Facsimile is a system for the electronic transmission of documents. The process entails the scanning of pages or computer-generated text into image form. The file is compressed and then transmitted to a specified receiving station, where the image is decompressed and displayed and/or printed. Some client software packages come with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which turns the imaged document into editable text.

Consumers and organizations alike have become dependent on facsimile for delivering important documents in a timely fashion. For those without a computer, a standalone fax machine provides this capability, while those with computers rely on a combination modem/fax card. Businesses, on the other hand, tend to rely more on fax servers that can be shared by many computer users over the corporate LAN. This approach eliminates the need to install modem/fax cards in every computer and permits a higher volume of traffic to be handled over fewer lines, thereby saving money. Mobile professionals have other options for sending and receiving faxes, which are based on the type of communications devices they carry and the services they subscribe to.