Fax in the context of "Bitmap"

A facsimile (from Latin fac simile, "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in scale, color, condition, and other material qualities. For books and manuscripts, this also entails a complete copy of all pages; hence, an incomplete copy is a "partial facsimile". Facsimiles are sometimes used by scholars to research a source that they do not have access to otherwise, and by museums and archives for media preservation and conservation. Many are sold commercially, often accompanied by a volume of commentary.

The term "fax" is a shortened form of "facsimile", though most faxes are not reproductions of the quality expected in a true facsimile.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as data packets, facilitating various methods of voice communication, including traditional applications like Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Voice, and VoIP phones. Regular telephones can also be used for VoIP by connecting them to the Internet via analog telephone adapters (ATAs), which convert traditional telephone signals into digital data packets that can be transmitted over IP networks.

The broader terms Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service specifically refer to the delivery of voice and other communication services, such as fax, SMS, and voice messaging, over the Internet, in contrast to the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN), commonly known as plain old telephone service (POTS).

A telephone network is a telecommunications network that connects telephones to support calls between them that facilitate human communication. The technology eventually came to be used for communication between humans and machines (i.e. fax and dial-up Internet access) although today this has been replaced with digital technologies.

The world was transformed in the 1920s as the phone became ubiquitous; with people sharing news, ideas, and personal information. During the 1990s, the phone helped transform the world again with the advent of computers, sophisticated communication devices, and via dial-up internet.

Telephony (/təˈlɛfəni/ tə-LEF-ə-nee) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is intimately linked to the invention and development of the telephone.

Telephony is commonly referred to as the construction or operation of telephones and telephonic systems and as a system of telecommunications in which telephonic equipment is employed in the transmission of speech or other sound between points, with or without the use of wires. The term is also used frequently to refer to computer hardware, software, and computer network systems, that perform functions traditionally performed by telephone equipment. In this context the technology is specifically referred to as Internet telephony, or voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

A telephone call, phone call, voice call, or simply a call, is the use of a connection over a telephone network between two parties for audio communication. To start a call, the calling party, the caller, opens a connection for a particular phone number and waits for an answer to the request; often indicated by an audible ringtone. To answer the call, the called party accepts the request to start a conversation. A party is most commonly a single person, but can be a group of people (i.e. conference call) or a machine (i.e. fax). In some contexts, the term A-Number refers to the caller and B-Number refers to the called party.

The telephone call was enabled by multiple inventions in the mid- to late-19th century including the telephone. Initial technology involved point-to-point electrical wire connections between telephone installations, until centralized exchanges evolved where telephone operators established each interconnection manually at a telephone switchboard after asking the calling party for their call destination. After the invention of automatic telephone exchanges in the 1890s, the process became increasingly automated, eventually leading to the widespread adoption of digital exchanges in the second half of the 20th century, including the transition to wireless communication via mobile telephone networks and cellular networks. With the development of the Internet, the cost of telephone calls was drastically reduced with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).