Who Still Faxes? Almost Everyone, As It Turns Out

While faxing may seem like a technology that went out the window with Spandex, the truth is that the technology is still surprisingly widespread. According to a recent study from global marketing intelligence company International Data Corporation (IDC), 82 percent of survey respondents said their fax usage increased over the past year, while only 19 percent said their usage went down. The study found that one of the key drivers for fax volume is the growing accessibility and simplicity of fax technology, particularly among workers who like comfortable old technology.

So does this mean companies are still using old-fashioned thermal paper fax machines and a dial-up connection? Not necessarily.

Faxing in the Cloud

Because of its continued widespread usage, many cloud unified communications platforms include fax capabilities. A cloud fax – sometimes called an “online fax” is a way to send, receive and store faxes over a network, similar to a webmail server. Unlike old-fashioned faxing, cloud faxing doesn’t require a standard telephone connection, which means it also doesn’t require a fax machine or a dedicated fax number. All businesses require is a computer, an internet connection, and an online service that will allow you to transfer and translate the data from the internet protocol to a telephonic transmission. An internet fax service like Nextiva vFax can help.

“It will provide you with a virtual fax number,” wrote Nextiva’s Yaniv Masjedi in a recent blog post. “This number can be used to receive standard faxes from traditional machines. The service handles all the complicated parts like sending and translating data. It will have an online dashboard that you can access to check your inbox, as well as send faxes.”

Users of vFax can send and receive electronic faxes from anywhere, on a computer, or even a mobile device. The system uses 256-bit SSL encryption to keep sensitive business information secure. Users can even choose a toll-free number, or transfer the number from a machine to digital. This way, your employees still get access to a comfortable, familiar technology, but it can be managed with your twenty-first century communication network.