Muratec MFX-1500 - Manual (Page 137)

Just in case …
3.17
How your fax machine works
The concept of how a fax machine works is simple. Here’s a simple analogy. Let’s say
you want to mail a gift to a friend:
•
You take the item, wrap it and send it.
•
Days later, your friend receives the package, unwraps it and uses it.
Now, let’s apply that to fax communication.
You put a page into your fax machine’s feeder and call a fax number. Your machine
makes a satisfactory connection with the other machine, and then . . .
•
An image scanner in your fax machine examines the information on the page.
That’s how your machine takes the document.
•
Your fax machine translates the scanned information into a numeric code and
compresses the code for the fastest possible transmission speed. That’s how your
machine wraps the document.
•
Finally, your fax machine sends the compressed code. That’s how your machine
sends the document.
On the other end of the line . . .
•
The remote fax machine receives the code.
•
The remote fax machine uncompresses and deciphers the code, turning it into a
representation of the scan your machine made.
That’s how your machine unwraps the document.
•
The remote fax machine prints the representation.
Now, the recipient can use the document.
. . . and that’s how fax works!
The only difference between a regular telephone call and a fax call is the content of
the transmission:
• On a regular call, your telephone send your voice.
•
On a fax call, your fax machine sends a coded image.
The way fax machines work is regulated closely by international standards applied by
the International Telecommunications Union (
ITU ), an agency of the United Nations.
These standards ensure the compatibility of your fax machine with millions of other
fax machines world-wide. However, they also limit the way you can use your
machine with a second phone.
Nonetheless, this is a small price to pay --- for the ability to send documents just about
anywhere on earth!