A fax machine is the physical hardware built to send and receive a facsimile over a phone line, the exact piece of equipment Fax.Plus replaces.
- A fax machine is a standalone hardware device that scans, transmits, and prints documents over a telephone line using fax tones.
- Multifunction printers often build fax-machine hardware into the same unit as a scanner and printer.
- Fax.Plus sends and receives faxes from a browser, phone, or email, so no fax machine or phone line is needed on the user's end.
What Is a Fax Machine?
A fax machine is the physical device built to scan a paper document, convert it into a tone signal, and transmit that signal over a telephone line to another fax machine, which reassembles and prints a facsimile of the original document. Many modern machines combine this with a network scanner and a printer in a single multifunction unit.
What a Fax Machine Needs to Work
A traditional fax machine needs three things: the hardware itself, an analog phone line to dial out on, and, in many offices switching to VoIP, an analog telephone adapter (ATA) to keep that line usable. Older machines, sometimes still labeled telefax on their housing, work the same way regardless of the name printed on them.
Sending a Fax Without One
Fax.Plus removes all three requirements. There is no fax machine, phone line, or ATA anywhere in the process, a document is uploaded from a computer or phone and sent over the internet directly to the recipient's fax number. For the full walkthrough, see sending a fax without owning the machine.
A Common Case: Replacing an Office Fax Machine
A large software company in Florida keeps an aging fax machine in a supply closet purely to handle occasional signed contracts from partners who still fax. Moving that number to Fax.Plus lets the same signed contracts arrive by email instead, and the machine gets retired along with its phone line.
FAQs
Do I need a fax machine to send a fax?
No. An online fax service like Fax.Plus sends and receives faxes over the internet, using a browser, mobile app, or email instead of a physical machine, phone line, or adapter.
What's the difference between a fax machine and a multifunction printer with fax capability?
A standalone fax machine only scans, transmits, and prints faxes. A multifunction printer combines that same fax hardware with a network scanner and printer in one unit, so it can also copy, scan to file, and print regular documents.
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