<p>I want to be able to send faxes a few times/month for my home office and am considering various options. We have a HUGE clunker fax machine that only sends faxes currently. It is about the size of a bankers’ box but awkward.</p>
<p>We also have a printer that works just great, a flatbed color scanner and a black/white receipt scanner. We are trying to figure out the best way to just fax and possibly receive faxes. Does anyone have suggestions of a fax machine they like, that is $200 or less? If it performs other functions, that’s OK, so long as it doesn’t need ink refills in order to function as a fax machine. Thanks for your suggestions and guidance. We used to use an efax (where you can fax PDFs) but haven’t used that in some time and I’d like suggestions on that as well (which programs folks recommend).</p>
<p>One thing to consider is if your compute has an old phone modem, to use the enclosed fax software or a third-party version to receive faxes. </p>
<p>All that needs to be done is to open said software and set it to listen for incoming faxes. You can even use a Y phone jack duplicator to enable the old fax machine and the fax PC to be connected to the same phone line. </p>
<p>I’d also encourage people to email PDF documents as that’s becoming more of a norm among more business professionals.</p>
<p>Yes, but some documents are “sensitive” and best transmitted by fax or “snail mail.” I am interested in figuring out a fax machine to send those. Currently we receive faxes at my dad’s office and he brings them to his house and I pick them up there. I think we’d have to replace the toner to receive faxes with our clunker fax machine, which SENDS them just fine. That fax machine DOES accept a phone line.</p>
<p>Use your scanner, scan to your computer, plug your computer into your phone line and fax from the fax software that probably came with your computer. You can set your computer up to receive faxes as well. There are also online fax services like e-fax that you can subscribe to–used to be free to just receive faxes, but not sure if it still is.</p>
<p>I dumped the fax and went to a scanner, copier, printer that works with my Dell laptop and with our Iphones and Ipad. Use e-fax for those rare times when a scan and email won’t work. They are fewer and far between.</p>
<p>^^Yes that works great. I used to do that, but I ended up putting a wireless fax/scanner/copier /printer since my last high schooler still needs to print now and then and using our totally unused land line to send and receive faxes. But those are becoming less and less used, I noticed this year my son’s school is using Google docs and he hasn’t printed much at all.</p>
<p>We use a web based service, metro high speed fax, it’s about $12/month and all faxes go through the site. They do come to my email, you would have to verify whether the security level they offer meets your needs, but by canceling the phone line and the ink & paper it was a money saver for me, but even better, I can access those old faxes any time from any where, it enables me to be more flexible and paperless.</p>
<p>Actually, most law firms I’ve worked for were already moving towards sending/receiving PDF documents…including “sensitive” ones via email as early as the mid-'00s. </p>
<p>This also goes for many courts in my area(NYC area), including the Federal courts. In fact, at many law firms I’ve worked for/know of, the only folks still using faxes were a tiny minority of technophobic partners and clients.</p>
<p>HiMom–open your control panel on your computer, look under “printers and devices”, do you see a fax modem as one of your “printers”? If yes, you can fax right from your computer and receive faxes to your computer via your home phone line, just like you can with a fax machine. You don’t need a separate machine since you have a scanner already.</p>
<p>I agree that a PDF email is really the best way, and easiest, to go. You can encrypt the document so they need a password to open and you can lock the document so they can’t edit it. Companies use this all the time, even with sensitive documents.</p>
<p>The only type of fax machine that I am familiar with that does not use ink or toner to receive faxes would be the old thermal fax type machines, and you must buy the special thermal paper for those. After time the thermal faxes fade to oblivion, so if it is something you need to keep, you must copy it to copy paper with ink/toner.</p>
<p>In our office, we have automated our fax, so that it comes right into the computer. We have a small office, so this is not too fancy a deal. This works great. You can print if you need it, or just file it appropriately. I would look into something like that.</p>
<p>Don’t see the fax modem as one of our “printers.” </p>
<p>Will have to ask H to try to install this. Does he have to buy some software or hardware or something to install a fax modem? Where does one get encryption software? </p>
<p>Thanks for helping us get into the 21st century.</p>
<p>You can password protect a Word file too–but it doesn’t have the same capability to restrict editing unless you have 2010 or better (I think that is when they added that).</p>
<p>We have about 4-8 computers connected at any given time. The laptop I’m currently using is an old Dell. We have newer HP and other computers as well. We use PCs, but have iPhones as well.</p>
<p>Moreover, most corporations/law firms discourage sending word documents not only due to possible compatibility conflicts with different versions, but also because they could be greater conduits for computer viruses. </p>
<p>The only piece of hardware you’d need is an old style phone modem that can take a conventional phone line. It’s the item with jacks compatible with a regular phone cable. </p>
<p>It’s possible computers less than 5 years old don’t have the old phone modem as less people use dialup internet or send/receive faxes.</p>
<p>If you’re using Windows XP/Vista/7, there’s a fax program built into the operating system. One previous commenter already provided some instructions on how to set it up. </p>
<p>If you just need to receive faxes, you won’t need anything more than the fax program built into windows.</p>
<p>As an aside, if you do set up the fax software, it’s probably best if you do it on a dedicated machine that’s kept on so there’s no possibility of forgetting to turn on the machine and fax software. Moreover, unless the laptop is in a well ventilated room away from insulation(i.e. laying on a couch), it’s not a good idea to leave a laptop on 24/7.</p>
<p>HImom–take the phone cord off a land line-the part that plugs into the wall and plug that into your computer then into the wall jack–free fax software:D. I think you are missing the point–your computer is now your fax machine, just plug it into the phone line like you have your old fax machine plugged into your phone line–set up the program to run, much like you had to sent up the software on your printer. With that, you don’t need an online fax service.</p>
<p>My current laptop is only about 6 months old, it has a phone jack and fax modem.</p>