| Fax
Machines
Introduction
Fax machines provide an easy way to send documents over phone lines.
Faxing is a faster option than regular mail and an affordable alternative
to overnight delivery.
A fax machine
scans each outgoing page and converts the images into a series of
light and dark dots. This pattern is then translated into audio
tones and sent over regular phone lines. The receiving fax machine
"hears" the tones, pieces the grid together, and prints
the total compilation of dots. The result is black and white copies
of the original pages.
Sending speeds
Fax machines with higher sending speeds, though typically more expensive,
will often pay for themselves in reduced phone charges, which can
be a significant part of the overall cost of sending faxes. There
are two different ways you can judge how fast your fax machine sends
a page: by transmission standard and by compression protocol.
Transmission
standards
The majority
of fax machines transmit at speeds of 9,600 bits per second (bps)
or 14,400 bps. Faxing at 9,600 bps takes 15 to 60 seconds per page.
A transmission standard called V.17 sends faxes at 14,400 bps, reducing
the sending time for a single page to six to 10 seconds.
The newest
transmission standard, V.34, lets you send faxes at 33,600 bps -
about three seconds per page. Although both V.17 and V.34 tend to
add a few hundred dollars to a machine's cost, the cost-benefit
is worthwhile if your company faxes more than 30 pages a day.
You can only
use the high speeds through V.17 and V.34 when transmitting to other
fax machines that have the same protocols. But V.17 and V.34 machines
are equipped with a fallback mechanism that lets them send and receive
at 9,600 bps to ensure that they stay compatible with older machines.
Data compression
protocols
Simply put,
data compression protocols reduce the time it takes to send a page
by describing it with a minimum amount of data. You can reduce transmission
costs by buying a machine with advanced data compression protocols.
Virtually all
fax machines are equipped with a basic compression protocol called
Modified Huffman (MH). Machines equipped with the more advanced
Modified Read (MR) or Modified Modified Read (MMR) protocols can
send documents as much as 25 percent faster.
Some machines
use their own sending or compression protocols to increase the speed
of transmission. You should know, however, that these protocols
only work when sending to or from same-brand models. Unless you
frequently fax between two offices with the same type of machine,
you won't noticeably reduce your overall sending costs with such
brand-specific compression systems.
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