|
| |
FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet?
September 1999: I am no longer updating this FAQ due to time
constraints and other interests. If someone is seriously interested
in taking over maintenance of this document, e-mail savetz@northcoast.com
to discuss it.
Here are links to articles with more recent info about newer fax services:
Version 1.9 - October 11 1998
This document is copyright 1998 by Kevin M. Savetz.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Can I send a fax from the Internet?
Commercial Services - Faxing from the Desktop
Commercial Services - Faxing via Web and E-mail
Free services - International Destinations
Free services - United States Destinations
Free services - Canadian Destinations
Other Internet/Fax Tricks
For More Information About Faxing
Legal Stuff
Where to Find this Document
CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET?
Yes. There are many services that will let you use the Internet to send
a fax. Some are free while others are pay services. Most services
require that you can send and receive electronic mail, or that you have
Web access. Some require that you install special software on your
computer (these are listed in the "Faxing from the Desktop" section.)
Other Internet services that are available include conversion of
incoming faxes to e-mail. That is, when you receive a fax at a special
number, the fax is scanned and sent to your e-mail address. Other
commercial services include bulk faxing, and web page form input to fax.
(These are not primary concerns of this document, but are noted for your
convenience.)
COMMERCIAL SERVICES: FAXING FROM THE DESKTOP
These services allow you to send a fax using an application on your
Internet-connected computer (rather than by accessing a Web page or
sending e-mail, as with the services mentioned above.) All of the following
services use the Internet to route the fax towards its destination. Some
services simply send your fax from one central Internet server from
faxation; others use the Internet to partially route the fax to save long
distance charges. It usually works something like this: faxes are
transmitted from the sender's desktop fax software to the a special
server. The server routes faxes via an Internet connection to a remote
server located in geographical proximity to the destination fax machine.
>From this remote server, the fax is sent to its target address using the
local telephone system.
Bell Atlantic PC Fax
Bell Atlantic PC Fax lets you send faxes to anywhere in the world from your
Windows 95, 98 or NT computer. Using a print driver, it works with
any Windows application, providing 'what you see is what you get'
faxing. Check the status of your job with any web browser, or get
e-mail confirmation when the fax job is completed.
http://www.bapcfax.com/
FaxFree
This Windows 95 software allows users to send and receive faxes from one
Windows 95 machine to another Windows 95 machine over the Internet. If
you are in a corporate networking scheme, the software can route
outgoing faxes to ordinary fax machines for delivery.
http://www.tacsystems.com/fax.htm
[Verified 9/14/98]
eFax
eFax is a desktop-to-fax application for Windows. Includes encryption,
broadcasting, and scanner support.
http://www.e-corp.com/products/efax/
[Verified 9/16/98]
FaxNet's FaxMission
FaxMission lets you fax from Windows 95 or Windows NT using a Windows print
driver. Supports web browser status and return email confirmations. Also
supports inbound faxing to Boston (617) or toll free numbers.
http://www.faxmission.com/
FaxStorm
FaxStorm is a desktop-to-fax application for Windows. It includes a
contact manager, a fax scheduler, a cover page builder and an attachment
manager.
http://www.faxstorm.com
[Verified 9/14/98]
GraphNet MPW
Fax-from-the-desktop for the corporate environment. Windows.
http://www.graphnet.com/
[Verified 9/16/98]
Tornado Electronic Messaging System
TEMS software provides e-mail, fax, voice mail and paging from one
mailbox.
http://www.tems.com/
[Verified 9/14/98]
JFAX
Fax directly from your e-mail software or from your favorite applications
to any fax machine in the world. You can also receive faxes and voice
mail via e-mail: JFAX provides its users with a personal telephone number
which diverts
fax (digitized including graphics) and voicemail (converted to a digital
file) to an e-mail account. Mac and Windows software is available.
http://www.jfax.net
[Verified 9/14/98]
Telebox
Sends faxes worldwide using Windows. Can handle TIFF, JPEG, BMP and other
graphics files as well as text. Free trial account available.
Subscribers must prepay for $15 in transmission charges. For information:
http://www.netbox.com/cpsinfo/telbox.htm
neocom@telbox.coms
[Verified 9/14/98]
US West FaxPower
FaxPower lets you send faxes to anywhere in the world from any Windows
95/98/NT PC application. Faxing options include point to point and broadcast
faxing, with job status and control via the web. You can also receive faxes
via e-mail. You can choose local inbound fax-to-email numbers
for Denver (303), Minneapolis (612), Phoenix (602), Portland (503), Seattle
(206), or toll free (800/888). Pricing is $3.95 per month for
outbound/$12.95 for inbound and outbound.
http://www.faxpower.com/
[Verified 10/11/98]
COMMERCIAL SERVICES - FAXING FROM THE WEB AND E-MAIL
Faxaway
Allows you to send faxes anywhere in the world, including many types of
attachments. Fee depends on the destination country (US is 11
cents/minute, Germany is 35 cents/minute.)
You can test the service by sending a free fax immediately. To do so,
visit:
http://www.faxaway.com/testdrive/testdrive.cgi?20100
For more information, e-mail:
info@faxaway.com
[Verified 9/17/98]
Digital Mail
Offers e-mail-to-fax and fax-to-e-mail. Subscribers get a unique phone
number that accepts voicemail and faxes.
http://www.digitalmail.com/
[Verified 9/17/98]
FaxMate
Provides e-mail-to-fax, fax-to-e-mail (documents arrive as graphic
attachments), broadcast fax and fax-to-fax (routed over Internet).
http://www.faxmate.com
[Verified 9/14/98]
FaxSAV
This company offers e-mail-to-fax as well as Internet faxing from
desktop software, web page-to-fax, and fax broadcast services.
Information about their e-mail-to-fax service is at:
http://www.faxsav.com/faxsavinternet/html/faxmailer.html
General information is at:
http://www.faxsav.com/
[Verified 9/17/98]
GSIS
Offers e-mail to fax, fax-to-e-mail, web-to-fax, and fax broadcast.
http://www.gsisys.com/services.html
[Verified 9/17/98]
HT-NET
Send faxes from the web: service includes personal address book and spell
checker. Provides delivery confirmation via e-mail. They also do
broadcast faxing.
You can also recieve faxes via a personal fax number (650 or 800 area
code). You can view received faxes, including graphics, in your web
browser.
http://www.htnet.net
[verified 9/14/98]
InterFax
InterFax allows you to send faxes via e-mail within the US or
internationally. Fax broadcasting is supported as well. For charges and
further information, send e-mail to
interfaxinfo@pan.com (automatic reply) or faxmaster@pan.com (human)
[Verified 9/17/98]
Interpage
Offers fax-to-e-mail, e-mail-to-fax, web-to-fax, graphical fax-to-web.
http://www.interpage.net
info@interpage.net or help@interpage.net or questions@interpage.net
[Verified 9/17/98]
fax.co.uk United Kingdom
E-mail-to-fax gateway to United Kingdom destinations. Offers services
for sender or recipient to pay for delivery. For information:
http://fax.co.uk/
info@fax.co.uk
[Verified 9/17/98]
IndiaFax Calport (India)
Send text or graphic (PCX format) faxes to India. For more information,
e-mail:
indiafax@calport.wa.com or support@calport.wa.com
[verified 6/21/97]
Iranian and Armenian Post Office
Does e-mail-to-fax and e-mail-to-postal mail to Iran and Armenia.
Iran: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/irpost/
Armenia: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/armpost/
[verified 9/16/98]
ITnets
E-mail-to-fax, fax from the desktop, fax-to-fax routed over Internet, fax
broadcasting.
http://www.itnets.com
[verified 9/15/98]
Mailmail
Worldwide web-to-fax service allows attachments.
http://www.mailmail.com/
[verified 9/16/98]
NCI (Western Europe)
This fax gateway allows customers to send faxes to most of the Western
European countries, including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium
and many other countries. Accepts ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 documents.
For more information:
http://www.nci.nl/ (Web site is in Dutch)
Or send e-mail:
To: info.fax@nci.nl
[verified 9/14/98]
Syscom
E-mail-to-fax gateway that specializes in broadcast faxing.
http://www.syscom-corp.com
[verified 9/16/98]
UniTerra
UniTerra does worldwide e-mail to fax, fax-to-e-mail, web-to-fax, web
page fax on demand and mass faxing.
http://www.uniterra.com
[verified 9/14/98]
FREE SERVICES - International destinations
TPC.INT Remote Printing
The TPC.INT "Remote Printing Experiment" is the grandfather of Internet
faxing services. A group effort for the benefit of Internet users, the
service is free. You can send faxes via e-mail or a Web form. You can
send mail to many parts of the world but not everywhere. Check the
current coverage list. A variety of companies, institutions and citizens
around the world have joined the experiment. When an organization joins
as a remote-fax server, it specifies what areas to which they are willing
to send faxes. If any articipating fax organizations cover the area you
wish to reach, your message is routed to the appropriate machine for
faxation. Otherwise, you will receive a message informing you the fax
couldn't be delivered.
Check the coverage list first:
http://www.tpc.int/fax_cover_auto.html
tpccover@info.tpc.int
To send a fax by e-mail, send a message
To: remote-printer.info@phonenumber.iddd.tpc.int
Where <info> contains information for the cover page. In <info>, "/" is
turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. For example:
To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551234.iddd.tpc.int
Use the following addresses to obtain more information:
Home page: http://www.tpc.int/
Frequently-Asked-Questions: tpcfaq@info.tpc.int
or http://www.tpc.int/faq/tpcfaq.html
Subscribe to mailing list: majordomo@aarnet.edu.au
Body: subscribe tpc-rp
Mailing list contributions: tpc-rp@aarnet.edu.au
Administrative questions: tpcadmin@info.tpc.int
[Verified 9/15/98]
Philippines
For information on sending free faxes to the Philippines (Iligan city,
Metro Cebu and Metro Manila) see:
http://www.msuiit.edu.ph/fax.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Costa Rica
This site lets you send free faxes to Costa Rica. You can send a fax
anywhere in the country and check the delivery status .The web pages are
in Spanish.
http://www.nacion.co.cr/netinc/cortesia/fax.html
[Verified 9/14/98]
Kuwait
This service will send a fax to anywhere in Kuwait. Usage:
To: fax@kuwait.net
Subject: 7 digit phone number without punctuation
Body: text of fax
For help, visit http://www.kuwait.net/fax.help or send email
To: fax@kuwait.net
Subject: help
[Verified 9/16/98]
Auckland, New Zealand
This service lets you send a fax to Auckland, New Zealand (+64 9). For
information or to send a fax, visit:
http://www.faxmail.co.nz/
For a fee, the company also allows you to receive faxes via e-mail, send
bulk faxes, and other services.
[Verified 9/15/98]
Austria
This Web-to-fax gateway covers commercial fax numbers in Austria. The
entire site is in German. You need to search its directory of 150,000
businesses. If the business is in the database, you can send it a fax.
If not, you can't.
http://www.compnet.at/
[Verified 9/16/98]
Romania
This e-mail-to-fax service allows you to send a fax anywhere in Romania.
It appears to be a commercial service, but according to the web site "You
may use this service free several times." To send a fax to Romania, send
e-mail:
To: 1234567@fax.kappa.ro (7-digit local fax number)
Body: text of fax
For more information:
http://www1.kappa.ro/fax/eindex.html
[Verified 9/14/98]
Equador
Free faxes to Equador. Web page in Spanish:
http://www2.lahora.com.ec/paginas/faxg.html
[Verified 9/14/98]
Karachi, Pakistan
Free faxes to Karachi, Pakistan: Send e-mail:
To: fax@broadcast.net
Subject: fax2444047 (the word "fax" & seven-digit fax number)
Body: text of fax
For more information:
http://members.tripod.com/~faximpex/fax.htm
For help via e-mail, send a message:
To: faximpex@broadcast.net
Subject: help
[Verified 9/15/98]
Panama
Free faxes to Panama. Web page in Spanish.
http://www.prensa.com/cgi-bin/faxman.cgi
[Verified 9/15/98]
Egypt
Free faxes to Egypt.
http://haneen.dyn.ml.org/fax/fax.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Israel
Allows you to send faxes to businesses in Israel. You can only send faxes
to businesses listed in their yellow pages directory.
http://www.yellowpages.co.il/dapaz/info/efaxinfo.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
FREE SERVICES - United States destinations
Sacramento (1-916)
This service is a feature of a Sacramento, California-based bulletin
board system. You can use it to send faxes to areas that are a local
call from Sacramento, including the California State Legislature. This
service is run as a hobby and is connected to the Internet by UUCP, so
it can take from 12 to 24 hours for your fax to be delivered or for the
help files to reach you. It does not support multiple addressing: only
one fax number per message. It also does not send a cover page, so be
sure to start your message with a note directing it to someone's
attention. It will truncate faxes longer than two pages (that's 132
lines.)
To use this fax service, send e-mail
To: faxline@sacto.com
Subject: local (7 digit) phone number, without area code
Body: <text of fax>
For complete usage information, send e-mail
To: request@sacto.com
Subject: 052
For a list of some legislators' fax numbers in the Sacramento area, send
e-mail:
To: request@sacto.com
Subject: 050
Information about this service is also available on the Web:
http://www.calweb.com/~argek/fax/intro.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
University of Minnesota (1-612)
The University of Minnesota operates a fax gateway which allows students
and staff to send faxes anywhere. If you don't go to UMinn, you may use
the service to send faxes to folks at the University and exchanges local
to the campus.
The structure for e-mailing a fax is:
To: /pn=John.Doe/dd.fax=234-5678/@fax.tc.umn.edu
Put the recipient's name, with a period between the first and last
names, after pn= and put the seven digit fax number after the characters
dd.fax=. This name will be printed in the "To:" field on the fax cover
page. The area code for the University of Minnesota is 612, so you don't
need to supply an area code. For more information, send e-mail to
ccs@maroon.tc.umn.edu.
[Verified 6/21/97]
University of Illinois, Chicago (1-815)
Lets you send a fax to the University of Illinois, Chicago campus. To
send a fax, address mail to:
Arlo_Cats18155551212@fax.uic.edu
[Verified 6/21/97]
New York City (1-212)
Interpage, a commercial fax service listed in the commercial section
below, offers free faxing to any number in the New York City area or any
U.S. toll-free number.
http://www.interpage.net/wwwfax.html
[Verified 9/17/98]
FREE SERVICES - Canadian destinations
University of Calgary
For faxes to Calgary, Canada. Usage is:
To: John_Jones@5551234.fax.ucalgary.ca
[Verified 6/21/97]
Winnipeg City (1-204)
This service allows you to send a fax to Winnipeg City, Canada (area
code 204.) To use, send e-mail
To: fax@umanitoba.ca
Body:
FAXnumber: <local 7-digit fax number to dial>
FAXto: <Receiver's name>
FAXfrom: <sender's name>
FAXcontact: <sender's phone number>
FAXmemobegin
<Optional memo text on the cover page, up to 20 lines>
FAXmemoend
<Whole fax body>
[Verified 6/21/97]
Quebec and Montreal (1-514 and 1-450)
For faxes to the 514 and 450 area codes. Usage is:
To: John_Jones@555-1234.fax.cam.org (for 510 area code)
To: John_Jones@450-555-1234.fax.cam.org (for 450 area code)
For more information, see
http://WWW.CAM.ORG/en/accsupp/most/email/fax.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Quebec City area (1-418)
To send a fax by e-mail, send a message
To: rp.info@phonenumber.fax.ulaval.ca
Where <info> contains information for the cover page. In <info>, "/" is
turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. Don't use "."
and "@" in <info>. For example:
To: rp.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@14185551234.fax.ulaval.ca
For more information (in French):
http://www.gel.ulaval.ca/Fax/manuel_fax.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Quebec (1-418)
Send a fax anywhere in Québec city, 35 lines maximum.
http://ns2.clic.net/fax.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Montreal (1-514).
Send a fax anywhere in Montreal, free. Web page is in English and French.
http://www.iti.qc.ca/iti/fax.htm
[Verified 9/14/98]
Montreal (1-514).
Send a fax anywhere in Montreal, free. Web page is in English and French.
You can check the status of your fax as well.
http://www.vif.com/run/fax/index.shtml
[Verified 9/14/98]
Fax the Feds
For Canadian citizens, lets you send a free fax to your Member of
Parliament. This is basically a phone book interface to TPC.INT.
http://www.net-efx.com/faxfeds/
[Verified 9/17/98]
OTHER INTERNET/FAX TRICKS
The following services do not fall under this document's primary focus
(services that can send or receive faxes via the Internet) but are
included because, well, people keep asking about them.
BCM
Corporate fax-to-fax routed over the Internet.
http://www.bcmfax.net
[Verified 9/16/98]
Netoffice FaxWeb
Allows you to retrieve your faxes and voicemail messages using the World
Wide Web. For information, visit:
http://www.faxweb.net
[Verified 9/14/98]
PASSaFAX
Corporate fax-to-fax routed over the Internet.
http://www.vocaltec.com/radlinx/prod_paf.html
[Verified 9/15/98]
Protofax
Internet-to-fax server software.
http://www.protonet.com
[Verified 9/15/98]
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FAXING
For more information about Internet-to-fax gateways, and faxing info in
general, check out the Usenet newsgroup alt.fax.
For technical information about the data communications aspects of
faxing, see the newsgroup comp.dcom.fax
Also visit Michael Frost's review of Internet fax services, at:
http://www.netpower.no/frost/fax/
A comprehensive list of Windows NT fax solutions is at:
http://www.stonecarver.com/ntfax-faq.html
Did you know that sending unsolicited advertisements via fax is illegal
in the United States? (Per 47USC227):
http://www.codemeta.com/tpc/usc47.txt
LEGAL STUFF
This document is copyright 1998 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights
reserved.
All prices in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
Permission for the following types of distribution is hereby granted,
provided that this file is distributed intact, including the above
copyright notice:
- non-commercial distribution
- posting to Internet archives, BBSs and online services
- distribution by teachers, librarians and Internet trainers
- inclusion on software/FAQ/Internet-oriented CD-ROMs
Permission for commercial distribution may be obtained from the editor.
SHARE THIS INFORMATION FREELY AND IN GOOD FAITH. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE
MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THIS DOCUMENT.
This document is always in transition. If you notice that something
important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please
contact the editor.
The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the
Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a
volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to insure that
answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or
intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember
that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be
surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do,
please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and
comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz at savetz@northcoast.com. Please
indicate what version of this document to which you are referring.
WHERE TO FIND THIS DOCUMENT
On the World Wide Web
http://www.savetz.com/fax/
You can receive it via anonymous FTP
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq
This file is posted to the Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services,
alt.online-service, alt.bbs.internet, alt.fax, alt.answers,
comp.dcom.fax, comp.mail.misc, comp.answers, and news.answers
You can also retrieve this document via electronic mail:
To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Body: send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq
###end of document###
|
