Backward Germans? Their fax machines are still doing great

The origins of the fax machine date back to the 1970s. Despite the passage of years and the development of subsequent forms of communication, there are still places, primarily via the Internet, the technology of “phones with printers” is still not dead. It holds firm in , in a country where attachment to old technologies in business is strong, or at least that’s the stereotype –

Germans are still eager to use the fax

As much as 82 percent of Germans still use fax, according to a survey conducted by Bitkom. What’s more, as many as one in three companies use the fax machine “often” or even “very often”. The death of the fax machine in Germany, however, is getting closer, because just a year ago it was used “often” by 40 percent. companies, and in 2018 – 62 percent, i.e. this share is gradually decreasing.

In the face of the transition to digital information, faxes were for a long time considered finished. But once a communication channel takes root, it usually takes some time before it is completely unused – even as more convenient and secure forms of communication emerge in the meantime

– said Nils Britze, director of digital business at Bitkom.

Of the 505 companies surveyed with at least 20 employees, half said they send faxes occasionally or rarely. Only 16 percent of enterprises do not use fax at all. Among the advantages of fax, Nils Britze mentions the clear situation as to whether the message has been sent. Worse with data security and encryption, in which categories fax loses to digital forms of communication.