How many still using a Fax machine?

[dingbat]

I sell goods and deal with suppliers but the last time I used the fax machine was for some personal stuff. That was over a year ago. The machine just sits there on a separate telephone number taking up space, collecting dust and waking up everytime some PPI spammer calls it. I simply keep it on the basis that I want to be taken seriously by other companies if they ever ask for a fax number.

Apart from solicitors does anyone even quote their fax number on their signature or business card anymore?

 

[cjd]

Port the number to a VoIP fax service for £20, (or dump it), then £2 per month, and ditch the BT line and fax machine.

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/fax.php

 

[Luolou]

We got rid of ours about 2 years ago....took the number off our business stationery when we did our next re-print. The cost of the carbon print rolls ( one line of print would cost a whole A4 sheet of the roll) was ridiculous. So pleased to see it go....

 

[dingbat]

Thanks. The VOIP tip is handy. I've heard of the technology but not really looked into it.

 

[roydmoorian]

Still got ours but only use it occasionally (Laser plain paper version) comes though on one of the ISDN lines so wouldn't save anything getting rid of it.

Can't remember the last time I sent a loop of black paper back to a FAX spammer but used to do it a lot when the spam faxes were sent physically

 

[David Griffiths]

We dumped the physical machine about 5 years ago and moved to electronic faxes with faxtastic. No charge for incoming faxes and a few pennies per page for outgoing. I paid a tenner up front a good few years ago but not a penny since - we've got enough credits to last for years. We get about ten a month coming in for wages sheets from three clients and zero per month going out

We took the fax number off business stationery a few years back as well

 

[fairdealworld]

Got rid of mine last year. I'd reluctantly hung onto it as I still had a couple of customers who liked to fax orders, then one stopped trading and the other discovered that actually she could use a computer and started to email orders. This meant we only received spam on the fax machine.

I can't see that anyone takes a business less seriously because it hasn't got a fax number, in fact I think the tipping point has been reached where quoting a fax number may suggest the business is a bit behind the times.

 

[leemason]

Haven't sent a fax for a couple of years now. I have an inbound fax number to e-mail number with voipon.co.uk.

 

[MikeJ]

We use Voipfone's service for incoming faxes. We keep a fax machine for occasional use, mainly because we bought a combined fax, printer and scanner a few years ago and it's not gone wrong yet.

Occasionally someone calls to say their emails have packed up, and we need to fax them. Which involves us faxing them an email. I like to think they're scanning it and running it through an OCR, but I doubt it.....

 

[roydmoorian]

I can't see that anyone takes a business less seriously because it hasn't got a fax number, in fact I think the tipping point has been reached where quoting a fax number may suggest the business is a bit behind the times.

Ok, our business email signature includes a Fax Number and also a QR Code.

 

[garyk]

Havent had one one for about 10 years, normally borrow one but havent had to use one for so long. Can normally scan an email a doc. I thought there were rubbish even when they were popular.

 

[andygambles]

Lloyds can not accept email attachments so have had to fax them before but use a virtual fax machine.

Incoming we have a number which costs 50p per minute to call and emails us a PDF (non-revenue share). No problem receiving spam faxes on that .

 

[HorseLatitudes]

We use one occasionally for contracts that are in a rush to be set up.

Never seen it used for anything else and even then a scanner and printer could be used instead

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Havent had a fax machine for years and like David had been using Faxtastic but gave that up too about a year ago. Just never use it.

 

[noo81]

Got rid of my fax machine years ago. Probably used it twice in ten years. Fax is just outdated imo.

 

[morespace]

I don't advertise fax numbers for any of my businesses these days.

 

[CompuGlobal-Hyper-MegaNet]

Not for years. We've toyed with the idea of getting rid of it as it takes up premium space and has its own dedicated line.
One client occasionally uses it, but I'm sure he can be pushed to scan his documents and send them by email.

 

[SBlundell]

We're in the process of switching our dusty fax machine over to eFax - echoing many of the above we barely use it (and to be honest it's occasional use is usually laziness!)

 

[ThePublisher]

Set up my business 9 years ago and never bothered with having a fax. Was occasionally asked for one in the early years, but I don't recall anybody mentioning faxing me something for at least 5 years. The last time we had any contact with a fax was when my husband received a contract offer when we were on holiday and the paperwork was faxed to the hotel we were staying at in Greece a couple of years ago.

30 years ago when I worked for a recruitment agency I recall typing CVs into the very limited memory of telex machines to send abroad. What a complete pain in the arse that was!

 

[RoyaleGraphics]

We still have one, but only because we have an all in one printer. Get the occasional fax, but mostly spam

 

[deniser]

I use a traditional fax machine for outgoing faxes because my US suppliers like to have a faxed authority for payments.

But it doesn't have its own line so I just plug it in when I need to use it.

And it doesn't have any ink or paper in it so that spammers can't irritate me; having said that, it doesn't usually stay plugged in long enough for that to happen.

 

[jplevene]

I blew the dust off of ours last week as it is next to our plotter which I had to use. The only faxes I get are ones from companies telling me how they can do debt collecting for me, so I have now put a bin directly under the fax machine.

 

[jplevene]

I blew the dust off of mine last week. I only get junk through so I have placed a bin underneath it.