“It’s time”
Householders are sending Bundestag fax machines into retirement
November 17, 2023, 8:55 a.m
Faxes have not played a role in many people’s private lives for many years. Things look different in business and politics, but now the fax machine is in trouble: the budget holders are giving the Bundestag administration a deadline until the summer during their deliberations.
The Budget Committee wants to ban all fax machines from the Bundestag. In a so-called regulatory resolution, the budget holders called on the Bundestag administration to abolish all fax machines in Bundestag properties by June 30, 2024 at the latest in their adjustment meeting for the 2024 budget. All work processes and activities for which these devices would still be used should be completely digitalized.
“I am pleased that, based on our proposal, the Budget Committee has decided to retire all remaining fax machines,” explained FDP politician Torsten Herbst on X. “It’s about time.”
Just last May, a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom showed that 82 percent of companies in Germany still use a fax machine to transmit documents at least occasionally. However, a comparison with previous years also showed that the number of users is steadily declining: a third of companies stated that they still use faxes frequently or very frequently. In 2022 it was 40 percent, and in 2018 it was even 62 percent of companies.
“Once a communication channel has been established, it takes time until it is completely replaced – even if there are now much more comfortable and secure communication channels,” Bitkom commented on the result. The fax has long since disappeared from many people’s private lives. But especially in corporate communication, the high level of verifiability of delivery is particularly valued.
During the corona pandemic it also became clear that many doctor’s practices still cling to the fax machine. Also in a Bitkom survey in 2021, one in five general practitioners (22) stated that they still relied on fax as their preferred means of communication. Only one in twenty doctors communicates primarily via email with other practices, pharmacies or their patients.