what is a fax

A fax, short for facsimile, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material, including text or images, normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device. Faxes are often used when documents must be sent fast and securely, and they are usually sent to a fax machine that scans the document and transmits it over a telephone line or the internet. The once ubiquitous fax machine has begun to disappear from small office and home office environments, and has been replaced by fax servers and other computerized systems capable of receiving and storing incoming faxes electronically, and then routing them to users on paper or via email. Personal computers have also long been able to handle incoming and outgoing faxes using analog modems or ISDN, eliminating the need for a stand-alone fax machine. Another alternative to a physical fax machine is to make use of computer software which allows people to send and receive faxes using their own computers, utilizing fax servers and unified messaging.