Overall, the old fax machines are currently still in use in 82 percent of companies in Germany, the IT industry association Bitkom announced today. A third (33 percent) of the companies stated in a study that they still use the fax frequently or very frequently.
However, even fax fans cannot completely shut themselves off from digitization. Usage is declining significantly. Last year, 40 percent of companies still admitted frequent use, in 2018 it was even 62 percent. Although the development here is now quite clear, it might surprise many people how often this communication technology is still used – because it has disappeared from the everyday life of most citizens for many years.
Eventually usage will decrease
“In view of the digital change, the fax was declared dead long ago. However, once a communication channel has established itself, it usually takes a long time until it is completely replaced – even if there are now much more convenient and secure communication channels,” said Nils Britze, Head of Division digital business processes at Bitkom. In particular, the high verifiability of delivery is still valued.
50 percent of companies only fax occasionally or rarely. 16 percent are already doing without it completely, in 2022 it was only 11 percent. Especially when it comes to confidential communication, you are in a bad position with the fax. For example, end-to-end encryption is not possible here, or only with enormous effort.
- 82% of companies in Germany still use fax machines.
- Usage is declining: 33% reported frequent usage.
- Digital change declared fax dead long ago.
- Traceability of delivery is still being protected.
- 50% only fax occasionally or rarely.
- 16% do without it completely.
- End-to-end encryption only possible with effort.
See also:
Communication, paper, fax
Abhisek Sarda/Flickr
