The facsimile, or fax as we call it today was one of the earliest concepts in modern technology. First patented in 1843 by Scottish physicist Alexander Bain, the fax is an encoding and/or imaging method that reads text and/or images in small areas at a time, assigns numerical values based on darkness and lightness and then transmits them to a receiver. The receiver produces corresponding marks on paper as the transmitting fax proceeds to scan the next lower line continuing until the entire document has been scanned, digitized and transmitted.

We typically think of the fax as transmitting documents via telephone line, but history verifies that Bain patented his original invention 33 years before the telephone and Morse code became standard transmission methods. The facsimile made its official debut at the 1853 World's Fair in London with English physicist Frederick Bakewell conducting the first public demonstration of fax transmission. By 1865, Italian physics professor Giovanni Caselli had launched the first commercial fax system linking Paris with other French cities.

Not to be outdone by the Europeans or by having just missed the patent for the telephone by three hours, American professor, Dr. Elisha Gray of Omnifax sold his facsimile patent to the Gray National Teleautograph Company. A demonstration of his fax system generated record-breaking crowds at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

The fax continued to advance and was significantly furthered by the work of German scientist Dr. Alfred Korn. Though not to be outdone by the Europeans, In 1922, his facsimile system was utilized to transmit a photo of Pope Pius XI from Rome to the state of Maine in the U.S. enabling the New York World newspaper to publish the photo the same day. The military drafted the fax for use in 1941 to transmit weather charts, maps and orders during World War II.

Newspapers relied on faxes to provide them with up-to-the minute details and photos from political conventions and other news-worthy events from around the world. Although the FCC authorized the development of commercial fax technology in 1948, it would be the mid 1970's before it caught on in the mainstream of daily business operations, but even then only in limited industries due to complicated technology and expensive costs. By the mid 1980's though, fax operations were simpler and less expensive and set the world of big business ablaze in a way that forever changed the way the modern world does business.

Corporations and large organizations worldwide began implementing the fax as their primary method of communications. Authorizations, customer orders and verifications could be delivered within minutes instead of waiting for postal pickup and delivery, which took forever. The cost to productivity ratio proved a profitable investment for sizable enterprises.

Faxing can still be a heavy expense on small businesses, especially for professionals who work from home. There's the cost of the fax machine itself and the cost of ink cartridges, toner and paper, not to mention the cost of additional phone lines and/or expensive software if small business owners opt for strictly computer-based faxing. While e-mailing documents is an option, e-mails often go astray and frequently the computer receiving an attached document does not feature the software application required for opening the document. Thousands of home based businesses rely on faxing for document editing that bypasses the need to have compatible, expensive software.

With faxing being a necessity in today's business world instead of a luxury, how can small business owners and work-from-home pros offset the high cost without passing it along to their clients? There has to be an affordable fax option that keeps them competitive with other businesses.

And there is ... once again the Internet-age comes to the rescue with cost-effective faxing for small business owners and work-from-home pros leveling the playing field so they can be not only more productive, but also more competitive in their markets. Online faxing gives them a decisive advantage in doing business.

I'm sure you've heard about online faxing, but you've also heard about the expensive set-up fees that go along with it. Your budget is stretched to the limit now and a hefty set-up fee just isn't in the cards.

Well, you can scratch that expense off your list of luxuries by visiting http://www.faxitnice.com for a simple, affordable option. They've broken the well-kept industry-secret that there is NOTHING to be set-up on an individual basis in Internet faxing, which means that there's no reason for online faxing to be expensive.

In business since 2003, FaxIt Nice offers its clients two affordable service options, the OnceOff Fax and the FaxIt Credit. OnceOff Fax is designed for someone sending a one-time and/or occasional fax. FaxIt Credit offers a FREE membership with NO monthly fees. You simply purchase a pre-determined amount based upon your individual business needs in $20 increments at valuable per page savings with deep discounts for volume purchases.

Give your small business the big business advantage by using the FaxIt Nice services developed by 350 Nice and ditch the last minute trips to the office supply store for expensive toners and drums. It's a cost-effective way, available 24 hours a day to any country in the world to give your business the competitive edge it takes to be successful in today's market!

(c) 2005, Angelina Jordan. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are printed intact and all links made live.