Who is Your Fax Machine Talking To?

Nobody uses fax machines anymore, my daughter recently commented...

I disagreed: I still use mine occasionally - why just yesterday I received a fax... intended for someone else!














I bought my fax machine some years ago, when starting a small home-based business. I thought it could be useful - as a phone, fax, and simple photocopier. It has served me well over the years. I don't use the fax feature all that often - but it is handy to have around.

The only negative aspect of having a fax machine is that I occasionally get faxes intended for someone else. Although a fax machine will inform you if a fax hasn't gone through, it has no way of knowing that the fax has arrived at the right recipient. So when a salesman for a local building company started to give out my fax number instead of his (they were very similar). I was suddenly inundated with faxes intended for him.

But the most disturbing time an error occurred was when I was trying to contact a used car dealer. No sooner had his phone rung than his fax picked up the fact that I had a fax machine attached to my phone - so it sent my machine a loan application intended for a bank.

I tried to call the office and let them know, but nobody picked up the phone. I eventually shredded the paper - but they had no idea that the bank hadn't received the fax.

Which is why - to be on the safe side - it is a good idea to phone the intended recipient both before and after a fax is sent... just to be sure that your fax machine hasn't sent your stuff to the wrong place!