How to send a fax via email, step by step

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Sending a fax via email

1. Sign up for a service that includes email-to-fax. Every provider in the table sends from email or a web page; CocoFax prints 'Email to Fax' and 'Fax to Email' as plan features. Choose on the monthly allowance and overage in the table, because a fax sent by email is billed exactly like one sent any other way.
2. Attach the document. PDF is the safe format; most services also accept Word documents and images. Each page of the attachment is one fax page, and providers cap pages per fax: Fax.Plus prints 60 pages per fax on Basic and 200 on Business, FaxZero 25 on its paid option.
3. Address it the way the provider specifies. The pattern is the recipient's fax number, usually with the country code, at the provider's fax domain, so that a ten-digit US number becomes an address like the number followed by the provider's domain. The exact format is on each provider's help page and differs by service; the subject line often carries the cover sheet text.
4. Keep the confirmation. A fax's legal weight comes from the transmission report. Online services email a confirmation when the fax completes and store the report with the sent fax, which is more reliable than the paper slip a machine prints and is the reason regulated businesses moved to them.

Sending one fax without an account

If you need to send a single fax today and will never send another, a per-fax service is cheaper than any subscription. FaxZero prints free faxes of up to three pages plus a cover, at most five a day, and a paid option at $3.29 per fax by PayPal for up to 25 pages with priority delivery. It sends only, so nothing can be received, and its page does not state HIPAA. For anything recurring, the monthly plans in the table cost less per page from the second fax onward.

Can you email to a fax number directly?

No. The two networks do not connect without a service in between. Attempts to email a fax number produce a bounce, because there is no mail server behind a telephone number. The same is true in reverse: a fax machine cannot send to an email address unless the sending service converts it, which is what fax-to-email on the receiving plans in the table does for you.

The practical answer is that any of the vendors in the table makes 'email to fax' true for you, at the printed price and allowance, and the choice between them is the choice the table lays out.

Common questions

How do I send a fax via email?

Sign up with an online fax service, attach the document to an email addressed in the provider's format (the recipient's fax number at the provider's fax domain), and send. The provider dials the number and emails you a confirmation. Each page counts against your allowance.

Can you email a fax number directly?

No. A fax number is a telephone number and email does not reach it. An online fax service bridges the two; every vendor in the table does.

Is it cheaper to send one fax without a plan?

For a single fax, yes: FaxZero prints free up to three pages or $3.29 per fax. For anything recurring, a monthly plan's per-page cost is lower from the second fax.

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