Question What is the best way to fax from home? I live in Canada and I use Teksavvy as both my ISP and my VoIP.

[puppychumful]

I cannot find some simple easy free method to send and receive faxes of any size I want. That seems rather bizarre considering I used to be able to do so when I had a conventional landline years ago. I opened an account with Fax Plus https://www.fax.plus/ (and paid some monies to do so as I had some essential faxes to send), but that seems like both a waste of time and money, given I used to be able to send and receive faxes of any size I want for free when I had a conventional landline and fax machine years ago. It's easy enough for me to scan to PDF via Windows 10 but what then?

 

[Gam3r01]

Whats stopping you from using a regular fax machine then?
Any online service you find is either going to require payment, or impose limits. Thats business.

 

[puppychumful]

I live in Canada and I use Teksavvy as both my ISP and my VoIP. My understanding is that Teksavvy VoIP does not support faxing (maybe I am wrong?).

FAX over VOIP, Teksavvy says no https://forums.redflagdeals.com/fax-over-voip-teksavvy-says-no-possible-another-provider-1285762/2/

Mind you that was 2014 and I just assumed it has not changed!

But here we are in 2020 and it seems iffy https://www.digitalhome.ca/threads/can-i-use-a-fax-machine-with-a-voip-phone.58104/

 

[Alabalcho]

You gave up on your analogue land line, and you gave up the option to send faxes using standard fax protocol. Your ISP's right that once you used VoIP, you can't send faxes.

Your only option for "free" faxing is to get back your analogue land line.

 

[puppychumful]

I wouldn't go as far as saying "I gave up on it" as I simply found it to be too costly for the services provided. When you give up on something it means you lose faith in it and/or no longer have an emotional attachment to it, and I had no such feelings towards my land line. Perhaps you have such feelings?

As to your claim that “that once you used VoIP, you can't send faxes” I cannot imagine why that must be the case, does VoIP have some sort of inherent and continuous distaste for faxing?

I am pulling your leg here (and there).

 

[Ralston18]

Do you have a multi-function printer: i.e. print, scan, copy, fax?

Perhaps you can do something like is described/suggested in the following link.

https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Home-Phone-Service-Equipment/How-Do-I-Set-Up-Landline/td-p/3365593

Should be straightforward to do some testing if you do have a multi-function printer and maybe a long telephone cable/cord.

 

[puppychumful]

Sadly no, it would not be straightforward at all.

In order to do the type of testing needed I would have to fax a number of institutions a number of times over a considerable period of time and even then things could change with Teksavvy.

I have thought about giving it a try with my existing machines and Teksavvy VoIP. The problem is that the faxes I need to send are mission critical and I cannot take the chance of them sometimes working and sometimes not. Unless I can get complete assurance from Teksavvy I am understandably reticent and Teksavvy has not gotten back to me.

 

[Ralston18]

Maybe reconsider the options?

Do the "faxes" (.pdf ) really need to be faxed per se?

Why not email to the intended recipients: attach the documents and launch to the applicable recipient(s). Create mailing lists that you can use as applicable.

You can automate that process to some degree and also sent up read/delivery receipt notices.

That would, I think, either remove or reduce any Teksavvy issues to some degree.

Just my thoughts on the matter....

 

[puppychumful]

Hi Ralston18,
Alas, some institutions and organizations are many years behind the times and do not readily accept attachments via email as official documentation. That's the point of the whole thread and why some people still use fax.

 

[puppychumful]

Teksavvy informs me (no guarantees though) that if I use an analog telephone adapter T38 with my fax machine (one of these CISCO SPA112 or one of these Grandstream HT801?) it likely will work. Although I am not sure and they seem kind'a pricey for what they do.

 

[Alabalcho]

VoIP digitizes the voice so it can be sent over the Internet. Faxing, however, is not a voice, so "fax signal" (which is in fact digital image converted into a "song" so it can be transferred over a analogue line) is difficult to transmit over a VoIP connection.

I do remember we had our office connected to a dedicated VoIP adapter and service so standard fax machine could be used, before completely retired.