The Do It Yourself Way To Fax For Free
You can send a Fax from your computer directly to a fax machine. And your computer can receive a fax directly from a fax machine. You can do this without using a Fax service if your computer is equipped with a fax modem (many are) and you can plug your computer into a regular phone line - not an internet connection, but a voice phone line.
The software you will need is built into most modern computers as a part of Windows or Mac OSX .
This approach might work for you if you have an extra phone line or you don't mind tying up your primary phone line. But there are a few things you will need to consider.
- Your computer will have to be on, plugged into the phone line, and set to answer the phone while you wait for a fax to arrive.
- Call Waiting must be off to avoid interruption of inbound faxes. The call waiting signal will usually cause an error in a fax transmission in progress.
- Most fax machines will retry only a few times and at about one minute intervals if your line is busy so an inbound call while you are waiting for a fax could be a problem.
- Make sure no one picks up an extension phone on the line you're using as this will also tend to cause transmission errors.
- For sending, your fax may not go through the first try and you may need to tie up the line longer while you resend.
A Fax Service Is A Better Way To Go If:
- You prefer a free fax phone number that is never busy and works 24/7.
- You send more than an occasional fax.
- You want to schedule fax transmissions.
- You want to send a fax to multiple destinations.
- You want to avoid long distance charges - especially international calls.
- You want to access your faxes from any internet connection.
- You want to present a more professional appearance - especially for small businesses