Faxing Without Using a Phone Line

[FearoftheNight]

Hey guys. Need someone to help me out. My parents have a line they pay for and they only use it for the fax. Is there a way to give them that capability without the need for a line? (They pay $35 or so just for that line). They only use the fax about 5-6 times a month...Thanks!

 

[deadlyapp]

Email + scanner.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Now I'm not sure if this would be possible, but couldn't they just hook the fax machine to their regular talk line and only turn it on when they are expecting to send or receive a fax?

I'm assuming they don't need to just leave it on 24/7 waiting for faxes to come in do they?

Edit: I know my parents have a printer/scanner/fax machine that's hooked into their normal phone line and you can just set it to receive/send a fax when you want it to, that way it doesn't take up the line when not in use.

 

[LTC8K6]

I think they don't want a land line...

 

[Schfifty Five]

I think they don't want a land line...

Hard to judge from the OP whether they have only 1 line or 2 lines (1 talk, 1 fax)

 

[weadjust]

I work from home and still need a fax machine occasionally. If they have a home phone land line you can get a feature called distinctive ring or ring master added to the home phone. Cost $5-6 a month with AT&T. With this feature you have two numbers on the same phone line. Normal ring is a telephone call. Two short rings in a fax call. Don't answer the two short ring calls and the fax machine will answer it.

You can also use this if you have a home business and you can tell which calls are personal or business with only one phone line and bill.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hard to judge from the OP whether they have only 1 line or 2 lines (1 talk, 1 fax)

Yeah, could be either way. They sure don't need a separate fax line.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

If they need to receive faxes.... efax
If they need to send... scan & email.

But really... who uses a fax anymore?

 

[ElFenix]

afaik, fax machines are smart enough now to monitor the line and interdict if a fax starts transmitting from the other side when you answer.

 

[LTC8K6]

If they need to receive faxes.... efax
If they need to send... scan & email.

But really... who uses a fax anymore?

Fax is still used for a lot of stuff.

 

[FearoftheNight]

Hey guys. Ok to clarify:
1) email and scanner won't work because sometimes the people they work with need something faxed as the only option
2) the other line is a business line so it needs 100% uptime
3) thank you, i need to research this as i think some older faxes (mine is from 1990 or something) have a problem id'ing the second ring
4) efax's price is awfully close to the price of the phone line. has anyone tried http://www.trustfax.com/index

 

[bonkers325]

fax.com is $10/mo, but you need access to a scanner so that you can scan documents.

 

[LTC8K6]

Scanned is no good, iirc. Certain docs must still be faxed.

 

[BoomerD]

Scanned is no good, iirc. Certain docs must still be faxed.

Scanning and sending is no different than direct fax...

 

[Alone]

Well if none of those options work for you, then you're out of luck.

A dedicated line seems to be the only thing that'll serve your purpose.

 

[Pardus]

Just get a two-way switch, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BSHG0S, when i get a phone call, it either routes the call to my landline phone or will route the call to the fax machine all on one voip phone line. Got mine at radio shack.

 

[tynopik]

3) thank you, i need to research this as i think some older faxes (mine is from 1990 or something) have a problem id'ing the second ring

I have a brother MFC that works perfectly with distinctive ring (although did have to fiddle with the configuration a bit at first).

also,

http://faxprices.com/

 

[FearoftheNight]

hey great link! but is there a way to see about the level of service /reliability/quality of these companies?

I have a brother MFC that works perfectly with distinctive ring (although did have to fiddle with the configuration a bit at first).

also,

http://faxprices.com/

 

[Schfifty Five]

Fear, why can't your parents just plug the fax into the main business line and leave it turned off until they need to send/receive a fax?

Your business line will be up essentially 100% of the time except for the very few times they need to fax something.

 

[DaWhim]

VOIP? ooma supports fax, but look it up.

 

[LTC8K6]

Scanning and sending is no different than direct fax...

It is considered insecure to scan it or send it over the internet. We use direct fax for security. A scanned document can be altered. A direct fax is pretty secure from alteration and interception.

 

[zinfamous]

Scanned is no good, iirc. Certain docs must still be faxed.

I don't understand how a PDF is somehow inferior to a faxed document.

these stone-aged offices that still require people to fax need to get with the fucking program.

Phone lines are dead and useless. rotting infrastructure that needs to be abandoned or utilized in some other sector.

Most all-in-ones have the scan-send PDF by email feature. way better than a fax.

 

[lxskllr]

If you must have fax, I like using the single business line. You don't have 100% uptime now. If someone calls the line while you're talking to another customer, it's the same as calling when the fax is going. Busy is busy, it doesn't matter why.

 

[zinfamous]

It is considered insecure to scan it or send it over the internet. We use direct fax for security. A scanned document can be altered. A direct fax is pretty secure from alteration and interception.

Oh, OK. I can see that.