Why is there no Fax MODEM software for Mac OS X Mountain Lion? I want to be able to have more than basic sending capabilities. Like a fancy cover page and fax confirmation log and printout, etc.

I purchased a tiny Zoom (2.6" long) usb modem from Staples some time ago for very little money and used Cloy's method (Dummies...) for adding it to my printer list. I fax a lot!!

Green Flash

Hi Green Flash

I would be VERY interested in this, as I'm setting up a switch at my office from PC to new Mac and we do use an HP printer/scanner/fax.

I would love to be able to just fax from my computer rather than having to scan and fax from the machine (for documents that are already in the Mac).

I have never used one of these USB modems before, and we have a Time Capsule for our WiFi connection, but we also do have a dedicated telephone landline used for fax. Does the USB Modem come with instructions to wirelessly "find" the phone line to fax from? How does this get set up?

Thank you!

The one that I have (Zoom mini) uses a hardwire phone line. It has a usb plug coming out of one end and a phone line coming out of the other. It may have instructions but it is just plug and play. Once you connect it to the computer and phone line, you go to the Apple Menu, click on the Print & Scan button, make sure it is unlocked (lower left corner of the dialog box) and click on the plus symbol to add the usb modem. The computer will search and find your modem and remember it. I have created my own custom Fax cover template. When you want to fax, use the print command and choose Fax PDF. The software is already in the mac.

Fax Information

Fax Programs

Fax Programs (2)

Hi Green Flash:

Do you mean one like this??:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/zoom-56k-v-92-usb-mini-external-data-fax-modem/83979 23.p?id=1186004321251&skuId=8397923

May not be the prettiest thing but it will solve the issue when needed - yay!

Eric,

The links you provided are for VERY outdated informaiton -- one document is 10 years old, one is four years old, and one references software that has not been updated since 2003.

As noted earlier in this thread, the ability to fax has been removed from OS X in the last few versions and old methods don't work any more. This discussion focuses on options for faxing with newer OS X computers.

Yes, that is the one that I have but you might try the Rosewell at Staples. It's only $26. I'm not sure if there is a mac/pc issue with that one.

Hi Gary,

it´s not a very huge, but only a huge problem in solving details:

I´m using Mountain lion and a USrobotics 5637 and in general it works perfectly.

Firstly download the current driver for your 5637 via USRobotics and install it.

Then: In System Pref´s (? in German: Systemeinstellungen) go to "Printers and Scanners", generate a new item, select "Fax" and the only choice you have now (after installiung the 5637-driver) is "USB-Fax.

Click OK and everything is installed.

Now: When You go to the Printer and scanner device list click "USB Fax and you´ll have the opportunity to make your choices:

Activate "Receive faxes on your computer", # of rings before the 5637 answers, location where faxes are stored.

You can even select whether your fax is converted to a PDF which is emailed.

This worked perfectly for me, but: Do you know the difference between theory and practise? That´s life because:

Some days ago email conversion fails. I can print the faxes automatically on any network printer, I can email other things from my mac, but fax-to-email-conversion fails. And don´t know why.

So why don´t you try my above mentioned solution and tell me whether it works for you?

Andy

You can just connect your Mac to a fax machine. The print dialog in OS X lets you fax using the machine.

Faxes are still very much used in legal, medical and corporate environments. Such entities regard FAX as more confidential and legally binding than email. And really, these days who trusts email for confidentiality?

When I want to use FAX, I use Parallels or such with a cheap Windoze USB Modem.

See above, Mac OS X supports it. Also, if you're really worried about privacy, don't even fax it 😉

I came across this thread as I was cleaning out my attic, and I re-discovered my Global Village Teleport Gold modem. Is this thing still useful, I asked myself?

I don't have a complete solution to the original poster's query, which I do find legitimate, and it is not a priority for me right now to investigate the matter further or conduct any tests.

But it occurs to me that maybe anyone using a more modern computer than those which were in use when fax modems were common might want to consider implementing a necessary intermediate step in order to utilize one of those legacy modems.

Namely, add the capability to connect to one of those serial modems by buying a Serial-to-USB converter cable. Since Apple no longer builds the serial / fax port in its computers, the first thing to tackle is how to solve the hardware connection of allowing a modern-day Mac, which lacks a serial port, to use its USB port to connect to the serial port of a fax modem. Plenty adapters of that type are available for sale.

As to the software needed to send a document created on a Mac in Mountain Lion or greater, I can give any definitive advice, because, as I say, I have not done any testing in this area, and I don't plan to in the near future. But I think something could be found, if one persisted.

If not, then the suggestions to use a multi-function, or a dedicated fax machine, ought to be the next best choice. After all, if you can create your nicely looking, well-formatted on a Mac, and you can print it to a clean sheet of paper, you can certainly send it down the line as a fax without losing quality. If no software is available to directly send your output to a multi-function printer or a dedicated fax machine, neither of which I have checked out as yet, then all you may have to give up is the need, or desire, to fax directly from the Mac.

In both cases, whether you use a serial-to-USB converter cable to connect to a legacy fax modem, or whether you use current Mac software to print out your document on paper, it seems like you can still fax from your Mountain Lion based Mac: you simply have to be flexible enough, I guess, to go through an intermediate step.

If there is a way to use the old, more direct method, I don't know about it at this moment, though I'm open to hearing about it, when someone definitively researches the topic and posts the answer.

Dont I wish there was. Even if you could connect one of those modems, the software maker is long gone, and that software only worked in OS 7-8 if I remember correctly, or perhaps it was only OS 7. The software was called Global Village Fax Center and I used it all the time back in 1997.

Most people are sending documents through emails, nowadays. However, doing this is not the same as sending the document via a FAX. Only by sending with a FAX (that has all the correct setup info) is a documment legally consider a true copy. So, FAXes are still of use to corporations, lawfirms and to the government. To the general public, not so much. Hince, no Global Village, etc.

Also to confirm that the US Robotics USR5637 no longer support it.

Incorrect, mine works just fine.