While some people might think of the fax machine as "outdated," they may only consider its rise to prominence in the 1980s. But faxing is a much more storied technology. If you’ve ever wondered, “When did fax machines become popular?” you’ll be interested to hear that according to TMCnet contributor Mae Kowalke, fax capabilities have been around in some capacity since the 1800s!
"What we know as the fax machine was first invented by Alexander Bain, a Scottish clockmaker in London who already was a well-known inventor at the time," Kowalke wrote. "On May 27, 1843, Bain applied for a patent for a 'chemical telegram' that used the newly popularized telegraph as its foundation and added electromagnetic pendulums like a clock to scan the image and puncture a chemically treated paper with lines and tics. This then could be interpreted by a telegraph operator."
This says a lot about fax's ability to endure as a platform. It has, over the course of time, adapted in numerous ways and figured out how to be viable. In modern times, this is being achieved thanks to the cloud. Cloud-based faxing is both the present and the future of faxing, and more organizations are realizing just how vital this connection is to have in their offices.
Aging endpoints do few favors
While the concept behind faxing is considered just as valuable as ever, some of the hardware that has traditionally facilitated it has not translated well in the time of smartphones. Mobility is one of the most important things for a business to consider, and as a result many people tend to treat faxing as if it were a disease.
But fax technology still has inherent value. It has been confirmed time and again that email attachments, however convenient they may be, are not a secure method for document transmission. Weak-to-nonexistent encryption and easily-exploited systems are a sad reality for email – one that faxing does not have to be concerned about.
"The three primary protocols used to send and receive email are vulnerable to eavesdropping," wrote Business 2 Community contributor Bob Janacek. "Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP), the worldwide standard for email transmission, is typically implemented without encryption. Likewise, Post Office Protocol (POP) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), the two standards for retrieving email from remote servers, are also typically implemented without encryption."
This is why faxing needs to be in place for offices of all kinds. But rather than force employees to become slaves to those large, boxy machines of yesteryear, give cloud-based fax a try.
Another page in history
There have been many iterations of fax technology since its first appearance in the 1800s. According to Kowalke, innovations haven't stopped in this area – and thanks to the cloud, they are able to continue.
"The fax has been around longer than most people realize – and it is still growing, evolving, and being used every day by millions of businesses and consumers," Kowalke wrote.
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