With all the new technologies being introduced just about every day, you would think that the old technologies would completely disappear. Many people would posit that faxing would be the first to go, but that’s simply not the case. Between consistent needs in some industries and a technological facelift, faxing does not appear to be going away anytime soon, so we still have to find ways to do the job, at least occasionally.
First and foremost, signatures on faxed documents are generally accepted as originals. The laws remain in a state of flux, but faxing signed financial and business documents is generally legal. Many businesses and other entities still require a traditionally-signed document to ensure that they are legally-protected.
Next, many government offices accept only original forms, but they consider faxed versions to qualify as originals. Don’t be fooled by your ability to electronically submit tax returns. At this point, the technical advances at the IRS are more of an exception than a rule.
On a similar note, certain industries still rely heavily on their fax machines. You have probably noticed that your doctor’s office now enters everything into a computer. Unfortunately, the systems are not standard across the industry. If they want to communicate with another medical office or hospital, they often need to print out the data and transmit it via fax.
Finally, less-advanced countries continue to use faxing as a valued means for getting communications out quickly. Even Japan’s high-tech population still needs to communicate with the graphically-based Kanji language. While they have developed Kanji keyboards, faxing hand-written documents is easier, especially considering the country’s aging population
You may go on for years without ever sending or receiving a single fax, but there is no need to fret when the need suddenly arises. These days, you can even do it from your phone!
