A global Microsoft 365 outage has pushed offices across Japan to revive an unlikely workplace tool: the fax machine. As Outlook and other digital services struggled on November 13, government departments and companies turned to telephone calls and fax transmissions to keep communication moving.
The disruption, which began in the Americas before spreading into Asia-Pacific working hours, affected services linked to Exchange Online, including Outlook. Other Microsoft 365 products also experienced problems, leaving employees unable to access routine email and collaboration tools.
In Japan, the impact reached local government offices and private companies. Some officials instructed the residents to reach them through phone or fax while email was out of the question. Physical copies were needed to continue their administrative activities.
The use of fax machines turned out to be a good solution even if this was a technology from an old age of office correspondence. People who used social media were thankful for analog means of communication, as fax machines were reliable in emergencies.
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The incident highlights how heavily workplaces depend on digital platforms for everyday operations. When email access disappears, routine tasks such as confirming transactions, sharing documents and responding to public enquiries can become difficult.
The disruption extended beyond Japan. Financial institutions and trading desks in the Asia-Pacific region also reported switching to phone calls, messaging apps and fax machines to manage communications and trade confirmations.
Microsoft said it was working to restore affected infrastructure, but early recovery measures had not delivered consistent results. The company reported no indication that malicious activity or a cyberattack caused the outage.
Japan’s fax revival is a reminder that backup systems still matter. Digital tools may make offices faster, but alternative communication channels can help organisations stay connected when technology unexpectedly stops working.