Is Fax Dead Yet?

Not quite. Messing with handwriting is something the CSI guys discover rather quickly. In the US that would be considered wire fraud, usually honored by some time at a special bed and breakfast place.

In the world of engineering they are largely unknown.

Well, you could also do that with programs such as MS-Word. Import your sig as a graphics file into the proper place, then format the whole doc as pdf. But is that always legit?

The biggest problem with digital signatures is the complete lack of interoperable standards.

That's how I see it as well. It's the same with electronic record keeping. There are all those hollow words and regulations such as "paperwork reduction act". There ain't no reduction. I've asked and also looked at places like the IRS web site as to what they'd consider adequate and most of all audit-proof electronic storage of business records. What I found was zilch. So I do what everyone else does, keep the paper.

In buisiness, fax is alive and doing fine. Most orders we get are confirmed by fax.

In May 2008...

Sent: 6 Received: 3 Junk: 4

So $2.36 per useful fax :-(

You may note that I've stopped advertising my fax number. I will probably drop that line soon... there's really nothing that couldn't be done by an image file in an E-mail.

...Jim Thompson

Bah, I can scan any document in and email it no problems. I had to do a non-disclosure agreement so I brought up the doc in Word and put a digital image of my signature on it, then converted it to PDF and sent it off.

I do that all the time. However some backward types still like faxes :-(

...Jim Thompson

I"d like to reject doing business with faxoids.

Faxoid: "Please fax the plans.".. Me: "Sorry..your plans will not be faxed. The plans will be emailed or you can pick them up yourself." :P

D from BC British Columbia Canada

Today I had a guy stop by to do a bid for a new fence.

He said he could fax the bid to me, I said "how about email it to me".

He just kind of stared into space, so I said "you can come by later and drop it by".

He sighed and said OK.

I guess some businesses just don't need a modern convenience. :-/

donald

You've just put your signature into the public domain.

It's a small issue, and hardly a defense against determined fraud, but my 'electronic' signature for fedex and such looks nothing like my legal one. Neither does my name and address on differing databases, for that matter - so I can tell where a supposed contact is coming from.

I bagged a company receptionist that way; she was selling employee home addresses to supliment her take-home pay.

I wonder what she would have got for a 300dpi version of your signature?

RL

For the backward types I can just pull up the Word doc, pdf or what have you and File/Print to Fax. Luckily this laptop has a modem on it. For inbound fax I can use the Windows Fax tool too.

Tell me about it. I have freinds in Pennsylvania, who are getting ready to seell their house in Florida. Their web hosting service upgraded their security without informing them, or me. They insist that the original contract be faxed to their legal department, since both their old e-mail address and telephone numbers no longer work. They are at least a month from getting everything unpacked, and their computer was screwed up when they switched from Embarq DSL in Florida to Verison at their new home. It took two days to repair the damage, because all their restore disks and software CD-ROMs are in storage. This means they are basically out of business for at least two more weeks.

P.S. Even though I was CCd on the original contract, they refuse to send me anything by email, until they get a new email address, with proof from my friends that they have moved. Meanwhile, their new website can't be uploaded, or the old one shut down.

Don't US convenience stores offer FAX and copy services? How long does it take to send a photocopy by US snail mail then?

It seems to me that your friends did not plan their move very carefully.

newly improved security can be a right bind. The problem is that if you ask the right questions to the phone support operative you look exactly like a clever social engineering attack. And sometimes it will work too.

Barclaycard are my pet hate. Their supposed security questions are frequently unanswerable even for the cardholder. They must pay the phone operatives peanuts because they certainly employ monkeys.

Regards, Martin Brown

A good phish would be to e-mail cardholders and tell them you want to verify a recent transaction, and give them a phone number.. by the time they've "identified" themselves and the card in question, you've got their identity and CC information.. make up a bogus transaction that they can disavow any knowledge of and they'll go away feeling safer-- well, until they see their next bill (or the one after the next if you're clever about it).

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

" ... put a digital image of my signature on it, ..." Is that legit? Any info on the legal situation anywhere? I'd love to do that, it would shrink the size of contract pdf files down to 1/10th or less.

You could have stunned him with EMT (email money transfer) too. :)

"Can I get a quote by email, an invoice by email and do you accept payment by EMT (email money transfer)? Oh... and what's your website address?"

"What? You have none of those? I'm sorry, I can't do business with you. Have a nice day" :P

I think some of the trades are barely able to use a fax machine. :P

D from BC British Columbia Canada

Problem is, you can't avoid it anyway. Some companies have outsourced much of their book keeping. So even if you had a signed consulting agreement brought there on horseback with a heavily armed rider they'd slap it on the scanner and off it goes. And you wouldn't even know they did it.

According to the law where I live a digital capture is fully accepted by the courts here.