Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 18:10:36 -0700 From: savetz@northcoast.com (Kevin Savetz) Subject: FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? (v1.2) Archive-name: internet-services/fax-faq Last-Modified: 1995/4/27 Version: 1.2 FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet? Version 1.2 - April 27 1995 Send comments & updates to Kevin Savetz - savetz@northcoast.com . This document is copyright 1994-1995 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 Can I send a fax from the Internet? Free services TPC.INT Remote Printing FaxLine Sacramento Fax Service *New e-mail address* University of Minnesota Fax Service IBAG Faxes to Phoenix *NEW* Swedish University Network fax.air.org - faxing to Hong Kong Commercial Services Elvis *info corrected* FAXiNET InterFax Interpage Stoic Fax/Telex Gateway *NEW* Unigate Stupid Internet/Fax Tricks Universal Access WebFax Fax Services that are no more Legal Stuff Where to Find this Document *** 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 via Internet mail. The e-mail-to-fax services that I know about are discussed below. All the services require that you can send and receive electronic mail to the Internet. *** FREE SERVICES +++ TPC.INT Remote Printing One fax-from-the-Internet service is the brainchild of Carl Malamud (the creator of Internet Talk Radio) and Marshall Rose. They're doing research on how to integrate special-purpose devices, like facsimile printers, into the fabric of the Internet. It works simply enough - send electronic mail to a special address, and soon after (if your recipient's fax machine is in a covered area), out comes a freshly-minted fax. You can send a fax to multiple fax machines, or even a combination of faxes and traditional e-mail recipients. After the deed is done, you will receive electronic mail telling you if your fax was successfully sent or not. The service is free. 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.@phonenumber.iddd.tpc.int Where contains information for the cover page. In , "/" is turned into a line break and "_" is turned into a space. For example, the address: To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551212.iddd.tpc.int Would send a fax to +1-202-555-1212 with the cover page: Please deliver this facsimile to: Arlo Cats Room 123 Note: There's another way to address faxes which seems to work more reliable sometimes. Note that the phone number is backwards and the numbers are separated by periods. To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.0.2.1.tpc.int The following addresses can be used to obtain more information: tpc-coverage@town.hall.org - Current fax coverage (automated reply) tpc-faq@town.hall.org - Frequently Asked Questions (automated reply) tpc-admin@town.hall.org - Administrative questions (human) tpc-rp-request@aarnet.edu.au - Majordomo mailing list agent tpc-rp@aarnet.edu.au - Mailing list contributions (mailing list) There's a WorldWideWeb page which provides information about the TPC.INT fax service. If your Web browser can display forms, you can even fill out a form and send a fax interactively. Use your favorite Web browser to connect to: http://linux1.balliol.ox.ac.uk/fax/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 +++ 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 +++ 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 your 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. +++ Swedish University Network The Swedish University Computer Network (sunet) has a national fax service that can be used by anyone at no cost. Users in Sweden can use it to send faxes all over the world but users outside Sweden can only use it for telephone numbers within Sweden. 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 Swedish 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 +++ fax.air.org - faxing to Hong Kong To send a free fax to Hong Kong, send e-mail To: number@fax.air.org Don't include are or country codes, just the local Hong Kong fax number. Attempts to dial numbers starting with 0, 1 or 99 will be rejected. The service offers do-it-yourself logo and signature registration as well as a "secure mode" compatible with PGP. For help or more information, send e-mail: To: help@fax.air.org *** 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 It offers a WorldWideWeb interface at: http://www.elvis.ru/english/faxgate_interface.html Or, 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 Fax Gateway 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://interpage.net info@interpage.net 1-203-499-5221 +++ Stoic Fax/Telex Gateway A commercial service that sends faxes and telexes. Based in the Soviet Union. For fax service to Europe: $1.36 / page fax service to North America: $2.90 / page fax service to Asia, Pacific Ocean Region: $2.24/page fax service to elsewhere; $2.46/page For telex service to Europe: $1.58 / page telex service to North America: $2.68 / page telex service to elsewhere; $4.68/page For more information, send e-mail to boris@stoic.spb.su . +++ Unigate Unigate is another pay-for-use service that allows you to send faxes to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It also allows you to receive faxes as electronic mail. Unigate also handles e-mail-to-postal mail conversion. Here's their price structure: For fax service USA to Russia: $1.59 / page fax service from Russia to Canada: 1.79 / page fax service from Russia to Europe: 2.59 / page For postal-mail service USA-Russia: $1.00 / page snail-mail service from Russia to Canada: 1.50 / page snail-mail service from Russia to Europe: 1.79 / page For more information, e-mail yuri@atmos.washington.edu . *** 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: http://www.datawave.net/ or call 1-805-730-7777 from the handset of your fax machine *** 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. *** LEGAL STUFF This document is copyright 1994-1995 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 WorldWideWeb: 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 ftp://ftp.eff.org:/pub/Net_info/Technical/net-fax.faq You can get it using Gopher: gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Net_info/Technical/net-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 ###end of document###