Does anyone use a fax machine?

[jamesray50]

I am going to purchase a new printer that is compatible with my laptop and it will be a 4 in 1 printer. But I am wondering if anyone uses faxes anymore? I can send just about anything I need to by email, but sometimes people do ask for something by fax, for example the IRS. I'm just wondering if I should invest in a separate phone line for the fax. I live less than a mile from the UPS store if I need to fax something, but it would be an inconvenience if I am on the phone with the IRS and needed to fax it immediately.

[billbenson]

I need it as company's still frequently use fax's for purchase orders and tax documents. I have a seperate fax line as it appears more professional and my incoming fax's can be important. Also its only an extra $10 with my ISP.

In your case, however, I wouldn't think a dedicated line is necessary as I believe you are presenting yourself as a one person show and probably don't use the phone that much. I'd still get a fax if you are getting a new printer.

[Steve B]

I've never had a fax machine at home. I am often asked if I can fax something to someone. My response is always, no but I can scan it and e-mail it to you - there answer is almost ALWAYS - "Oh, that's even better".

On the flip side, if people want to fax ME something, I ask them if they can scan it and e-mail it since I don't have a fax machine. This has probably happened 10 times in the last 4 years. Usually it's not a problem. I think twice it forced the person to learn how to use the scanner that they already had but didn't use before. And, I think once, they had to fax it to my UPS Store.

I think you are VERY safe to not have a fax machine and, if anything, it will make you look a bit more professional. Fax machines are early 90's technology (at least that's the first time I used one). I remember that it blew me away to think that a document could be sent over the telphone lines!

[Patrysha]

I have a scanner and send faxes through my computer when I need to. If I have to rec'v I give them the # of the print shop...

[vangogh]

I don't send or receive a lot of faxes, but I did get a printer with fax capability. Occasionally a company will want to send me a fax or have me send one to them. Usually it's to have a signed contract of some time. It doesn't come up a lot, but it's convenient to have a fax machine for those occasional times when it's needed. It doesn't really cost much more to get a 4 in 1 printer as it does to get a 3 in 1 printer so it was an easy choice to get the 4 in 1.

Do I use the fax capabilities a lot? Not at all, but it's nice to have those capabilities when I do.

[Steve B]

If you have a scanner - you can take care of signed documents better than a fax. This way the sender and recipient can each keep an electronic copy of the document with the signature if they want.

[Harold Mansfield]

As long as you have a printer and scanner you can send faxes using any one of many online services. Personally I use Pam Fax: Send and receive faxes easily with PamFax - PamFax (http://www.pamfax.biz/en/) when I absolutely need to send a fax.
Sign up, throw some money in your account...I think I put $10 in mine and still have $9.80 in it. And you get a fax number as well for incoming faxes if you need it, which you just print out on your printer.\

Otherwise, any computer document that can be faxed, can be emailed as an attachment.
Even if you need to sign something and you can't change the document on your computer or add a digital signature, just print it out, sign it, scan it, and email it back.

I don't have a dedicated fax machine and every time I think about adding a fax line, I just don't see the need.

[billbenson]

If you have a scanner - you can take care of signed documents better than a fax. This way the sender and recipient can each keep an electronic copy of the document with the signature if they want.

Not all companies will accept emailed pdf's instead of a FAX. In my case customers need W-9's. Some won't accept it via a scan. I doubt Jo Ellen will have that situation often, but like Vangogh said. The price of a 3 in 1 and 4 in 1 are about the same so its really a moot point.

[mattbeck]

We don't have a fax line, or even a physical voice line to the office for our small company. We use cellphones for everything.

Our incoming number is a Google Voice number, and we use electronic faxes the 1-2 times per year it comes up where we can't email over the documents we need.

[huggytree]

i prefer a fax!

i get an instant hard copy, i dont delete the e-mail by accident (since i get 50+ emails a day)

when a customer asks for e-mail bids i dont like it...i must have a signed fax copy before can begin the work

bottom line...id rather look at a pile of papers at the end of the day than look through e-mails and print what i need....fax's save me time

i could care less about the paper or ink

most of the people on this site are computer guys....id expect all of you to dislike the fax....in the non-computer world i think people still prefer the fax atleast 50/50

[Harold Mansfield]

Not all companies will accept emailed pdf's instead of a FAX. In my case customers need W-9's. Some won't accept it via a scan. .

I didn't know that. I guess I haven't had it come up yet.

We don't have a fax line, or even a physical voice line to the office for our small company. We use cellphones for everything.

Our incoming number is a Google Voice number,
Pretty much how I roll too. 2 mobile lines. Skype. Email.
I will video conference if the client requests it though.


most of the people on this site are computer guys....id expect all of you to dislike the fax....
It's not that I dislike the fax per se', I just don't want the paper, unless I need a hard copy to take with me somewhere.

[billbenson]

i prefer a fax!

i get an instant hard copy, i dont delete the e-mail by accident (since i get 50+ emails a day)

when a customer asks for e-mail bids i dont like it...i must have a signed fax copy before can begin the work

bottom line...id rather look at a pile of papers at the end of the day than look through e-mails and print what i need....fax's save me time

i could care less about the paper or ink

most of the people on this site are computer guys....id expect all of you to dislike the fax....in the non-computer world i think people still prefer the fax atleast 50/50

If you are deleting things you shouldn't, thats simply mismanagement. Its no different than throwing away a paper document and finding you need it in two years.

I doubt you need a fax for a legal contract but that's something for a lawyer. David Staub did have a post a while back on the subject which indicated an email can be a legal contract (correct me if I'm wrong David).

Misfiled paper documents can be extremely difficult to find. A search on a computer is fast and easy.

Do you really want your office full of filing cabinets?

FAX is a dying technology. Its still being used which is why I need it. When I send a fax I also send the same info in an email so I have a record of it. But faxes are slowly dying and are dead in a lot of industries.

[Steve B]

I had some of the same thoughts. It sure is a lot easier for me to lose a piece of paper than an e-mail. And, assuming it's not been deleted - it gets automatically backed up for me via Mozy and is easy to find via using search terms. Even if it does get accidentally deleted, it stays in my deleted folder until I take the extra step to get rid of it again.

I can't imagine why someone wouldn't accept a .pdf versus a fax. I've never had it happen either. It would seem that either of them can be manipulated to the same degree. The few times someone seemed to prefer fax over e-mail in the last several years were from people that reluctantly admitted they didn't know how to use their scanner.

It's no big deal, because I don't think it costs anymore for the exta feature. My point was that just because someone asks you to fax them something doesn't mean they wouldn't also scan/e-mail also. In about 97% of the times I've asked it was no problem and they often said they actually prefered e-mails anyway.

[jamesray50]

Is there a difference between a signature on a fax and a signature on an document received by email? I just don't want to waste the monthly fee for a separate fax line when I might only need to fax a few times a year. I prefer scanning and email myself. But, like I said, not eveyone you deal with does.

[jsingerston]

I quit using a fax machine several years ago and I am glad that I did. I only need a fax machine maybe twice a year. Usually there is a way around it just by explaining that you don't have a fax anymore. I got sick of the fax spam. I had a laser fax machine plus a dedicated fax line that was costing me hundreds per year. I realized that each fax I was sending out and each legit fax I was receiving was costing me more than $100. Doh! Once I realized this it became a no brainer to drop the fax completely. As far as I am concerned it is outdated technology that has been mostly replaced with computer software and email.

[vangogh]

I only need to use the fax part of my 4 in 1 a couple of times a year. I use my home number for it so there's no dedicated fax line. Over the last few years I've transitioned to using my cell phone for most all calls. I wanted to keep my home number though since I've had it for a long time and there are some people (including one person in this thread) who still use it.

I've removed most all services from the home number so it's not costing much. My phone company is also my ISP and I think I also save a few dollars on my DirecTV by having the home phone number. It only costs me a few dollars a month to keep that line active and I do use it for more than faxes. I answer the phone like usual and if I hear a fax tone on the other end I just leave the receiver off the hook until the fax comes through and then hang up.

It's hardly a preferred means of communication, but it really costs next to nothing to have so why not have it for those one or two times where it is necessary?

[KristineS]

Is there a difference between a signature on a fax and a signature on an document received by email? I just don't want to waste the monthly fee for a separate fax line when I might only need to fax a few times a year. I prefer scanning and email myself. But, like I said, not eveyone you deal with does.

I'm not sure what the rules are for electronic signature. I know it can be done. Some places use a specific pin number to validate the signature. There's also no reason why someone couldn't sign a document and scan it and send it as a PDF. I don't know why that would be any different than faxing it.

[cbscreative]

It looks like we have a hot topic here. Getting back to Jo Ellen's OP, with a 4in1 printer, you'll have the faxing capability you might need, but the need will be rare. I doubt you need a dedicated fax line. Like vangogh indicated above, when you receive a call that's a fax, you just hang up and the fax will come through. You may have to look for a setting on your printer to make that work, but the setting will be there.

Personally, I have the same setup. I rarely use a fax, but I do use it, probably about the 10 times a year or so that others here have stated. I've found that insurance companies and financial institutions often still prefer (or even require) a fax. For Jo Ellen, that alone is a good reason to have faxing ability.

[vangogh]

when you receive a call that's a fax, you just hang up and the fax will come through.

I actually have to leave the phone off the hook. If I hang up it disconnects the call. I just put the phone down and go back to what I was doing for a minute until the fax comes through. Not a big deal, though it would be nice to be able to hang up right away.

[Steve B]

VG - I like having my own private Hot Line to my web guy! It makes me feel special.

[vangogh]

Funny, I was hoping you'd catch that.

[huggytree]

If you are deleting things you shouldn't, thats simply mismanagement. Its no different than throwing away a paper document and finding you need it in two years.

I doubt you need a fax for a legal contract but that's something for a lawyer. David Staub did have a post a while back on the subject which indicated an email can be a legal contract (correct me if I'm wrong David).

Misfiled paper documents can be extremely difficult to find. A search on a computer is fast and easy.

Do you really want your office full of filing cabinets?

FAX is a dying technology. Its still being used which is why I need it. When I send a fax I also send the same info in an email so I have a record of it. But faxes are slowly dying and are dead in a lot of industries.

i delete e-mails in bulk...if i dont know the name its gone....i delete them 12 at a time...its rare, but i have deleted the wrong ones before...

when i have a hard copy i file it or trash it...it takes me 1 seconds to look-see...it takes longer than that to read and look over an email...fax is definately faster...i dont save e-mail files....i have file boxes and everything has its place...ill bet i can look up info faster in those files than any of you could on the computer (if you include turning it on and starting it up)

[Steve B]

I'll take that challenge - but it has to be a real life scenario. I leave my computer running 24/7 - so I wouldn't need the extra time to turn it on. You'll have to throw in a couple of real life searches where you don't have complete information.

[craigb]

We use a fax machine quite often in the office where I am. Many of the temp workers use it to send in their time sheets as well as sending work orders to shops all over the country. It is a dying technology I agree but there are still pockets of valid applications in which it can be utilized.

[vangogh]

there are still pockets of valid applications in which it can be utilized.

Which is why for the time being I still have one. It's never been my favorite technology. I disliked fax machines since the first time I saw them, but as long as some businesses still use them and even more potentially use them to send me something, I'll keep the fax.

[KristineS]

We still use a fax machine in our office too because some of our customers aren't really up to date with technology and insist on handwriting orders and faxing them in. You have to adapt to your customer's comfort level, which means you often have to be high tech and low tech at the same time.

[cbscreative]

I disliked fax machines since the first time I saw them

That's interesting, why didn't you like them? Back in the late 80's and early 90's, they certainly made office life easier. Or did you have shares in FedEx stock at the time?

[Steve B]

I thought the same thing Steve. When I first heard what a fax machine could do - I really didn't beleive it, I had to see it for myself. I remember the plant manager's secretary was the only one that could have one (it was 1991). If we had something REALLY important, we might be able to use it.

[vangogh]

Mostly it's that they aren't all that intuitive to use and when they first arrived it wasn't obvious if your fax arrived at it's destination. Today's fax machines will tell you it was received on the other end, but if memory serves they didn't do this originally. Even if your fax arrived at the other machine you never really knew if the person you sent it to ever received it. Especially in a big office where multiple people shared one machine how could you know the fax made it to the right person's desk? Usually it meant one or more follow up calls to make sure your fax reached it's destination. Much of the time the information on the fax could have been just as easily communicated via a phone call, which you were probably making later to check if the fax arrived so why bother with the fax in the first place?

They certainly had and have their uses, but the above was my personal experience based on the faxes I personally had to send. Not to mention early on they were more expensive meaning I didn't own one. Sending a fax when not working meant a trip to Kinkos or similar.

I realize there are no guarantees with snail mail or email either, but with both of those I have more confidence what I send will arrive where it's supposed to. At the very least it eliminates the question of whether or not the fax makes it from the machine to the right desk. I have a lot more confidence now that a fax will arrive where it's supposed to, but even as recently as last summer I had to send one out about a dozen times over a month because what I sent never made it from machine to desk.

[Steve B]

As luck would have it, my 6 year old printer died today. I ran out and got a new one within the hour and it happens to have fax capability. When it got to that part of the set-up, I cancelled out and, thefore, still don't have fax capability.

BTW - I did Zero research (very unlike me) because I needed one so quickly. I asked the guy at Staples for his advice and I ended up with a HP 8500A Plus. The "Plus" means it has a 14" scanning bed (which I needed for some legal size papers that I scan every week). I think it was $229 after a $50 coupon that they had just e-mailed to me. Anybody have this or a similar HP printer? I hope it lasts at least 4 or 5 years. So far, so good. It's wireless and that will free up some space on my desk!

[Harold Mansfield]

As luck would have it, my 6 year old printer died today. I ran out and got a new one within the hour and it happens to have fax capability. When it got to that part of the set-up, I cancelled out and, thefore, still don't have fax capability.

BTW - I did Zero research (very unlike me) because I needed one so quickly. I asked the guy at Staples for his advice and I ended up with a HP 8500A Plus. The "Plus" means it has a 14" scanning bed (which I needed for some legal size papers that I scan every week). I think it was $229 after a $50 coupon that they had just e-mailed to me. Anybody have this or a similar HP printer? I hope it lasts at least 4 or 5 years. So far, so good. It's wireless and that will free up some space on my desk!

I have a similar Epson, but my Mom has that one and she is very happy with it.

[jamesray50]

Mostly it's that they aren't all that intuitive to use and when they first were used it wasn't obvious if your fax arrived at it's destination. Today's fax machines will tell you it was received on the other end, but if memory serves they didn't do this originally. Even if your fax arrived at the other machine you never really knew if the person you sent it to ever received it. Especially in a big office where multiple people shared one machine how could you know the fax made it to the right person's desk? Usually it meant one or more follow up calls to make sure your fax reached it's destination. Much of the time the information on the fax could have been just as easily communicated via a phone call, which you were probably making later to check if the fax arrived so why bother with the fax in the first place?

They certainly had and have their uses, but the above was my personal experience based on the faxes I personally had to send. Not to mention early on they were more expensive meaning I didn't own one. Sending a fax when not working meant a trip to Kinkos or similar.

I realize there are no guarantees with snail mail or email either, but with both of those I have more confidence what I send will arrive where it's supposed to. At the very least it eliminates the question of whether or not the fax makes it from the machine to the right desk. I have a lot more confidence now that a fax will arrive where it's supposed to, but even as recently as last summer I had to send one out about a dozen times over a month because what I sent never made it from machine to desk.

Oh, and remember the paper you had to use. The shiny slick stuff. Not good for long term storage, and bad for curling, especially if you got the end of the roll.

[billbenson]

Steve B, I've had good luck with HP printers as long as you don't go for the cheapest ones. The cheap ones use cheap plastic parts that eventually break. My experience has been that is more true with the ink jets as well as they have more moving parts. Not having looked at the reviews, I suspect you bought a decent printer.

I have a HP color 4 in 1 laser printer that I bought two years ago. Its solid and works great. I regret buying the color though. I bought color for my wife to print photos. She used to do that a lot, but not much anymore and the color cartridges are real expensive. Having said that, I just printed a color photo of a desert landscape and the quality is pretty amazing, at least to my eyes.

[vangogh]

Oh, and remember the paper you had to use. The shiny slick stuff.

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. It felt very odd in your hands too. It felt very disposable like you were supposed to read the fax and then instantly throw it away.

Seve I have an HP printer. Not the same model. It's been working for me for about 4 years now I think. I don't use it a lot though and don't put a lot of wear and tear on it.

[KristineS]

Oh, I remember the shiny, curly paper. I hated that stuff. Never understood why that was used.

[954SEO]

I don't know if this was mentioned, but my companies have been using fax-to-email/email-to-fax services for the past few years. They are pretty convenient, you don't HAVE to print every document, and it keeps your emails archived nicely :)

Also, there are online email to fax services that you can use for free. Some print out an extra page of advertising with your fax, but its not a huge inconvenience if you dont fax that often.

[cbscreative]

As luck would have it, my 6 year old printer died today. I ran out and got a new one within the hour and it happens to have fax capability. When it got to that part of the set-up, I cancelled out and, thefore, still don't have fax capability.

BTW - I did Zero research (very unlike me) because I needed one so quickly. I asked the guy at Staples for his advice and I ended up with a HP 8500A Plus. The "Plus" means it has a 14" scanning bed (which I needed for some legal size papers that I scan every week). I think it was $229 after a $50 coupon that they had just e-mailed to me. Anybody have this or a similar HP printer? I hope it lasts at least 4 or 5 years. So far, so good. It's wireless and that will free up some space on my desk!

I'm not familiar with that model, but I think you should be fine with it. One thing HP is really good at is their printers. I gravitated away from HP for several years because I hated their tri-color cartridges, and to my knowledge, they didn't offer anything with individual color cartridges for many years.

I don't know exactly how long I've had my current printer, but it's been a few years and it's my first HP in while prior to that. I got it very similar to the way you did, as a recommendation from a sales person at Office Max. I've been very pleased and never had any problems with it. I paid about the same as you too. As I recall, it was a $300 printer and was on sale at the time plus I seem to recall I had an additional discount voucher. When you buy the higher end printers, they do last a lot longer and perform better than the economy models.

Based on your description, I'm guessing the printer you bought is probably like a next generation to the one I have. I'd be surprised if you end up having any regrets.

Being new, I'm guessing the wireless is the "802.11n". That should be plenty fast for scanning. The n wasn't out yet when I got mine (I have 802.11g and Bluetooth) so there's a significant difference on scanning speed between my computer which is connected directly with the USB and the others in the house using the wireless. Fortunately, the others don't do much scanning. I doubt that will be an issue for you, but I mention it just in case.

[Steve B]

This HP does have individual cartidges (a total of 4 including the black). It is much faster than my older HP. I like the 14" glass scanning bed and the wireless feature.