What is a fax modem?

Fax modem is a device that allows you to send documents via standard or analog phone lines. If the document is scanned using Fax Machine software on your computer, a number of digital or numeric signals are created that represent a picture of the document. Analog telephone lines cannot send these signals directly, but the modulator/demodulation modulator (fax) (MOD) converts signals and sends them via telephone networks to another machine.

Before they became a common internet and e-mail at the end of the twentieth century, most paper documents were sent via mail delivery. Because businesses were looking for faster ways of information transfer, manufacturers have started to develop fax technology. Early fax machines contained a scanner that prepared a picture for sending, and the telephone headset was placed in a cradle that dialed the receiving machine and transferred the picture.

The cradle was a fax modem that converted image signals into analog sigMood, Similar to the voice that could be sent through the telephone line. The machine connected at the other end would ring as a phone and then responded in a tone that indicates that he was ready to receive a document. Faxes can be printed immediately via a printer or device contained storage units, just like an answering machine that could store documents until the user requires.

Later machines included an internal modem that was built into the machine. For the wall socket, a telephone wire was required to connect to the telephone system. In the second half of the 20th century, fax machines were a matter of course and were considered a safe way of transferring documents and other pictures. Improvements of the device, along with phone companies like waiting for calls, allowed to send documents at the same time as the phone call.

Because computers have become more common forBusiness and residential use in the 1970s. The fax modem was created to meet this need because broadband or high -speed internet has not yet been common. Most computer users dial an Internet service provider (ISP) via a telephone line that provided them with a monthly fee. The fax modem could use this Internet connection, usually only requires a separate telephone line purchased by a user.

Fax modems could be issued a separate telephone number, similar to separate machines, or share a phone line. The user could create a document on his computer, access to the software that connected the modem, and send the document to another fax machine or modem. Software designers usually tried to make their products function as phones to minimize customer confusion.

Although at the end of the 20th century became more common wideAsm Internet connections, fax technology continued for some prof.Esence. Until the 21st century, medical offices and insurance companies continued to rely on fax machines and modems for safe broadcasts. E -mail sent from a computer over the Internet was not considered a safe form of communication, but one fax modem could dial another and transmit medical information without using the Internet.