Facsimile

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What Does Facsimile Mean?

A facsimile, more commonly referred to as a fax, is the transmission of a document or image from one place to another electronically. The document to be sent is scanned and sent over a telephone or Internet connection. A combined scanner and transmitter is usually known as a fax machine. Modern-day Internet connections have greatly reduced the use of fax machines.

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A facsimile is also known as a telefax or telecopy.

Techopedia Explains Facsimile

A fax transmits data electronically over a network connection. Originally this network connection was an analog telephone line, but now the Internet is also being used for this purpose. A document to be sent is treated as an image, scanned and converted into bits and transmitted over the line by the facsimile machine. The facsimile machine on the receiving end takes the whole message in terms of bits and then converts it into image. This image is either displayed onscreen or printed for the user on receiving end to read. Facsimile technology is still in use, but has largely been replaced by email.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects 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 by 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 helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.