I.

Introduction

Facsimile Transmission, communication system that copies, sends, and receives documents by way of telephone lines. Also called faxing, this method of communication allows people to share exact copies of important papers by duplicating and sending them on one end, and then receiving and reproducing them on the other.

Facsimile machines came into use in the early 20th century when newspaper companies began using them to transmit photographs between branch offices. By the mid-1980s use of desktop facsimile machines had become commonplace for business and personal correspondence throughout the world. More recently, people have used personal computers to send and receive facsimile transmissions, or faxes, eliminating the need for a separate facsimile machine.