Faxing from a Mac

Beck2024 wrote:

Does anyone have a recommendation from how best to cheaply send a fax from a Mac? I send a fax once our twice a year so I don't need a montly subscription service. Thanks.

When I was laid off a few years ago, the only way to apply for the severance package was by faxing a 30 page document. FedEx wanted an arm and a leg. So, what I did was sign up for a free trial with one of those fax by email services. You email/upload the document to the service and they fax it. I uploaded, sent the document and canceled the service. I suspect there are enough of those services out there that you could do this for a while.

Mac or not, if you have a multi-function device or MFD (printer/scanner/copier), that may be your solution. Most MFDs can send and receive faxes.

The one time in ~20 years we were required to send a fax, our MFD saved us a trip to the local city library where my wife volunteers. I temporarily moved the phone line from the desk phone to our MFD and did not have to do anything with the Macs. The message was successfully sent, and I believe it would have been even had the MFD not been connected to any computer. It acted as a free-standing fax machine.

Lacking a fax-capable MFD, I would tell the medical office the you do not have FAX and ask how they suggest you proceed. It has never been standard practice to ask patents for a fax. Between doctors and other doctors, or doctor to pharmacy, yes, but not patient-to-doctor.

Some office services stores and even some UPS store can fax for a fee, but I'm not sure I want the clerk seeing paperwork about that annoying rash on my....

If that medical office is living so far in the past that they think FAX is an essential part of every household....well, I'd be looking to change.

Allan Jones wrote:

Mac or not, if you have a multi-function device or MFD (printer/scanner/copier), that may be your solution. Most MFDs can send and receive faxes.

Details:

… Set up a multifunction printer to send faxes on Mac - Apple Support

… Send a fax from your Mac using a multifunction printer - Apple Support

You may have already done this, but just in case -- every place that I used to send faxes to now also accept emails with the scanned document attached. May not be true in all cases but you may want to check with them if you haven't already.

Hi,

Also, you could probably find a used fax machine at a thrift shop (or via something like craigslist) at a very low price. You may even have an old computer (Macintosh or PC) somewhere, with a built-in or external serial modem that would work for faxing. This, of course, provided that you still have access to a landline phone connection.