If you do not want to ship the originals, fax machines are an easy, fast and more affordable way to send documents over phone lines. They are essential for sharing proofs, contracts, and other written documents. The procedure is simple: a fax machine scans every outgoing page and changes the images into a series of dark and light dots. These are then transformed into audio tones and sent through normal phone lines. The receiving fax machine interprets the tones, compiles the dots and prints out the black and white copy of the original pages.

Most fax machines transmit at a top speed of 36.6 kilobits per second (kbps) which equals a send time for a single page of about 6-10 seconds. Almost all fax machines cater for Modified Huffman (MH), a basic compression protocol. Machines that use the advanced Modified Modified Read (MMR) or Modified Read (MR) protocols are about 25% faster. These protocol works only when sending to or from same-brand model.

What are the different types of fax machines?
The main advantage of using modern fax machines over older models is that they are not dependant on thermal papers, which were waxy, curly, difficult to read and fast fading faxes. Most fax machines available today print on plain paper. The three types of fax machines are as follows.

• Inkjet fax machines though slow, produce crisp text at a low cost. The inkjet fax machines are not suitable for heavy usage, as they wear out with time and break down. They work best if you receive less than 30 faxes daily.
• Laser fax machines are built for heavier usage. They use a light emitting diode (LED) or laser printing engine. These machines are faster than inkjet fax machines and produce higher quality images with toner on plain paper. Laser printing is dependable and requires less frequent servicing, though these machines cost much more than thermal or inkjet machines. 
• Thermal transfer fax machines print on plain paper by using heat to transfer ink from a ribbon onto the page. Though reliable and inexpensive, the print quality is mediocre and the machine is noisier than laser or inkjet type fax machines.

Features of a fax machine

• Fax machines must have internal memory for storage. They use it to store outgoing or incoming pages. The amount of memory needed to hold a page depends on the image density, though you can expect 512 kilobytes to hold 20-25 pages. Incase of insufficient memory, most commercial fax machine models accept additional memory cards. A useful memory feature is out-of-paper reception. If your machine runs out of paper, incoming faxes are stored in memory and printed when paper tray is filled again. With quick scan, you can scan a page into memory before starting a transmission and you don’t have to wait till it finishes sending the original. With dual scan you can send and receive faxes at the same time.
• Broadcast feature lets you scan the fax once, and then send it out to all the recipients you enter. A machine with a good support for ‘broadcasting’ is useful if you routinely send similar faxes to many recipients.
• Consider the paper sizes that you fax most often. Most fax machines are built to use standard 8.5” x 11” paper. If you want to send or receive legal size documents, consider a fax machine with dual paper drawers to hold both standard and legal size paper.
• Color faxing though possible, is rarely used. The only authentic way to fax color documents is to fax between two color fax machines of the same brand.
• Multifunctional devices can Fax as well as function like a printer, scanner and a copier. They are a little expensive but make perfect sense if you are also in the market for printer, scanner and a copier.

How much does a fax machine cost?

To get a good deal you must always compare fax machines from multiple vendors. Price depends on the type of machine, feature set and the manufacturer. If you are buying from a dealer, ensure that you get a good service contract if your fax volume is more than 50 pages per day. It will provide protection against the repair cost or replacement parts. Remember to check references. Prefer dealers that are responsive to service calls, especially emergencies.