How to Use Home Fax Machines

One of the greatest inventions in recent history is the fax machine. This machine allows a person to send a document over the telephone lines to someone else's machine anywhere around the world. The word fax comes from the Latin word facsimile, which means "make a copy." Fax machines became readily available in the 1970s, yet it wasn't until the middle of the 1980s that the machine found popularity all over the world. Sending a fax means the recipient will possess your document in as little as a few minutes. Sending a fax is easy. Just follow a few simple steps.

Things You'll Need

• Fax machine
• Phone line
• Paper

Instructions

1. Plug a phone line from your home phone wall connection to the back of your fax machine. To use a fax machine at home, you must have a landline phone service.

2. Load the document papers in the fax tray face up. If the writing on the documents is not face up, the documents will be faxed as blank pages.

3. Dial the number of the fax recipient. Every fax machine has a keypad with numbers from 0 to 9. Dial the area code first and then the number. Dial a "1" if it is applicable.

4. Press the "send" button after the number is dialed. Some fax machines read, "Start fax." You will choose between a black-and-white or a color fax.

5. Wait for the machine to dial the number and send the fax. Each page will slowly move through the machine as it is being sent. After the fax is complete, your machine will read, "Fax completed."

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the ink on your document is dark enough so that the receiving fax machine will print out a legible copy.

• It is best not to send a fax without a cover page. You need a cover page to specify who the fax is for and other important details.