# Is there still a place for fax machines in the office ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486 "2012-08-24T13:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/21 "2012-08-24T18:26:59Z")
There’s a fax machine here, but I can’t tell you the last time I heard a fax come through. I’ve actually used it once or twice in the last five years because I was executing some documents with the bank or similar institution and they required my signature via fax. No scanning and emailing would do. I think that’s just silly, but I’m glad there’s at least a machine here or I’d have to leave work to hand-deliver documents like that in person. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/22 "2012-08-24T18:49:27Z")
Still need the fax. I work at a school and students need to fax documents - not all our students have a scanner (or even the internet) at home, but can go to the local Kinko’s and pay a small fee to fax those 4-25 pages. Plus, although this might come as a surprise, many people are not all that computer savvy and haven’t a clue how to sign, scan, create a file and send an attachment in an email. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/23 "2012-08-24T19:07:36Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > “Is there still a place for fax machines in the office ?” > > What about over there by the printer? > > But back when I was writing and submitting government grant applications, there would be many instances when they would insist I send them signatures via fax. Even when it would be far easier to scan and e-mail, they’d insist on being faxed. Stupid? Yes - but we had to keep a fax machine in the office for that reason. Yep, this. This exactly, for government work. The fax machines \ are in use 24/7, as multiple agencies interact with each other. Maybe it’s easier to spoof an email than to spoof a known government fax number? I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/24 "2012-08-24T20:30:06Z")
Faxes are still used in mortgage lending, probaby because there’s so much need for borrowers to send in copies of tax returns, paychecks, etc. and ironically, if you have the ability to scan something, you’re probably using an all-in-one printer that also faxes. Faxing is often easier than scanning - just yesterday, I needed to send a receipt to an insurance company. Rather than just being able to pop a document into my printer’s feeder, dialing a number and hitting Send, I had to put the document on the glass, open the image scanning application, select what kind of document (photo/text/etc) preview it, name it, scan it, save it, and quit the scanning application. Then, I had to open an email to them and attach the file. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/25 "2012-08-24T20:48:06Z")
Also, faxes have “message sent” verifications. These can be quite important when dealing with timely paperwork that someone says ‘they didn’t get in time’. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/26 "2012-08-24T23:59:19Z")
Also it can be handy if for some reason either the sender’s or receiver’s email is down. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/27 "2012-08-25T00:08:16Z")
The Feds don’t allow email delivery for real estate transactions until: The recipient has received a consent form by email, which he has printed, signed, scanned and returned _by email._ He cannot return it by fax or mail. This is to prove that he can perform this “complex” process, which, according to the Feds, isn’t as simple as feeding a fax machine. No such procedure is needed to deliver by fax. As a result, I have clients who must get legal documents by fax, not email. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/28 "2012-08-25T04:15:38Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Also, faxes have “message sent” verifications. These can be quite important when dealing with timely paperwork that someone says ‘they didn’t get in time’. That’s a good point - I forgot to mention it. On e-mail, even if I ask for a “read receipt” I sometimes get a message saying the system can’t provide a receipt. I always can get a delivery confirmation from the fax machine, which the courts recognise as proof of service. Depending on the legal document, it can be crucial to have that proof of service at a certain time and date. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/29 "2012-08-25T04:33:08Z")
We only use ours for situations where vendors or clients can’t get it together to send PDF images of documents. Otherwise we can live without faxes. I think fax technology is 3 years away from being obsolete. Hopefully sooner. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/30 "2012-08-25T09:59:58Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Quite often the only contact information I am given for where to send a document is a fax number, not an email address. Especially when I’m sending a document to a faceless corporatioin (e.g. an insurance company) rather than a particular person. I work at a faceless corporation. We are open 24/7, and we recieve a lot of messages addressed to whoever happens to be on duty at the moment. I rarely need to have anything addressed to me personally. I look at whatever comes over the fax machine. If I can take care of it, I do. If not, I send it to the person who can. I don’t even have a company e-mail account. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/31 "2012-08-25T10:58:03Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That’s a good point - I forgot to mention it. On e-mail, even if I ask for a “read receipt” I sometimes get a message saying the system can’t provide a receipt. I always can get a delivery confirmation from the fax machine, which the courts recognise as proof of service. Depending on the legal document, it can be crucial to have that proof of service at a certain time and date. And not all recipients will tell their e-mail software to send those messages. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/32 "2012-08-26T00:33:57Z")
Once a month I have to fax our drugstore to prepare the next month’s prescriptions. Yes, I could call them, but sometimes our prescriptions vary slightly and I don’t trust a phone call. They don’t have email, they say. Once a year, my wife and I have annual checkups and our doctor sends blood and urine samples to a lab. The lab faxes them the results and they fax a copy to us. I can’t recall the last time we used it for anything else than those two. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/33 "2012-08-26T00:42:27Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > in some cases a signed document may only be valid as a fax, not as email. That is just an arbitrary policy, with no good reason other than, “that the way we have always done it”. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/34 "2012-08-26T00:58:22Z")
My various doctors all fax prescriptions to pharmacies. I’m guessing they don’t want to call because of the automated phone answering hassle. It’s likely they’ll all switch to standardized email software within the next couple of years. I order pet medications online, and if they need a new prescription, they fax the vet. ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/35 "2012-08-26T01:12:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > there are enough _other_ offices that you still have to do business with… That’s why my wife’s company has a FAX machine. They have several customer organizations that send their project proposals to their bidders via FAX and expect signed bids to come back the same way. Of course her company **could** get all prissy and inform the customer that they don’t do business in such an archaic manner – and then watch their competition get the contracts instead of them. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/36 "2012-08-26T02:02:37Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > Of course her company **could** get all prissy and inform the customer that they don’t do business in such an archaic manner – and then watch their competition get the contracts instead of them. No doubt there are still companies using the telegraph for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/37 "2012-08-26T03:10:59Z")
I use a fax machine several times a day, every day, to hound doctors’ offices for medical records. I can’t send the requests via email due to HIIPAA. ---
**Author:** ![highrollinwooded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@highrollinwooded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highrollinwooded)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486/38 "2012-08-26T10:12:45Z")
I work at a major retailer, and we use a fax multiple times/day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-still-a-place-for-fax-machines-in-the-office/632486.md?page=1)