Sending and Receiving Faxes by Email (Faxmail)

Getting a fax number

Add a number in the portal and choose Faxmail as the line type. See Adding a phone number.

If you're porting an existing fax number, contact support once it arrives and we'll convert it to a Faxmail line. The fax line is $10 a month, the same as any other number.

Receiving faxes

1. Go to Voice → Line Manager and click your fax number.
2. Open Faxmail Delivery Options.
3. Enter the email addresses that should receive incoming faxes, one per line.
4. Save.

Sending faxes

Allow your email address

1. Open your fax number and choose Faxmail Sending Options.
2. Enter each email address allowed to send faxes, one per line.
3. Save. Each address can be linked to one fax number.

Send a fax

Email the document to the fax number you're sending to:

[email protected]

Attach a PDF, JPEG, PostScript or TIFF file. Word documents aren't supported, so save them as PDF first. You'll get an email confirming whether the fax went through, usually within 5 to 10 minutes.

How reliable is it?

Faxing over the internet uses a standard called T.38, which resends any data lost on the way. Most faxes go through first time, but it isn't quite as reliable as an old copper fax line. If your business can't risk a single failed fax, for example in emergency medical care, keep a traditional fax service.

These can cause failures:

• Fax machine to fax machine. Plugging a fax machine into an adaptor skips the email gateway and its retries. Email works best.
• Colour faxes. Faxmail is black and white only.
• Fast fax machines. Machines that can't slow down to a standard fax speed may fail.
• Machines in answering-machine mode. The other end needs to answer as a fax, not a voice call.

Getting the clearest fax

• Use pure black on a white background. Colours and greys turn into dots.
• Use a plain font like Calibri or Verdana at size 10 or larger.
• Avoid large black areas. They slow the fax and use the other end's toner.
• If you scan pages, use no more than 300 × 300 dpi.
• For TIFF files, make pages 1728 pixels wide and 2200 pixels tall for fine quality, or 1100 tall for standard.

Received faxes can look rough on screen. Zoom a PDF to 150%, or print it, to see the true quality.