answering machine? This will do…” \*\* snaps phone cord into side of computer \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/59 "2013-07-27T15:13:48Z")
Nope. I just bought a new all-in-one printer without a fax option, since nowadays I scan and email rather than fax. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574/60 "2013-07-27T17:39:51Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > I haven’t had anything to do with a fax or a fax machine in months, probably years, and yet I’m entirely gobsmacked by the results. More than 50% of people polled have had dealings with fax machines in the last 4 weeks? Astounding. I think it’s one of those things which will vary a lot by country and field. A lot of the stuff that’s been mentioned wouldn’t even require any data to be “sent” in countries with a centralized healthcare system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-sent-or-received-a-fax-in-the-past-four-weeks/664574.md?page=4)