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OT - I hate that faxing is still relevant in today's business world

kl8ton
kl8ton Posts: 5,410
At work, I have done away with the fax machines, but we are still required to maintain a fax number.  Some of our customers ONLY send official paperwork (such as purchase orders) via fax! Their systems are antiquated and they haven't invested the capital necessary to upgrade anything in 20+ years.  Our fax number is in "the cloud", so i receive faxes via scanned attachment in an email and I simply forward to the appropriate individuals, but COME ON!  It is 2017.  As a former computer network engineer (that is what my degree is in), I was trying to do away with it 13 years ago.  Faxing still has a pulse, albeit weak, and it just won't die.


Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
Grand Rapids MI
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Comments

  • Eoin
    Eoin Posts: 4,304
    I can safely say that faxing is dead for me.  Nobody uses it in the UK any more. I haven't sent of received a fax for a couple of years now, and for the 5 years before that it was 1 or 2 per year.  Amazing that people still use them.
  • 55drum
    55drum Posts: 162
    Agree!!  I absolutely cringe every time a customer/vendor asks me to fax something over...get with the times...

    Also why can't our local municipalities leave the 70's behind...if I need a permit for something...have to go get form, type it up hand carry or mail back to them...what a PIA.....they're using the same forms since the county was founded....why can't these documents be filled out online....
  • saluki2007
    saluki2007 Posts: 6,354
    I believe it was either 2015 or 2016 the NCAA finally allowed kids to sign their letter of intent and send via email instead of fax.  If the NCAA can move past the fax machine then everyone else should be able to too.
    Large and Small BGE
    Central, IL

  • Fred19Flintstone
    Fred19Flintstone Posts: 8,168
    edited August 2017
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) preferred getting engineering drawings in the mail on the appropriate sized piece of paper with front, top, bottom, left side, right side views on one piece of paper. something that a welder/fabricator could read. now its a stack of unorganized pages and im redrawing the part on a napkin so the welder understands what he is making. working with big magnifiers on an e sized drawing reduced to an a size is horrible and resizing the print from a to e the stupid dot matrix is unreadable. =)=)=)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,125
    #firstworldproblems 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    i should add that i work with some older people, i download something, hit print, printers in the other room, i get paged because i just received a fax =)  theres one guy here that can not turn his computer on or off and i was getting paged for help so often i took the computer away =) here is a big question i have, why do i need to change browsers when working in some systems, filling out some forms the other day and only google chrome would fill out the forms online after rotating thru firefox, internet explorer and aol =)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    Agree with admin streamlining but regarding municipalities and technology , it's all about jobs.  The requirement to show up and sign etc won't go away soon (at least here).  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • poster
    poster Posts: 1,167
    edited August 2017
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) preferred getting engineering drawings in the mail on the appropriate sized piece of paper with front, top, bottom, left side, right side views on one piece of paper. something that a welder/fabricator could read. now its a stack of unorganized pages and im redrawing the part on a napkin so the welder understands what he is making. working with big magnifiers on an e sized drawing reduced to an a size is horrible and resizing the print from a to e the stupid dot matrix is unreadable. =)=)=)

    Ya, the fab business is funny. You get a huge diversity of customers. I absolutely hate drawings sent in .pdf, its almost as bad as fax, which we still have by the way.  I will use MasterCAM (big $ prgm) to draw up and program some parts, then its either sent to a Miller direct, or off to the plasma table via 3.5" floppy lol. I just found a floppy to USB emulator that I will try out soon. It is big $$ to upgrade controls, so I can see why some people hang on to older technology as long as possible.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    poster said:
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) preferred getting engineering drawings in the mail on the appropriate sized piece of paper with front, top, bottom, left side, right side views on one piece of paper. something that a welder/fabricator could read. now its a stack of unorganized pages and im redrawing the part on a napkin so the welder understands what he is making. working with big magnifiers on an e sized drawing reduced to an a size is horrible and resizing the print from a to e the stupid dot matrix is unreadable. =)=)=)

    Ya, the fab business is funny. You get a huge diversity of customers. I absolutely hate drawings sent in .pdf, its almost as bad as fax, which we still have by the way.  I will use MasterCAM (big $ prgm) to draw up and program some parts, then its either sent to a Miller direct, or off to the plasma table via 3.5" floppy lol. I just found a floppy to USB emulator that I will try out soon. It is big $$ to upgrade controls, so I can see why some people hang on to older technology as long as possible.
    upgrading my machines would put me out of business, they are big and manual and old =) 99 percent of what i do is just a 1 of a kind. i do have 1 cnc and one tapedrive that runs off floppys and have somehow kept that 1980's computer working. when i say old,  my plate roller is 1902 =) and is used everyday. some of my big lathes are belt drive, a new one would cost more than the building its in
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • poster
    poster Posts: 1,167
    poster said:
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) preferred getting engineering drawings in the mail on the appropriate sized piece of paper with front, top, bottom, left side, right side views on one piece of paper. something that a welder/fabricator could read. now its a stack of unorganized pages and im redrawing the part on a napkin so the welder understands what he is making. working with big magnifiers on an e sized drawing reduced to an a size is horrible and resizing the print from a to e the stupid dot matrix is unreadable. =)=)=)

    Ya, the fab business is funny. You get a huge diversity of customers. I absolutely hate drawings sent in .pdf, its almost as bad as fax, which we still have by the way.  I will use MasterCAM (big $ prgm) to draw up and program some parts, then its either sent to a Miller direct, or off to the plasma table via 3.5" floppy lol. I just found a floppy to USB emulator that I will try out soon. It is big $$ to upgrade controls, so I can see why some people hang on to older technology as long as possible.
    upgrading my machines would put me out of business, they are big and manual and old =) 99 percent of what i do is just a 1 of a kind. i do have 1 cnc and one tapedrive that runs off floppys and have somehow kept that 1980's computer working. when i say old,  my plate roller is 1902 =) and is used everyday. some of my big lathes are belt drive, a new one would cost more than the building its in

    Ya, I hear ya. We've been upgrading as much as possible as the old talent retires and the newer guys (tough to find) make their way in. The older crowd doesn't like buttons and the newer guys don't like levers and dials
  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
    edited August 2017
    I freaking hate faxes.

    However, we have an older clientele that isn't exactly tech savvy.  We have a form online that many customers need to fill out.  I swear to god we have had people take  print it, fill it out and fax us the print out.



    NOLA
  • SamIAm2
    SamIAm2 Posts: 1,894
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) preferred getting engineering drawings in the mail on the appropriate sized piece of paper with front, top, bottom, left side, right side views on one piece of paper. something that a welder/fabricator could read. now its a stack of unorganized pages and im redrawing the part on a napkin so the welder understands what he is making. working with big magnifiers on an e sized drawing reduced to an a size is horrible and resizing the print from a to e the stupid dot matrix is unreadable. =)=)=)
    Yeah, I hear you. Their default "printer" seems to only have A size as a selection. Technology phobics don't know/care that different sizes can be added. Used Microstation, Autocad, and others for many years and always created appropriate sized print files, usually as PDF so engineers could print them on large format plotters/printers or just read the document on their computers. Be glad you don't have J size drawings to deal with from customers :o
    poster said:
    poster said:
    we just replaced our fax with another fax =) 
    Ya, I hear ya. We've been upgrading as much as possible as the old talent retires and the newer guys (tough to find) make their way in. The older crowd doesn't like buttons and the newer guys don't like levers and dials
    Felt your pain for a lot of years. Old retired guy here, just saying.  :):):)
    Ubi panis, ibi patria.
    Large - Roswell rig, MiniMax-PS Woo; Cocoa, Fl.
  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    I had to contact an organization yesterday. The three options were: snail mail, fax, or leave a message. Fax was the best option. Geez, I know. 
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    email attachments that have nothing to do with anything bug me the most. i just opened 8 attachments that were logos and page layouts etc, then three that were the drawings to be quoted on :o
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • SamIAm2
    SamIAm2 Posts: 1,894
    SciAggie said:
    I had to contact an organization yesterday. The three options were: snail mail, fax, or leave a message. Fax was the best option. Geez, I know. 
    Lawyers love Fax machines. PITA to modify and easy to spot with an original in hand. 
    Ubi panis, ibi patria.
    Large - Roswell rig, MiniMax-PS Woo; Cocoa, Fl.
  • JohnInCarolina
    JohnInCarolina Posts: 30,869
    I can't remember the last time I sent or received a fax.  Might have ben ten years ago or more.  We just scan and email everything these days.
    "I've made a note never to piss you two off." - Stike
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,410
    When the last company I worked for first started implementing corporate-wide email, our internal mail lady would print an email sent to her, hand-write her response and deliver it to you on her mail run.   
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
    There are plenty of secure email and messaging solutions over the internet.  The problem is most providers/facilities won't invest in them.
    NOLA
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,125
    I used to save all of the corporate memo faxes. I had a half dozen 4" binders full each year. My memory bank was the search function. Good times....
  • Kinda off topic here but worth a shot. I have a couple clients who send drawings/files/PO's/RFQ's that come through as a winmail.dat file and I can not view them on my phone. They are sending PDF but it shows as a .dat on my iPhone. Anyone know how to resolve this? Apple tells me it's the sender and AT&T doesn't have a clue. 
    Snellville, GA


  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,410
    edited August 2017
    @Eggdicted_Dawgfan

    See article here:
    https://www.lifewire.com/prevent-sending-winmail-dat-attachments-1173717

    Edit: is your client using Outlook?  2007 or earlier?
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
  • I'm not sure what they are using but I can find out. My guess is they are using a more recent version but not positive. Bout to lose wifi on the plane but will read this article when I can. Thank you for the info.
    Snellville, GA


  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    buzd504 said:
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
    There are plenty of secure email and messaging solutions over the internet.  The problem is most providers/facilities won't invest in them.
    Oh, I know. But they have to be HIPAA-compliant. If there is no way to certify the recipient is opening the message, we are in violation. This is why we have a patient portal to send messages in. Too bad patients won't use it then complain why we "can't just send an email". We can use an application that is 100% secure on our end but if it's not secure in the patient's home, we are in violation of the law. A fax just needs a cover sheet.
  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,410
    buzd504 said:
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
    There are plenty of secure email and messaging solutions over the internet.  The problem is most providers/facilities won't invest in them.
    Oh, I know. But they have to be HIPAA-compliant. If there is no way to certify the recipient is opening the message, we are in violation. This is why we have a patient portal to send messages in. Too bad patients won't use it then complain why we "can't just send an email". We can use an application that is 100% secure on our end but if it's not secure in the patient's home, we are in violation of the law. A fax just needs a cover sheet.
    No guarantee that the patient is the one taking the fax off the fax machine.  It can get passed around the office before it arrives at the patients desk.
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    kl8ton said:
    buzd504 said:
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
    There are plenty of secure email and messaging solutions over the internet.  The problem is most providers/facilities won't invest in them.
    Oh, I know. But they have to be HIPAA-compliant. If there is no way to certify the recipient is opening the message, we are in violation. This is why we have a patient portal to send messages in. Too bad patients won't use it then complain why we "can't just send an email". We can use an application that is 100% secure on our end but if it's not secure in the patient's home, we are in violation of the law. A fax just needs a cover sheet.
    No guarantee that the patient is the one taking the fax off the fax machine.  It can get passed around the office before it arrives at the patients desk.
    I know. But that is all that is required along with a verbal "ok" from the patient. 

    It comes down to the ease of sharing. It's much easier to forward an email to 1,000 people that walk a sheet of paper around to the same group. It seems silly, but that is the basic reasoning behind the guidelines.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    kl8ton said:
    buzd504 said:
    It's too bad data sent via internet is so inherently insecure. We'll never move from facsimile transmissions in the near future in healthcare until PHI can be assuredly protected within HIPAA law via computer.
    There are plenty of secure email and messaging solutions over the internet.  The problem is most providers/facilities won't invest in them.
    Oh, I know. But they have to be HIPAA-compliant. If there is no way to certify the recipient is opening the message, we are in violation. This is why we have a patient portal to send messages in. Too bad patients won't use it then complain why we "can't just send an email". We can use an application that is 100% secure on our end but if it's not secure in the patient's home, we are in violation of the law. A fax just needs a cover sheet.
    No guarantee that the patient is the one taking the fax off the fax machine.  It can get passed around the office before it arrives at the patients desk.
    I know. But that is all that is required along with a verbal "ok" from the patient. 

    It comes down to the ease of sharing. It's much easier to forward an email to 1,000 people that walk a sheet of paper around to the same group. It seems silly, but that is the basic reasoning behind the guidelines.
    this is insane, the patient has no rights to how they want their info sent. no wonder why we have to fill out the same info with every visit over and over again =) last time i went to a dr they didnt have emails so i guess i cant complain
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    I can't remember the last time I sent or received a fax.  Might have ben ten years ago or more.  We just scan and email everything these days.
    wikileaks has all your emails =)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • What's a "fax machine"?