When will Email be equal to a Fax?

[Cygnus-X1]

I noticed in everyday personal and business dealings with companies how email is still not in the picture for them, even if it is they do not have the etiquette to even respond to say they received the email. Sometimes I end up faxing messages (for lack of voice-mail as well).
I am just ranting, but it seems like a lot of business' need to and are prolly too lazy to implement this technology that has been around for quite a while! wtf?
From a business point of view this has to do with information and convenient promptness for everyone (at least from my point of view).
Which leads to my subject heading
"When will Email be equal to a Fax?"
It seems like faxes are widely accepted compared to email.... I wonder if maybe faxes were around for a long time too before they became a neccesary standard issue for any business.

Just an observation..
Robert http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[smokin1]

I think it is pretty close in my Industry..we use it a lot, and hardly ever
use fax anymore. We also use Outlook, and have receipt request activated, so we know when it has been received.

[Mntsnow]

I mainly use Email but when I need to send something that I can use to prove that somethng was sent I use the fax machine as I get a printed report of the # that was called and the status of the fax. (weither it went thru ok or error'd out)

[golfcart]

I prefer email over fax and phone for my business. I'm not really a people person and I get a certain bit of solitude by communicating on the computer.

[Cygnus-X1]

Thanks for the replies!

smokin1,
From my dealings it seems we have a long way to go for people to acclimate to this technology, (for average business folk) which to me seems kind of strange how they do not adapt to this easy alternative of communication. I thought that the threshold of communication was reached (for now) but it seems in my dealings that we have a long way for people to adapt to these new ways of
communication.
I post this as we all surely know how all marvels are possible yet so many prefer to take a backward or conservative stance to things not knowing how beneficial these practically free and beneficial means can be to them.
OK I sound too introspective. LOL

More opinions welcome!

[oldhermit]

Cygnus, you hit the nail dead-center.

I would have posted my thoughts on this matter, but didn't think it would gather any interest.

I'm a little disgusted that there are not many businesses that keep an employee that is efficient using a computer. Email is so much more efficient that it is really laughable that a company computer is not provisioned with the most basic of email retrieving utilities.

For sending drawings to construction companies, etc. it is amazing how many of them cannot retrieve a simple PDF, Word document, or even a GIF image.

Many do not know the difference between a text message or an HTML message, and frankly, I think they are scared to try anything that might bugger up the "company" computer.

Fifteen to twenty years ago when the faximlie machine was off to a good start, there weren't many available, and most of them splotched up the page with black ink until it was unreadable.

Today, everyone is a fax expert. Lets hope that it doesn't take another twenty years for everyone to perfect their ability at retrieving simple email messages and attachments...

[Cygnus-X1]

oldhermit,

Freakin heh! (for lack of a more profane term) I just can't see how the speed and options of email can compare to a fax. I think many are still stuck on the ole telegraph way or maybe even morse code! LOL

Robert http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[smokin1]

Cygnus..I agree..I have people in the office that Have to use email and are deadly afraid of it..have to do mini seminars on basic email..LOL..