Not to be killed off

Faxing is still used in three out of four offices

Typewriters, pneumatic tubes and floppy disks - some of the things that were once considered state-of-the-art office standards are now a thing of the past. However, despite the alternatives, there is one staple of office communication that still persists - the fax machine. 

Faxes are still used in three out of four companies (77 percent). One in four companies (25 percent) still use it frequently or very frequently. These are the results of a study commissioned by the digital association Bitkom, for which 604 representative companies in Germany with 20 or more employees were surveyed.

Overall, fax use is thus at least slowly declining: 82% of companies still faxed in 2023. In 2022 it was still 88%, in 2020 92% and in 2018 even 95%. Intensive fax use is also declining: in 2018, the proportion of those who sent faxes frequently or very frequently was around twice as high as this year at 49%.

"Although fax use in companies has been declining for years, the change is taking place surprisingly slowly - especially when you consider that more convenient and secure methods have long been available," commented Daniil Heinze, Digital Business Processes Officer at Bitkom.

Many reasons for faxing
There are many reasons why companies are still sticking with fax. 56 percent of companies that still fax state that it is essential when communicating with authorities. 43 percent fax because it is more secure than post and 35 percent continue to do so because they have well-functioning and established fax processes. In each case, 27 percent fax out of habit or because they usually need proof of delivery.

However, 25 percent of companies that fax do so in order to meet the requirements of their customers. Ten percent fax to meet legal requirements. Seven percent use fax because they believe it is more secure than digital communication and six percent use fax as a backup if digital systems fail.

Heinze: "Especially when it comes to encrypting data, digital channels have a lot to offer over traditional fax. Digital fax machines combine this and transmit the data with special fax protocols via the Internet instead of the original telephone lines. Compared to a standard e-mail, the digital fax often offers automatic confirmation of receipt, is less susceptible to forgery and is also suitable for legally secure communication."