How do fax machines work?

(2) On July 1, 2010 at 2:48 am Farahdunchy [19] said:

For fast and quick fax transmission, email fax service is more convenient to use. You can send and receive fax document using your email, phone or any Microsoft Office programs. With the fax editing tool included in the service you can electronically sign and edit fax documents as well as customize your cover page.

(1) On March 13, 2010 at 10:02 pm MainFragger [2] said:

(The following answer is for simple faxing to (TX) the rcv mode of fax machines (RX), and does not take into account other receive modes or devices. It also assumes ideal sending and receiving circumstances.)

They use a scanner that shines light on your original document, and then converts what it sees on the page into digital information.. Then it dials the number of the fax machine you want to connect to. At the end of dialing it starts to send a beep that is called the Carrier Negotiating Tone (CNG tone).. When the receiving fax machine answers it puts out a screech, which is information being sent to the sending machine.. At the same time, the CNG tone lets the receiving machine know that a sending fax is present.

Then the process of handshaking begins.. The receiving fax broadcasts information about its fastest connection speed. The sending machine disagrees or agrees with that speed. If it agrees sending begins, if not the receiving machine keeps stepping down in speed until the sending machine says ok.

Then the machines enter the indentification stage where they pass preprogrammed information to eachother about the identity of the sender and receiver. The sender's identification appears as a "logo" on the top portion of the received document. Then the digital information that was scanned at the beginning is sent to the receiving machine. The machine then converts that information to dots or "pels" that print on the page (I won't go into the various forms of printing, but..) Depending on your print method, print can either be 1:1 or exactly as you transmitted it, or it might shrink a little in order to accommodate fitting the logo and all of the information of your original page on a single page. In between each page machines generate a "EOP" or End of Page signal. At the end of the fax, there will also be a "EOL" or End of Line signal, which means the fax is done. The sending fax may then generate a receipt at the end of the fax that confirms that the fax has been received.

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