How To Send A Fax For Free, Online From Your Computer
Faxing nowadays is considered an obsolete method of communication, and its usage is usually limited to companies and governmental agencies. However, there are cases where you might need to send a fax, so here is how you can do it from your computer without a fax machine over the Internet, using three really great services.
A few words about fax
Fax, also known as telecopying or telefax, is a telecommunication technology used to transmit text and images using special devices, invented by Scottish physicist Alexander Bain in 1843. However, fax machines reached their current form and became popular after 1980.
Although businesses typically support some kind of communication using fax, this technology has received a lot of competition from alternative technologies based on the internet, especially email. In some countries, however, digital signatures in contracts are not yet recognized by law, as opposed to fax signatures.
Up to this day, fax machines still receive continuous support, especially by businesses and governmental agencies. In Japan, for example, faxes are used extensively and are available in over 81% of small markets across the country.
The way faxing works is that initially the sender is directly connected to the recipient's fax machine via a simple telephone call. If you receive a fax call and answer the phone, you will hear a sequence of sounds. These sounds are just the data coming from the sending fax machine, which are converted to audio data so as to be transmitted via the simple telephone network, without the need for an internet connection.
In fact, those who lived in the dial-up internet connection via phone call era, the modem made corresponding sounds until the connection was complete.
Afterwards, once the two fax machines have connected to each other, the sending machine scans one or more pages with its built-in scanner, converts them into digital images, and sends them through the telephone network. The recipient's machine receives the images and prints them with a built-in printer. Some fax machines store the pages in their built-in memory.
How to send a fax via the internet
There are several internet services that allow you to send a fax over the internet- some of them are free and others require a monthly subscription. Free services have several limitations, especially regarding the number of pages that you can send and the number of faxes per day.
In this article we will introduce you to the three best free internet fax services. All three services worked perfect during our tests.
Keep in mind that, in order to receive a fax over the internet without if you don’t have a fax machine, you will have to subscribe to the above services so that you can rent a phone number.
MyFax
MyFax is a very popular online faxing service. MyFax allows you to send up to two faxes per day in its free plan. If you need to send more faxes, or if you wish to receive faxes, you can try out its paid service for 30 days free of charge. After the trial period expires, the cost starts at $10 per month for sending and receiving 100 and 200 faxes respectively, and up to $40 for sending and receiving 400 pages per month.
Sending faxes with MyFax
Sending a fax with MyFax is quite an easy task, and no registration is required- you just need to fill in three forms.
In the first form you enter the details of the recipient- his name, the company’s name, country and phone number.
In the second form, you can (optionally) fill in your own details (name and company), but it is required that you enter a valid email address.
Finally, in the third form you are asked to select the file that you want to send. The service supports 178 file types, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, JPG, TIFF, PSD, and even files coming from highly specialized applications such as databases and AutoCAD files. If you want to see the entire list, click here.
The limit in the free version is that the file must have a maximum size of 10 MB and its maximum number of pages should not exceed 10. If you wish to send plain text, you can copy-paste it in the "Enter Text Message" field.
Finally, to send the fax, click on the "Send Fax" button.
A few minutes after uploading the file, the service will send you confirmation email which contains a link that you need to click in order to send the fax. Then the service will take care of the rest, and the recipient will receive the sent fax. As we said earlier, you can send one more fax for free in the same day, or buy a paid plan.
HelloFax
HelloFax is another online faxing service which provides many paid features to the user, while a plan for sending free faxes is also available.
The free plan allows you to send up to five free pages in total in over 70 countries worldwide- if you need to send more than 5 pages, you can either purchase a paid plan, create a new account, or share the service with your friends.
Creating an account
Creating a free account at HelloFax is a fairly simple and short process. After selecting the free plan, fill in your email address. If you have Gmail or Hotmail account, the process is even shorter. Once you enter your email address, you will receive a notification email that you have signed up for the service, and once you verify the account you can create a password for it.
Now you are ready to use HelloFax.
Sending faxes with HelloFax
Sending faxes via HelloFax is quite easy. First you have to select the file that you want to send with the service. You can either upload it from our computer or connect HelloFax with one of the popular supported cloud services. After uploading it, you have the ability to edit it, sign it, etc.
After uploading the file you can modify it slightly, e.g. add a signature.
Once you’re ready, you can fill in the recipient's phone number- you can add multiple recipients if you wish. Don’t forget to enter the country code in front of the phone number.
Make sure that the "Send high resolution & color version of fax" option is unchecked, because the recipient will not receive your message. Instead, he will receive a notification that will redirect him to a page for viewing the message online.
You also have the option to add cover page, but in the free version it will also include the phrase "Sent via HelloFax".
Once you’re ready click on "Send". Immediately afterwards, you will receive a notification that your message has been sent, and once the fax reaches the recipient, you will be notified by email. Once you receive the email, you can be sure that the fax has arrived at the recipient.
In the "Faxes" section you can also view the history of your faxes and their statuses.
PDF24 FAX
PDF24 FAX is the last online fax service presented in this article, and similar to the other two services, it offers both free and paid services. The free plan allows you to send up to 5 fax pages per month.
Creating an account
To create a free PDF24 FAX account, click on the "Create Account" button and fill in your details. Once you have created the account, an activation code will be sent to you for activating it.
Now you are ready to manage your account and send a free fax or purchase a paid plan.
Sending a fax with PDF24 FAX
From the main menu of PDF24, click on "Send a Fax".
You will be redirected to https://faxout.pdf24.org, from where you can select the file that you want to send.
Next, enter the recipient's number (don’t forget to add the country code in front of it).
There are some additional options for the fax, such as changing the sender’s number or the header of the fax, however they are not available in the free plan.
You are now ready to send the free fax. Once you hit ‘Send Fax’, a window shall open and ask you what kind of plan you wish to select. To send it for free, choose the first plan.
PDF24 will tell you that the fax is being sent, and you will be informed via email when it arrives at the recipient.
Now you know how to send a fax from the internet for free, without a faxing machine. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, let us know in the comments section below!
