Young people try to use a fax machine...

Ever worked a fax machine? See how one works before they're gone!

Following our consultation last year, we’re confirming changes to our rules meaning telecoms providers will no longer be required to provide fax services to their customers.

Unless you’ve moved house or you’re a footballer’s agent – or indeed a footballer’s agent who’s moved house – then you might not have had much reason to use a fax machine in recent years.

The communications device – formally known as a facsimile machine – was once a regular feature in offices and, to a lesser extent, homes.

They worked by allowing users to send an exact copy (or a facsimile, hence the name) of a page of text or images to the recipient, using a telephone line to do so.

This is one of the reasons they were used in big-money transactions with tight deadlines, such as house sales or football transfers, as they enabled contracts to be exchanged quickly and accurately.

But as digital technology and broadband services have developed, the fax machine has been overtaken by email and document sharing software that offer the same or better functionality.

This is why we consulted on changing the rules that required telecoms firms to provide fax services.

You can read more about this decision on the Ofcom website:

#ofcom #faxmachine #tech

[geckoztom]

Young people? Bro these people are 30-ish