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FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet?

Version 1.7 - June 21 1997
Major Update coming early May, 1998 -- stay tuned.

Send comments & updates to Kevin Savetz - [email protected]

This document is copyright 1994-1997 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights 
reserved. More legal stuff is near the end of this file. If you know of 
an Internet fax service that is missing from this list, or information 
herein needs updating, please send e-mail to [email protected]


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Can I send a fax from the Internet?
Free services - International Destinations
   TPC.INT Remote Printing
   Netherlands
   Philippines
   Israel
   Costa Rica
   Kuwait
   New Zealand
   Austria
Free services - United States Destinations
   Sacramento (1-916)
   University of Minnesota (1-612)
   University of Illinois, Chicago (1-815)
   New York City (1-212)
   VersaFax demonstration
Free services - Canadian Destinations
   University of Calgary
   Winnipeg City (1-204)
   Quebec (1-514)
   Quebec City area (1-418)
   Quebec
   Montreal
   Fax the Feds
Commercial Services
   Faxaway
   Digital Mail
   Elvis FaxGate
   FaxSAV
   FAXiNET
   InterFax
   Interpage
   Optima (France and Western Europe)
   fax.co.uk (United Kingdom)
   IndiaFax Calport (India)
   IndiaCom (India)
   NCI (Western Europe)
   Latvia Fax
   UniTerra
   ITSG
   Telebox
Faxing from the Desktop
   Borderless World Communications
   FaxFree
   Arel iFax
   FaxStorm
Other Internet/Fax Tricks
   Netoffice FaxWeb
   JFAX
   iFAX
For More Information About Faxing
   newsgroups
   web page
   unsolicited advertisements
Legal Stuff
Where to Find this Document


CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET?

Yes. There are many services that will let you use the Internet to send 
a fax. Some are free while others are pay services. Most services 
require that you can send and receive electronic mail, or that you have 
Web access. Some require that you install special software on your 
computer (these are listed in the "Faxing from the Desktop" section.)

Other Internet services that are available include conversion of 
incoming faxes to e-mail. That is, when you receive a fax at a special 
number, the fax is scanned and sent to your e-mail address. Other 
commercial services include bulk faxing, and web page form input to fax. 
(These are not primary concerns of this document, but are noted for your 
convenience.)


FREE SERVICES - International destinations


TPC.INT Remote Printing

The TPC.INT "Remote Printing Experiment" is the grandfather of Internet 
faxing services. A group effort for the benefit of Internet users, the 
service is free. You can send faxes via e-mail or a Web form.
You can't send a fax just anywhere with this service. A variety of 
companies, institutions and citizens around the world have joined the 
experiment. When an organization joins as a remote-fax server, it 
specifies what areas to which they are willing to send faxes. When you 
send a fax message, you (naturally) must include the phone number of the 
recipient's fax machine. A computer looks at the phone number and 
decides if any participating fax machines cover that area. If so, your 
message is routed to the appropriate machine for faxation. Otherwise, 
you will receive a message informing you the fax couldn't be delivered.

To send a fax by e-mail, send a message
     To: [email protected]

Where <info> contains information for the cover page.  In <info>, "/" is 
turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space.  For example:
     To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/[email protected]

Use the following addresses to obtain more information:
     Frequently-Asked-Questions: [email protected]
        or http://www-usa.tpc.int/tpcfaq.html
     Coverage List: [email protected]
        or http://www.tpc.int/fax_cover_auto.html
     Subscribe to mailing list: [email protected]
         Body: subscribe tpc-rp
     Mailing list contributions: [email protected]
     Administrative questions: [email protected]

For more information and to send a fax via a Web form, see:
     http://www.tpc.int/
[Verified 6/21/97]


Netherlands

The E-FAX server of NCI will send your message as a fax, along with a 
small advertisement. The company also offers a commercial fax service 
(see commercial section.) The service is only accessible for users 
outside The Netherlands and NCI e-mail users. The maximum length of a 
message is 70 lines. Faxes will be sent only Monday through Friday 
18.00h - 08.00h and on weekends.

Format: 
     To: [email protected]

For information in English: Send a message
     To: [email protected]
 For information in Dutch, e-mail:
     To: [email protected]

For information, a FAQ and a example fax, visit
     http://www.nci.nl/e-fax
[Verified 6/21/97]


Philippines

For information on sending free faxes to the Philippines (Iligan city, 
Metro Cebu and Metro Manila) see:
     http://www.msuiit.edu.ph/fax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


Israel

Free faxes to Israel. Messages said to be delivered within 60 minutes. 
E-mail notification of successful delivery is provided. The format of 
the fax number must be as in the example below: 972 + area code + the 
fax number:
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: 97235330795
     Body: your text
For more information:
     http://www.pagelist.com/freefax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


Costa Rica

This site seems to let you send free faxes to Costa Rica. The web pages 
are in Spanish. I don't read Spanish. If you do, kindly e-mail the 
details to [email protected] for inclusion in this FAQ.
     http://www.nacion.co.cr/netinc/cortesia/fax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


Kuwait

This service will send a fax to anywhere in Kuwait. Usage:
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: 7 digit phone number without punctuation
     Body: text of fax
For help, visit http://www.kuwait.net/fax.help or send email
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: help
[Verified 6/21/97]


New Zealand

This service lets you send a fax anywhere in New Zealand. For 
information or to send a fax, visit:
     http://www.faxmail.co.nz/

For a fee, the company also allows you to receive faxes via e-mail, send 
bulk faxes, and other services.
[Verified 6/21/97]


Austria

This Web-to-fax gateway covers commercial fax numbers in Austria. The 
entire site is in German. You need to search its directory of 150,000 
businesses. If the business is in the database, you can send it a fax. 
If not, you can't.
     http://www.compnet.at/
[Verified 6/21/97]


FREE SERVICES - United States destinations


Sacramento (1-916)

This service is a feature of a Sacramento, California-based bulletin 
board system. You can use it to send faxes to areas that are a local 
call from Sacramento, including the California State Legislature. This 
service is run as a hobby and is connected to the Internet by UUCP, so 
it can take from 12 to 24 hours for your fax to be delivered or for the 
help files to reach you. It does not support multiple addressing: only 
one fax number per message. It also does not send a cover page, so be 
sure to start your message with a note directing it to someone's 
attention. It will truncate faxes longer than two pages (that's 132 
lines.)

To use this fax service, send e-mail
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: local (7 digit) phone number, without area code
     Body: <text of fax>

For complete usage information, send e-mail
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: 052

For a list of some legislators' fax numbers in the Sacramento area, send 
e-mail:
     To: [email protected]
     Subject: 050

Information about this service is also available on the Web:
     http://www.calweb.com/~argek/fax/intro.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


University of Minnesota (1-612)

The University of Minnesota operates a fax gateway which allows students 
and staff to send faxes anywhere. If you don't go to UMinn, you may use 
the service to send faxes to folks at the University and exchanges local 
to the campus.

The structure for e-mailing a fax is:
     To: /pn=John.Doe/dd.fax=234-5678/@fax.tc.umn.edu

Put the recipient's name, with a period between the first and last 
names, after pn= and put the seven digit fax number after the characters 
dd.fax=. This name will be printed in the "To:" field on the fax cover 
page. The area code for the University of Minnesota is 612, so you don't 
need to supply an area code. For more information, send e-mail to 
[email protected].
[Verified 6/21/97]


University of Illinois, Chicago (1-815)

Lets you send a fax to the University of Illinois, Chicago campus. To 
send a fax, address mail to:
     [email protected]
[Verified 6/21/97]


New York City (1-212)

Interpage, a commercial fax service listed below, offers free faxing to 
any number in the New York City area or any U.S. toll-free number.
     http://www.interpage.net/wwwfax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


VersaFax demonstration

This service allows you to send a fax anywhere in the United States for 
free. It is meant as a demonstration of a fax software product. Use it 
but don't abuse it. To send a fax, visit:
     http://fax.from.net/
This company also lets you send a message to an alphanumeric pager 
anywhere in the US: for information, visit:
     http://page.from.net
For more information about either service:
     http://www.cosi.net/
     [email protected]
[Verified 6/21/97]


FREE SERVICES - Canadian destinations


University of Calgary

For faxes to Calgary, Canada. Usage is:
     To: [email protected]
[Verified 6/21/97]


Winnipeg City (1-204)

This service allows you to send a fax to Winnipeg City, Canada (area 
code 204.) To use, send e-mail
     To: [email protected]
     Body:
         FAXnumber: <local 7-digit fax number to dial>
         FAXto:  <Receiver's name>
         FAXfrom: <sender's name>
         FAXcontact: <sender's phone number>
         FAXmemobegin
           <Optional memo text on the cover page, up to 20 lines>
         FAXmemoend
           <Whole fax body>
[Verified 6/21/97]


Quebec (1-514)

For faxes to the 514 area code (Quebec, Canada.) Usage is:
     To: [email protected]
For more information, see
     http://www.cam.org/fax
[Verified 6/21/97]


Quebec City area (1-418)

To send a fax by e-mail, send a message
     To: [email protected]
Where <info> contains information for the cover page.  In <info>, "/" is 
turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. Don't use "." 
and "@" in <info>.

For example:
     To: rp.Arlo_Cats/[email protected]

For more information (in French):
     http://www.gel.ulaval.ca/Fax/manuel_fax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


Quebec

Send a fax anywhere in Qu�bec city, 35 lines maximum.
     http://ns2.clic.net/fax.html
[Verified 6/21/97]


Montreal

Send a fax anywhere in Montreal, free.
     http://www.iti.qc.ca/iti/iti/fax.htm
[Verified 6/21/97]


Fax the Feds

For Canadian citizens, lets you send a free fax to your Member of 
Parliament.
     http://www.net-efx.com/faxfeds/
[Verified 6/21/97]


COMMERCIAL (PAY-FOR-USE) SERVICES


Faxaway

Allows you to send faxes anywhere in the world, including many types of 
attachments. Fee depends on the destination country (US is 10 
cents/minute, Germany is 35 cents/minute.)
You can test the service by sending a free fax immediately. To do so, 
visit:
     http://www.faxaway.com/testdrive/testdrive.cgi?20100
For more information, e-mail:
     [email protected]
[verified 6/21/97]


Digital Mail

Offers e-mail-to-fax and fax-to-e-mail. Subscribers get a unique phone 
number that accepts voicemail and faxes. 
     http://www.digitalmail.com/
[Verified 6/21/97]


Elvis FaxGate

This service allows you to send faxes to the former USSR, Europe, Japan, 
the United States and Canada. The service is based in Moscow, so faxes 
to the USSR are relatively cheap, faxes to the rest of the world are 
relatively expensive. You can access the service via an e-mail 
interface. For more information, send e-mail to
     To: [email protected]
     Body: help<return>english      (for help in English)
or   Body: help                     (for help in Russian)

You can reach a human via e-mail at:
     To: [email protected]
[Verified 6/21/97]


FaxSAV

This company offers e-mail-to-fax as well as Internet faxing from 
desktop software, web page-to-fax, and fax broadcast services.

Information about their e-mail-to-fax service is at:
     http://www.faxsav.com/faxsavinternet/html/faxmailer.html
General information is at:
     http://www.faxsav.com/
[verified 6/21/97]


FAXiNET

Another fax-by-mail service is FAXiNET, which lets you send any text or 
PostScript documents to virtually any destination that can be direct 
dialed from the United States. Rate plans are available for high- and 
low-volume users. 

For an extra fee, the company can also receive faxes for you, which will 
be delivered to you via electronic mail. Additional services, including 
adding your custom logo and signature to your faxes, are also available. 
More information is available from
     [email protected] (for automated response) or [email protected] (for a 
human)
     http://www.awa.com/faxinet/
[verified 6/21/97]


InterFax

InterFax allows you to send faxes via e-mail within the US or 
internationally. Fax broadcasting is supported as well. For charges and 
further information, send e-mail to
     [email protected] (automatic reply) or [email protected] (human)
[Verified 6/21/97]


Interpage

Instead of charging the sender of the fax, Interpage charges the 
recipient (who must have an Interpage account.) The idea is that you can 
use Interpage to forward your regular e-mail to you via fax, or you'll 
give your Interpage e-mail address to correspondents that don't have 
access to a fax machine. Interpage also offers the more common service 
of letting its customers send text or postscript e-mail that turns into 
a fax.

For more information:
    http://www.interpage.net
    [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]
[verified 6/21/97]


Optima (France and Western Europe)

Provides e-mail-to-fax and bulk faxing to France and Western Europe.
     http://www.optima-intercom.fr/fax/


fax.co.uk United Kingdom

E-mail-to-fax gateway to United Kingdom destinations. Offers services 
for sender or recipient to pay for delivery. For information:
     http://fax.co.uk/
     [email protected]
[Verified 6/21/97]


IndiaFax Calport (India)

Send text or graphic (PCX format) faxes to India. For more information, 
e-mail:
     [email protected] or [email protected]
[verified 6/21/97]


IndiaCom

Will deliver a message to India by fax, letter or phone (voice.) The 
service also accepts messages from India via fax, letter or phone, and 
will e-mail them to you. For information, e-mail:
     [email protected]
[unable to verify 6/21/97]


NCI (Western Europe)

This fax gateway allows customers to send faxes to most of the Western 
European countries, including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium 
and many other countries. Accepts ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 documents. 
For more information, e-mail:
     [email protected]
[verified 6/21/97]


Latvia Fax - for users in Latvia

This service allows users in Latvia to send a fax to many countries. For 
information, e-mail:
     [email protected]
[unable to verify 6/21/97]


UniTerra

UniTerra does worldwide e-mail to fax, fax-to-e-mail, web page forms-to-
fax, web page fax on demand and mass faxing.
     http://www.uniterra.com
[verified 6/21/97]


ITSG

ITSG offers worldwide e-mail to fax, fax-to-e-mail, and fax-to-fax via 
Internet.
     http://www.itsg.com/
[verified 6/21/97]


Telebox

Telebox offers e-mail-to-fax service that sends faxes worldwide. Can 
handle TIFF, JPEG, BMP and other graphics attachments as well as text. 
Subscribers must prepay for $100 in transmission charges. For 
information:
     http://www.netbox.com/cpsinfo/telbox.htm
     [email protected]


FAXING FROM THE DESKTOP

These services allow you to send a fax using an application on your 
Internet-connected PC (rather than by accessing a Web page or sending e-
mail, as with the services mentioned above.) All of the following 
services use the Internet to route the fax towards its destination. Some 
services simply send your fax from one central Internet server from 
faxation; others use the Internet to partially route the fax to save 
long distance charges. It usually works something like this: faxes are 
transmitted from the sender's desktop fax software to the a special 
server. The server routes faxes via an Internet connection to a remote 
server located in geographical proximity to the destination fax machine. 
From this remote server, the fax is sent to its target address using the 
local telephone system.


Borderless World Communications

Borderless World Communications can fax broadcast, e-mail via the net, 
snail or overnight mail your communications from one batch file via a PC 
or mainframe. BWC offers several services, including Fax Link (for 
sending faxes, snail mail or overnight mail); Fax Broadcasting; Fax 
Merge; Fax On Demand and Fax Polling. For information e-mail 
[email protected]


FaxFree

This Windows 95 software allows users to send and receive faxes from one 
Windows 95 machine to another Windows 95 machine over the Internet. If 
you are in a corporate networking scheme, the software can route 
outgoing faxes to an ordinary fax machine for delivery.
     http://www.tacsystems.com/fax.htm


Arel iFax

Fax-to-fax via Internet for cost savings.
     http://www.arelnet.com/ifax.htm


FaxStorm

FaxStorm is a desktop-to-fax application for Windows. It includes a 
contact manager, a fax scheduler, a cover page builder and an attachment 
manager. FaxStorm uses the Internet Infrastructure to reduce long 
distance costs. 
     http://www.faxstorm.com


OTHER INTERNET/FAX TRICKS

The following services do not fall under this document's primary focus 
(services that can send or receive faxes via the Internet) but are 
included because, well, people keep asking about them.


Netoffice FaxWeb

Allows you to receive your faxes and voicemail messages using the World 
Wide Web. For information, visit:
     http://www.netoffice.com/


JFAX

JFAX provides its users with a personal telephone number which diverts 
fax and voicemail to an e-mail account. Special software is required to 
view/hear incoming mail (Mac and Windows.)
     http://www.jfax.net


iFAX fax-on-demand for web servers

iFAX acts as a virtual fax-on-demand system. It is a CGI that plugs into 
many Windows based Web servers. iFAX enables webmasters to send 
documents via fax from a web page without any additional programming.
     http://www.geocel.com/ifax


FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FAXING

For more information about Internet-to-fax gateways, and faxing info in 
general, check out the Usenet newsgroup alt.fax.

For technical information about the data communications aspects of 
faxing, see the newsgroup comp.dcom.fax

Also visit Michael Frost's review of Internet fax services, at:
     http://www.netpower.no/frost/fax/

Did you know that sending unsolicited advertisements via fax is illegal 
in the United States? (Per 47USC227):
     http://www.codemeta.com/tpc/usc47.txt


LEGAL STUFF

This document is copyright 1994-1997 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights 
reserved.

All prices in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Permission for the following types of distribution is hereby granted, 
provided that this file is distributed intact, including the above 
copyright notice:
    - non-commercial distribution
    - posting to Internet archives, BBSs and online services
    - distribution by teachers, librarians and Internet trainers
    - inclusion on software/FAQ/Internet-oriented CD-ROMs

Permission for commercial distribution may be obtained from the editor. 
SHARE THIS INFORMATION FREELY AND IN GOOD FAITH. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE 
MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THIS DOCUMENT.

This document is always in transition. If you notice that something 
important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please 
contact the editor.

The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the 
Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a 
volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to insure that 
answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or 
intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember 
that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be 
surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do, 
please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and 
comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz at [email protected]. Please 
indicate what version of this document to which you are referring.


WHERE TO FIND THIS DOCUMENT

On the World Wide Web
     http://www.savetz.com/

You can receive it via anonymous FTP
     ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-
faq

This file is posted to the Usenet newsgroups alt.internet.services, 
alt.online-service, alt.bbs.internet, alt.fax, alt.answers, 
comp.dcom.fax, comp.mail.misc, comp.answers, and news.answers

You can also retrieve this document via electronic mail:
     To: [email protected]
     Body: send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq

More goodies from the author of the FAQ can be found at:
     http://www.savetz.com

###end of document###

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