From: savetz@northcoast.com (Kevin Savetz) Subject: FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? (version 1.4) Last-Modified: 1995/1/13 Version: 1.4 FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? Version 1.4 - January 13 1996 Send comments & updates to Kevin Savetz - savetz@northcoast.com This document is copyright 1994-1996 by Kevin M. Savetz. All rights reserved. More legal stuff is near the end of this file. If you notice that an Internet fax service is missing from this list, or information herein needs updating, please send e-mail to savetz@northcoast.com *** TABLE OF CONTENTS Thanks to the sponsors Can I send a fax from the Internet? Free services TPC.INT Remote Printing *updated* FaxLine Sacramento Fax Service University of Minnesota Fax Service Swedish University Network IBAG Faxes to Phoenix University of Washington *updated* University of Calgary Quebec (cam.org) University of Manitoba for Winnipeg City Princeton University *updated* Kuwait Faxmail - faxes to New Zealand Faxworks Gateway (Auckland, New Zealand) Emory Computer Consultants VersaFax Demonstration *updated* Commercial Services Elvis FAXiNET InterFax Interpage Borderless World Communications *new* FaxAway US Fax IndiaFax Calport (India) IndiaCom *new* NCI fax gateway to Western Europe KL Fax - for users in Israel Latvia Fax - for users in Latvia Stupid Internet/Fax Tricks Universal Access WebFax Netoffice Fax Web Fax Services that are no more More Information About Faxing Legal Stuff Where to Find this Document *** THANKS TO THE SPONSORS This FAQ is an independant effort, sponsored in part by: +++ Borderless World Commuications BWC provides the full range of enhanced fax/Internet communications services. Send generic or recipient-specific communications via fax or Internet interfaced with your mainframe or PC. Domestic US cost is 50% less than a postage stamp. For info: bwc@atlanta.com +++ Redwood Country Unlimited Discover the richness and quality of life in Northern California's Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino Counties. RCU features community & culture, tourist information, news, and products and services from the redwood forests of Northern California. See it for yourself at http://www.northcoast.com/unlimited/ *** CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET? Indeed. There are several services for sending a fax via Internet mail - some are free while others are pay services. At least one service even lets you receive a fax the Internet. The services require that you can send and receive electronic mail to the Internet, or that you have Web access. *** FREE SERVICES +++ TPC.INT Remote Printing Send electronic mail to a special address, and soon after (if your recipient's fax machine is in a covered area), out comes a fax. You can send a fax to multiple fax machines, or even a combination of faxes and traditional e-mail recipients. You can't send a fax just anywhere with this service. A variety of companies, institutions and citizens linked to the Internet have joined the experiment by linking a computer and fax modem to the 'net. When an organization joins as a remote-fax server, it specifies what areas to which they are willing to send faxes. When you send an e-mail 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 the area to which you want to send a fax. If so, your message is routed to the appropriate machine for faxation. Otherwise, you will receive electronic mail informing you the fax couldn't be delivered. To send a fax by e-mail, send a message To: remote-printer.info@phonenumber.tpc.int Where contains information for the cover page. In , "/" is turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. For example: To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551212.tpc.int The following addresses can be used to obtain more information: Frequently-Asked-Questions: tpcfaq@info.tpc.int Coverage List: tpccover@info.tpc.int Subscribe to mailing list: majordomo@aarnet.edu.au Subject: subscribe tpc-rp Mailing list contributions: tpc-rp@aarnet.edu.au Administrative questions: tpcadmin@info.tpc.int There's are Web pages which provides information about the TPC.INT fax service. You can even fill out a form and send a fax interactively. Visit one of: http://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/fax/faxsend.html http://www.tpc.int//faxsend.html +++ FaxLine Sacramento Fax Service 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: faxline@sacto.com Subject: local (7 digit) phone number, without area code Body: For complete usage information, send e-mail To: request@sacto.com Subject: 052 For a list of some legislators' fax numbers in the Sacramento area, send e-mail: To: request@sacto.com Subject: 050 Information about this service is also available on the Web: http://www.calweb.com/~argek/fax/intro.html +++ The University of Minnesota Fax Service The University of Minnesota operates a fax gateway which allows students and staff to send faxes anywhere. Even 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 ccs@maroon.tc.umn.edu. +++ IBAG Faxes to Phoenix This Web-to-fax gateway will allow you to send free faxes to the Phoenix, Arizona area (area code 1-602.) To use it, point your forms-capable Web browser to: http://www.ibag.com/fax.html +++ Swedish University Network The Swedish University Computer Network (sunet) offers a fax service that can be used by anyone to send faxes anywhere within Sweden (+46). To send a fax to Arlo Cats at +46-87654321 (that's international notation for Sweden, phone number 08/765 43 21) send e-mail: To: Arlo_Cats@F087654321.fax.sunet.se Note that you will always have to preface the phone number with the letter "F" for "fax". Special characters in the body of your message are converted to Nordic characters: ASCII Becomes ASCII Becomes } a with circle accent [ A with diereses { a with diereses (two dots) \ O with diereses | o with diereses ` e with right accent ] A with circle accent For more information, e-mail faxmaster@fax.sunet.se +++ University of Washington Allows "University of Washington affiliates" to send a fax to the Seattle area. No longer available to the general public. Text, PostScript, GIF, JPEG, and TIFF images are supported. The format of the To: line should be: To: John_Jones@365-0000.fax.cac.washington.edu For more information, see http://www.washington.edu:1180/home/announcements/fax.html or send e-mail to: faxhelp@cac.washington.edu +++ University of Calgary For faxes to Calgary, Canada. Usage is: To: John_Jones@5551212.fax.ucalgary.ca +++ Quebec (cam.org) For faxes to the 514 area code (Quebec, Canada.) Usage is: To: John_Jones@5551212.fax.cam.org For more information email marc@cam.org +++ University of Manitoba for Winnipeg City, Canada This service allows you to send a fax to Winnipeg City, Canada (area code 204.) To use, send email To: fax@umanitoba.ca Body: FAXnumber: FAXto: FAXfrom: FAXcontact: FAXmemobegin FAXmemoend +++ Princeton University Princeton University runs a fax gateway for students and faculty. Not available to the general Internet community. http://faxserver.Princeton.EDU:8080/faxhowto.html +++ Kuwait This service will send a fax to anywhere in Kuwait. Usage: To: fax@kuwait.net Subject: 7 digit phone number without punctuation Body: text of fax For help, visit http://www.kuwait.net/fax.help or send email To: fax@kuwait.net Subject: help +++ Faxmail - faxes to New Zealand This service lets you send a fax anywhere in New Zealand. For information or to send a fax, visit: http://www.actrix.gen.nz/biz/faxmail/faxmail.htm For a fee, the company also allows you to receive faxes via email, broadcast faxes, and other services. +++ Faxworks Gateway (Auckland, New Zealand) Allows you to send a fax to Auckland, New Zealand. Access to all of New Zealand (free for low volumes) and neighbouring countries (eg Australia) must be arranged in advance by sending email with your request To: system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz. 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. It does not support multiple addressing: only one fax number per message. To use fax service, send e-mail To: faxline@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz Subject: (ignored) Body: To: Receiver's name Phone: Receiver's fax number Date: dd/mm/yy format. Time: hh:mm [in 24-hour format] Mode: Fine [For fine resolution; standard res. if omitted] +++ Emory Computer Consultants This service is not yet in operation. The web page says that if you fill out the form, you'll be able to send faxes for free when their upcoming fax service is ready. Seems dubious to me; they demand a lot of personal information, so take care before jumping in. For information, see http://emory.com/~emory/fax/freefax.html +++ VersaFax Demonstration This service seems to allow you to send a fax anywhere in the United States for free. It is meant as a demonstration of a fax software product. The site claims that the service is no longer free, but free faxing still seems to work?! So don't abuse it, and don't expect it to last. To send a fax, visit: http://www.cosi.com/demo/qfax.html For help from a human, email customer_service@gateway.cosi.com This company also lets you send a message to an alphanumberic pager: for information, visit: http://gus.cosi.com/cgi-bin/qpage For more information about either service, email versafax@cosi.com *** COMMERCIAL (PAY-FOR-USE) SERVICES +++ Elvis 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. Prices listed are for "standard" fax mode. For fax service to Moscow from former USSR: $0.40 / page fax service to former USSR from former USSR: $0.95 / page For fax service to former USSR from elsewhere: $1.95 / page fax service to Europe and Japan: $2.90 / page fax service to USA and Canada: $3.80 / page fax service to other countries: $5.80 / page You can access the service via an e-mail interface. For more information, send e-mail to To: faxgate@elvis.ru Body: helpenglish (for help in English) or Body: help (for help in Russian) You can reach a human via e-mail at: To: gatemaster@elvis.ru +++ FAXiNET Another fax-by-mail service is FAXiNET, which lets you send any text (ASCII) or PostScript documents to virtually every destination that can be direct dialed from the United States. For an extra fee, the company can also receive faxes for you, which will be delivered to you via electronic mail. FAXiNET offers two rate plans. Plan 1 has a one-time activation fee of $35.00, a monthly maintenance fee of $9.95 and a per-page transmission cost (to US destinations) of 39 cents. Plan two, for lower-volume users, has a one-time activation fee of $20 and no monthly maintenance fee; however faxes cost 65 cents per page. International rates depend on the destination country: from Albania ($2.25/page) to Zimbabwe ($2.52/page). Faxes to the United Kingdom are 56 cents/page; Mexico is $1.52/page. Additional services, including adding your custom logo and signature to your faxes, are available at extra cost. Corporate accounts are also available. More information is available from AnyWare Associates, FAXiNET, 32 Woodland Road, Boston, MA 02130. (617) 522-8102. E-mail: info@awa.com (for automated response) or sales@awa.com (for a human.) Information is also maintained on FAXiNET's web server: http://www.awa.com/faxinet/ +++ InterFax InterFax allows you to send faxes via e-mail within the US or internationally. InterFax is a fee-based service (billed to your credit card) but, unlike the services listed above, InterFax lets you send faxes anywhere, not just select locations. As of this writing, InterFax costs $5 per month, which includes the first five fax pages. Additional pages cost 50 cents each. There is a one-time sign-up charge of $25. For further information, send e-mail to faxmaster@pan.com, or contact InterFax at PO Box 162, Skippack, PA 19474 USA. (215) 584-0300. Fax: (215)584-1038. +++ Interpage Interpage has a unique slant on the faxing-via-email: 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. Each Interpage Fax Gateway customer receives an e-mail address and a configuration account. Customers may forward their regular e-mail to Interpage for faxing, have correspondents send e-mail directly to their Interpage accounts, or both. Interpage allows users to filter incoming electronic mail in order to only fax messages from specific individuals, for instance. The charge for basic service is $5 per month plus $.20 per minute for faxes destined for the United States or $.30 per minute to Canada. If a fax is dispatched to an 800 number, there is no charge. There is a $10 sign-up fee. There is a one week free trial period, although users will be responsible for any toll charges they incur. For more information: http://www.interpage.net info@interpage.net 1-203-499-5221 +++ 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 email bwc@atlanta.com +++ MetroFax A commercial service that can only send faxes to Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. Illinois, Florida, Georgia and Washington state are coming. No pricing information available at the site. A free 30 day demo is available, which will let you send faxes to Washington D.C. http://www.onthego.com/media_blitz/metro_f@x/ +++ Faxaway Allows you to send faxes anywhere in the world. Fee depends on the destination country (US is 10 cents/minute, Germany is 35 cents/minute.) You can get a free fax before signing up by sending email To: 12135551212@faxaway.com For more information, call 1-206-216-2647, send email to info@faxaway.com or visit: http://www.faxaway.com +++ US Fax Provides fax-to-email and e-mail to fax services. That's all I know. For information, email glb@usfx.com or call 1-800-329-1517 +++ IndiaFax Calport (India) Send text or graphic (PCX format) faxes to India. Membership charge is $10 Rs 300 per quarter or $30 Rs 1000 per year. Text only fax (60 lines) $1 Rs 30; Graphical fax (uuencoded .PCX) $2 Rs 60. For more information, email indiafax@calport.wa.com or support@calport.wa.com +++ IndiaCom Will deliver a message to India by fax, letter or phone (voice.) Charges range from US$30 for 6 months (maximum of 150 pages) of faxing to the Bombay area, to US$200 for 6 months (maximum of 150 pages) of faxing to anywhere in India. The service also accepts messages from India via fax, letter or phone, and will email them to you. A free trial offer, 5 pages to Bombay, is available. For information, email bomaad40@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in +++ NCI fax gateway to 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. Monthly fee Dfl. 10,- (US$6); Per page rate depends on destination country, starts at Dfl. 1,- (US$ 0.60). For more information, e-mail nci@nci.nl +++ KL Fax - for users in Israel This service allows users in Israel to send a fax anywhere in the world. For information, email leslie@shani.co.il +++ Latvia Fax - for users in Latvia This service allows users in Latvia to send a fax to many countries. For information, email vit@lvnet.lv *** STUPID INTERNET/FAX TRICKS +++ Universal Access WebFax This service doesn't have much to do with sending a fax via e-mail e-mail, but it's interesting anyway: The Universal Access WebFax server allows retrieval of most World Wide Web documents using any fax machine - no Internet connection is necessary. It works this way: you dial the phone number using the handset of your fax machine and enter the URL of the site you wish to see on the Touchtone keypad (for instance, www.northcoast.com is "99966784266") and, when prompted, press the "start" button on your fax machine. The selected document will then be transmitted. It supports text and display of forms, inline images, and will even play Web audio files over the phone. The service is free, but you pay for the phone call to Southern California. For more information, call 1-805-730-7777 from the handset of your fax machine, or visit: http://www.datawave.net/ +++ Netoffice Fax Web Allows you to receive your faxes and voicemail messages using the World Wide Web. For information, visit: http://www.netoffice.com/ *** FAX SERVICES THAT ARE NO MORE Don't tell me about these. They have ceased to be. - Digital Chicken was a service that let users send faxes to Canadian government and citizens. Use TPC.INT instead. - cssnet.sanford.nc.us fax server - no longer available due to hard drive crash. - FaxLinq, which used to let users receive faxes via e-mail, was discontinued in Jan 1995. - fax.air.org, faxing to Hong Kong - seems to have disappeared - Stoic Fax/Telex Gateway - Unigate (Russia) - Grand Blanc/Flint (810) via associate.com - Baylor College of Medicine *** MORE INFROMATION 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 *** LEGAL STUFF This document is copyright 1994-1996 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 savetz@northcoast.com (Internet) or "savetz" (America Online/eWorld.) Please indicate what version of this document to which you are referring. *** WHERE TO FIND THIS DOCUMENT On the World Wide Web: http://www.northcoast.com/~savetz/fax-faq.html You can receive it via anonymous FTP: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/fax-faq This file is posted twice monthly (on the 5th and 19th of each month) 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 receive each new edition of this document automatically via electronic mail, if you are so inclined. This is a low-volume list, with updates every few weeks. To subscribe, send e-mail: To: fax-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: subscribe fax-faq Body: You can also receive it once via electronic mail (without subscribing to automatic updates). To: fax-faq-request@northcoast.com Subject: archive Body: send fax-faq More goodies from the author of the FAQ can be found at: http://www.northcoast.com/savetz/ ###end of document###