A fax demodulator is a device used to intercept fax messages by listening in on a telephone line or radio signal.

A typical (Group III) fax transmission requires a two-way conversation between two modem

Modem

A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

s (that is, each participant must both transmit and receive). Each modem may be part of a “fax machine” incorporating an image scanner and a printer. A demodulator can only be used to observe a conversation between two fax modems, usually to record the image transmitted. It cannot be used to receive a fax transmission in the usual sense, because a sending modem cannot transmit an image without first negotiating a connection with a receiving modem.