In a world where technology is constantly evolving, it’s often difficult to keep up with the latest and greatest methods of communication. As time passes, many business tools pass into obsolescence, while others emerge as the new leading methods of transferring information.

One of the most useful methods of transferring documents over long distances was the fax machine. The facsimile machine quickly became one of the most popular methods of transferring documents and images over long distances. Before the introduction of e-mail on a mainstream scale, the facsimile machine allowed users to send pages of data that could have taken days or weeks to travel via regular mail. While e-mail has gone a long way to ease long-distance communication, there is still a vast market in which the fully integrated facsimile machine can be used in place of e-mail. Many of the things that made these machines popular in the last century are still valid in today’s office climate.

While many documents can be successfully sent via e-mail, there are often legal restrictions on “electronic signatures”. Many countries fail to recognize e-mailed signatures as valid and signed documents such as contracts may not be binding if sent via e-mail. Signatures that are faxed, even on legal documents, are generally recognized around the world. An added advantage inherent to the facsimile machine is that, as opposed to e-mail, images don’t need to be scanned via a separate scanner and added to a computer in order to be sent. The machine’s built in document scanner allows the transmission of handwriting, printed type, or images with equal ease – all without the need for additional external equipment.