Faxing in 2011

You could scan the pages you want to send then attach them to an email to the recipient. They will receive the images of the pages, not unlike if you had faxed them.

Many multifunction printers have built-in phone ports to connect to your phone line. You can fax from these printers very easily, with or without involing your computer. My FAQ* directs you to various printers that are supported by Macs, some of which have built in phone ports:

http://www.macmaps.com/printersx.html

Yes the Apple USB FAX Modem is also around at some used and refurbished Mac shops*:

http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html

And that should work with any Mac you have today.

There may be others that are supported by FaxSTF for the Mac.

I thought I would provide an alternative but I see I should not have tried.

I work in a professional environment and deal with financial institutions and real estate companies frequently. I've never run across one that only relies on a fax machine any more. Many clients don't even have a land line to which to connect a fax machine. They have transitioned to cell phones only.

So do your institutions just not deal with these people?

If you don't want to use email then use an online faxing service like efax. I've never been charged for their service for the times I had to infrequently use them.

I hope you find the answer to your issue.

e-mail & cell are not as secure as land lines for fax communication. The FBI can have my financial info if it needs it since I have nothing to hide from them. And as far as I know only they and police can tap your lines legally.

a brody wrote:

e-mail & cell are not as secure as land lines for fax communication. The FBI can have my financial info if it needs it since I have nothing to hide from them. And as far as I know only they and police can tap your lines legally.

I understand that, but I gave up my land line several years ago. I deal with real estate companies at least weekly and we exchange documents via email. I don't think Homeland Security has intercepted our communications, but I may be mistaken. I think that if Homeland Security wants to tap your land line they can do so.

I do all my banking online using secure connections. I do not use a land line to call my bank to go through menu selections etc. to make queries, fund transfers, etc. Are you saying I should use my land line (if I had one) to perform these banking transactions instead of using the web or email? I just put an offer on a property and never went into the real estate office. They emailed me the listing and documentation, I filled in the paperwork and emailed it to them. They countered through email with the attached signed contract.

I have a fax machine sitting here in front of me that I have not used for at least two years, since I got rid of my land line. I have not experienced any issues with any institutions, businesses, or clients since I stopped using land line fax.

But I stray, the OP wants to use a land line fax. It looks like she found a solution. I thought I would contribute an alternative approach, which was rejected. That's fine. I understand some people still have a desire or need to use land line fax. I think the day will soon come though where fax machines go the way of the manual type writer or record player.

Sorry I read your response to me as a little negative. I do understand that at times some people ust use a fax machine.

It is unclear to me the difference in the end result. The recipient of the fax gets a printed document off their fax machine (probably a multi-function printer); or they get a printed document from an email attachment, probably off the same multi-function machine. The end result is the same whether faxed or emailed. The recipient gets the same document printed at their site on the same machine.

Well it sounds you are definitely making the right move in getting rid of the old fax machine. I've been using a fax to email service with my Macbook for awhile now and I get inbound faxes delivered directly to my email as PDF files. I can also send faxes directly from my email account by attaching the documnets I need to fax.

If you are looking to fax without using an actual fax machine, I would recommend checking out some of the online fax providers out there like FaxitFast.com, Myfax, etc. You never have to worry about busy signals, paper jams, etc. and the service with FaxitFast (the provider we use) is less than $6 bucks a month. Plus it definitely works with Macs!

Lastly, if you only fax occasionally, get a USB Flash drive stick. Put any PDF or Word document on it.

Take it to FedEx. They'll Fax it on the spot for you.

It's already 2012, so chiming in on an old thread here, but my financial advisor/CPA, who has an email address and can receive attachments, is not allowed to send financial information by e-mail. He does not like me to email him scanned documents with financial info either. I guess this is because fax is considered to be more secure, but maybe someone who works in this industry can elaborate.

I also bought the US Robotics 5637 modem and it seems to work fine!