Fax machine is an electronic device that sends and receives written words and pictures over the telephone network. The word fax comes from the word facsimile << fak SIHM uh lee >>, which means an exact copy or likeness. A fax machine resembles a small copying machine but is equipped with a telephone or connected to one. Most modern fax machines can fit on a desktop.
Fax machines enable people throughout the world to exchange business documents and other printed material in seconds. The cost of sending a fax is based on telephone rates. Cheaper, faster Internet communication methods have replaced fax machines for many purposes.
How a fax machine works.
Both the sender and the receiver must have a fax machine. The sender inserts the document into a document feeder and dials the telephone number of the fax machine to which the message is being sent. Once the telephone connection is made, a light-sensitive device scans each page and creates an electric signal corresponding to the light and dark spots on the page. This signal is coded and sent over telephone lines to the receiving fax machine. That machine uses the signal to create an exact duplicate of the original page, and prints it out.
Multifunction fax machines.
Many fax machines can make photocopies, scan documents into a computer, or print computer documents. Fax machines designed for home use may also offer telephone and telephone answering machine features.
Some fax machines can send faxes directly from a connected computer’s files, without printing them first. A computer can also send and receive faxes if it is equipped with a special electronic circuit board called a fax board.
History.
The first primitive fax machine was built in 1842 by Alexander Bain, a Scottish physicist. Many inventors in Europe and the United States worked on facsimile devices in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In the 1930’s, news services began using fax machines to transmit photographs. This method of sending pictures was referred to by the trade name Wirephoto or the generic term telephoto. Fax machines became increasingly popular in business in the 1980’s after manufacturers developed machines that were smaller, cheaper, and faster.
In the past, fax machines printed onto heat-sensitive paper. The paper tended to curl and fade, and it was hard to read and write on. Most modern machines print onto ordinary paper. Modern fax machines can transmit a page in a few seconds. Some fax machines can store hundreds of documents in memory and transmit them to 100 or more destinations at specified times.
