Fax today

Neither a relic nor a fad: a tool that still meets one precise need, proving that a document got there.

Faxing is still in use in 2026 because it guarantees something rare: at the very moment the page is sent, the receiving device confirms it has arrived. No overflowing inbox, no spam filter, no intermediate server holding on to a copy. The document goes straight from one number to another, and the sender knows within a minute or two whether it landed. For a medical practice, a court registry or an insurer, that certainty counts for more than how modern the tool looks.

Four strengths email lacks

  • Delivery confirmed at the receiving end

    A fax transmission report is built on the confirmations the recipient's machine sends back during the call. With email, the sender only knows their server handed the message on to the next one; read receipts remain optional.

  • Failures are always reported

    Busy line, no answer, page cut off: a fax tells you straight away that it did not go through. An email can quietly end up in a junk folder without anyone noticing.

  • A direct link

    During the call, only two devices are connected. No mail provider keeps the document in a mailbox, and no attachment sits on a remote server for years.

  • A traceable sender

    The sending machine's identifier and the calling number travel with the document. Spoofing an email address takes a minute; hijacking an assigned phone line takes a great deal more.

Sectors that still ask for it

What these fields share: a document that goes astray can cost a deadline, a reimbursement or a case.

Medicine and pharmacy
Prescriptions, referral letters, lab results: between a GP surgery, a pharmacy and a hospital ward, fax is often the only language that incompatible software systems have in common.
Law
Lawyers, bailiffs and courts exchange submissions and exhibits; the date and time of transmission can decide whether a deadline was met.
Public services
Some government departments and local authorities still list a fax number as an official way to file an application or a complaint.
Insurance and finance
Claims, direct debit mandates, certificates: the transmission report serves as a record if the filing date is ever disputed.

Why it holds on

The receiver makes the call. A hospital or a benefits office that lists only a fax number forces everyone who deals with it to fax, whether they own a machine or not. Browser-based sending services grew out of exactly that gap.

Then there is everything already in place: machines paid off long ago, quality procedures that mention fax, printed forms with a fax number in the letterhead. Switching channels means rewriting all of that, training staff and notifying partners, a project many organisations postpone for as long as fax keeps working.

The real replacements

Plain email never took over fax's territory, because it offers no proof of delivery. Other tools are chipping away at it instead: filing portals run by individual agencies, secure healthcare messaging, electronic registered mail, qualified e-signatures. Each provides a solid audit trail, but in return demands sign-up, identity checks and sometimes a subscription.

As a result, the switch is happening sector by sector, country by country, organisation by organisation, at very different speeds. Until then, the practical question for many people is a simple one: how do you fax a document when you have neither a line nor a machine?

Questions people ask

Is it still legal to send faxes?
Of course. Nothing prohibits it, and many organisations still accept it. What varies is the evidential weight of the transmission report: depending on the country and context, it usually counts as prima facie evidence rather than conclusive proof.
Fax or email: which is safer?
They guard against different risks. Analogue fax is not encrypted on the line, but no copy lingers in a hosted mailbox. Email can be encrypted, yet it passes through several servers and stays stored, which leaves it exposed to account breaches.
Why does usage vary so much between countries?
It comes down to each sector's rules and the equipment already installed. Where an administration opened a digital portal with proof of filing early on, fax faded quickly; elsewhere, it remains the recognised channel.
Should I buy a fax machine in 2026?
If you only fax now and then, no: an online service such as FaxTelecom does the job with no hardware and no subscription. A machine only makes sense if you need to receive faxes regularly, and only if your line can handle it.

Telephone network

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Where to go next

Hand-picked pages to help you prepare, send or prove your fax.

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