Fax Server

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What Does Fax Server Mean?

A fax server is a system capable of receiving incoming faxes, sending faxes and distributing faxes over a computer network. Software applications for most operating systems are also available to make a computer in a network act as a fax server. The incoming fax messages can be stored in any printable file format such as graphics or word processing. A fax server helps in reducing the number of dedicated fax lines needed in an environment or organization.

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Techopedia Explains Fax Server

A fax server consists of four components, namely:

  • Fax service manager
  • Fax application
  • Fax modem
  • Network connection and connection to users

The fax service manager provides a centralized administration point for managing and setting up the fax resources. The fax application helps in providing the fax service. The fax modem acts similarly to a network modem. The network connection and connection to the computers/users handles the incoming and outgoing connections in the network. Remote computers can also communicate with a fax server with the help of the Internet.

There are many significant advantages with fax servers. Fax lines in an organization can be considerably lessened as fax server is capable of queuing large number of faxes. There is no need for re-faxing due to printer jams, as reprinting is possible. Junk faxes can be avoided as a fax server can blacklist numbers. Electronic handling for incoming faxes is possible through a fax server, which in turn reduces the usage of resources and paper. Troubleshooting using remote support is possible in the case of a fax server. From an organizational perspective, employees need not leave their workstation in order to send or receive faxes. One key benefit associated with fax servers is that there is no need to print the paper document, as any printable computer file can be faxed. With the help of a fax server, faxing capability can be conveniently added to numerous computer applications. Monitoring and recording facilities can also be used to enhance an organization’s rules and data retention policies.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.