There was a time when a fax machine was an essential piece of office equipment.

Times, though, have changed and how businesses communicate with each other has changed dramatically as a result of advances in technology and an increase in the demand for a more reliable, convenient and practical ways to share information.

The fax machine is now is an archaic piece of tech, illustrated recently in the sporting world when a fax machine produced a smudge on leading golfer Luke Donald’s scorecard during the opening round of the Masters that almost led to him being disqualified before the error was spotted.

This high-profile blunder fortunately was resolved, but it’s hard to see how the traditional fax machine is not about to be phased out of the coming years. Before we look at why the fax machine may soon be a thing of the past, here’s a quick history lesson…

The history of the fax machine

1843. Alexander Bain, a Scottish inventor, successfully filed for a patent for what essentially was the first fax machine.

1860. The Pantelegraph, the brainchild of Italian physicist Giovanni Caselli, is used to send the first fax, or Pantelegram, from Paris to Amiens in northern France, which is a distance of roughly 75 miles away.

1902. German Arthur Korn launched the photoelectric system, the first practical fax machine.

1907. Edouard Belin invented the Belinograph, which allowed photos and news to be sent and later images by radio waves .

1924. A picture of US President Calvin Coolidge is transmitted from New York to London via a wireless photoradiogram invented by Richard Ranger. The first colour fax was also sent in the same year by theAmerican Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T).

1955. The first radio fax tranmission takes place across America.

1962. The first photograph is sent via satellite fax from America to Puerto Rico.

1966. The Magnafax Telecopier is released in what marks a shift towards more affordable and readily available fax machines.

1970s. Japanese manufacturers increase interest in the fax machine around the world by bringing out cheaper, faster and smaller models.

What does the future, then, have in store for the fax machine? Well, it doesn’t look good, especially when our Fax-To-Email service removes the need for businesses to waste resources on having a traditional fax machine in the first place.

No longer does a company have to buy a fax machine, fork out for line rental, set aside valuable office space to store it, pay for replacement paper and toner and spend time scanning important documents.

A fax-to-email number means you’ll receive a fax in email format, meaning you can access the information quickly and easily from any web-enabled device. It’s a safe, secure and environmentally-friendly way of keeping in touch with the people that matter to your business.

So, go on, it’s time to bid farewell to your fax machine and move with the times!

Photo courtesy of FeatheredTar on Flickr.