Today, there are many devices available to send the printed documents to a remote location such as teleprinter, fax, internet fax etc. All these telecommunication technologies deliver the documents, images, drawings instantaneously however, each technology offers varying quality in its own format. Despite being one of the oldest technologies, fax has its own place in the sphere of telecommunitions, especially in offices, for the distinct advantages it offers. With the arrival of modern, digital fax machines and portable fax machines, fax has become an integral part of office equipment along with internet-based telecommunication systems.

 

Fax or facsimile is a system that has integrated many components into a single machine. The image scanner in a fax machine converts the printed data, photogragphs into digital format so that the modem (which is also in-built with fax machine) can transmit the data over a telephone line. The fax machine at the receiver’s end has a printer that reproduces the exact copy on a physical medium like paper.

 

The tradtional Postal mail and Telegraph are the fore-runners of all the prevailing systems that allow us to send textual data to a distant location. Except postal mail, all other systems are based on telecommuncation technologies and deliver the documents at the far end within a few minutes.

 

The Telegraph machine which was invented by Samuel Morse in early eighteen thirties paved the way for the invention of fax machines. A telegraph machine converts text into a distinct code (also known as Morse code containing dots and dashes) and transmit it over copper wires to a remote location where the message is decoded and printed by a similar device.

 

It was the Scottish inventor, Alexander Bain who invented the concept of faxing messages in 1843. During the next century, many inventors made various improvments in design and functionalities of the fax machine that led to the arrival of modern fax machines in 1970’s. Digital fax machines hit the market soon. With prices falling and functionalities increased, fax machines have become an essential part of telecommunication since 1980’s.

 

Fax machines are classified based on their capabilities. There are four Groups of fax machines. Group 1 and Group 2 fax machines transmit the data in analog format while Group 3 and Group 4 machines use digital format. After digital fax machines have become popular due to their sophicated features, both Group 1 and Group 2 fax machines have become outdated and no longer manufactured.

 

Based on the fax devices, the capabilities of fax machines also differ. Class 1 and Class 4 fax modems require part of work to be done by a software or a computer they are attached with while Class 3 fax machines are highly sophisticated and can send faxes to remote location themselves.

The data transmission rate and compression methods used also differ in fax machines. For instance, the fastest (QAM) modulation method enables the fax machines to transmit data at 33600 bit/s. The compressions methods like Modified Huffman and Modified READ reduce the size of information to be sent thus enabling faster transmission of data.