Free Inbound Faxing

Category: Fax

"I occasionally need to receive an inbound fax, but I don't own a fax machine. Going to Kinko's or the local drugstore to pick up a fax is a nuisance, and nothing is private there. Is there some way to get my faxes online, but still have a real phone number that people can use to send faxes to me? Oh, and free is nice..."

Receive a Fax for Free

Free inbound faxing Yes, you can get inbound faxes delivered to you electronically, for free. There are several ways to get a free fax number that will forward incoming faxes to you via email or web, and the senders will never know you don't have a real fax machine. Fax machines are so 1990... free online faxing (both inbound and outbound) is the way the cool kids do it now. :-)

My favorite free inbound fax service is Faxaway. This company has been in business since 1995 and despite their "Web 0.9" website, the service is rock solid. Sign up for a free Faxaway account and it will allow you to receive faxes and voicemails for free via your email account. Here's how it works: Faxaway gives you a real fax number that you can give to anyone who wants to send a fax to you. When that fax number receives an inbound fax, Faxaway answers the call, saves the fax as a TIF image, and forwards it on to your email address. I don't care if they do it with computers, pigeons or monkeys -- but it works great. The only downside is that you probably won't get a local fax number. Mine is in a Seattle area code, and I'm in New York, but that's never been a problem for me.

I've had a Faxaway account for years, even though I do have a fax machine. I live out of my inbox, so it's nice to be able to search and refer back to faxes I received a while ago. Oh, and I get to choose whether or not they are printed. If you've ever come home and found 100 junk faxes piled on the floor beneath your fax machine, unplug that beast and make the switch to email-based incoming faxes.

NEWS FLASH: Faxaway has begun to charge a $1/month fee for the inbound fax service. Not quite free, but still pretty darn cheap.

eFax is another well known free fax service online. They offer three different account types. Their free account, also referred to as their Limited Account, will provide you with a non-local fax line and up to 20 incoming faxes. But be aware that they call it "Limited" for a good reason. If you receive more than 20 fax pages in any thirty day period, eFax may terminate or suspend your account if you do not upgrade to a paid subscription service. The eFaxPro package will let you receive 200 faxes a month and will allow you to send faxes from your email for less than $20 per month. The eFaxPlus program is a few dollars cheaper per month and will let you receive up to 130 faxes per month, as well as send faxes through your email account. You can also bring an existing number to eFax, if you want to junk your dinosaur fax machine and go digital.

If you're looking for a free OUTBOUND faxing service that's free and requires no fax machine, check out my companion article Send a Free Fax for the scoop on free Internet faxing.

Benefits of Using a Free Fax to Email Service

Online based fax services offer users several advantages. First of all you don't have to waste valuable desk space on a bulky fax machine. You don't have to spend money on a fax machine that will most likely be outdated within a year or two. Online based fax services also allow you to send and receive faxes anywhere you have access to your email account and a computer. This means that you can retrieve a fax while at your office, while at a client's office or while you are out of town. Finally, online fax services are environmentally more friendly than a traditional fax machine, because there's no paper waste, no toner, and no obsolete machine to ultimately junk or recycle.

In addition to Faxaway and eFax, there are other fax-to-email services, some of which offer free trials. I can't personally recommend any of those because I have not used them. If you've found one that you like, feel free to post a comment below...


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Posted by Bob Rankin on July 11, 2008 08:56 PM


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Most recent comments on "Free Inbound Faxing"

Posted by:
Lonnie Futrell
14 Jul 2008

The Faxaway service is not free. When I applied on-line, they sent me an email requesting that I send them a photo copy of a credit card (front and back). Their FAQ indicates that they charge $1.00/month to maintain the basic account.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Whoa... that must be new. Good catch. I've updated the article with a caveat.


Posted by:
Leo Feret
15 Jul 2008

Windows XP and Vista Ultimate have a free Fax Service built in - you finally have a chance to use your dial-up win/fax modem again for free Faxes up and down. Works great for the occasional Fax user. I just split my home phone line to the phone and the PC modem and have the phone answering machine set for 3 rings and the Fax for 4 rings. When I'm expecting a Fax, I just turn off the answering machine and the Fax is automatically answered. No third party involved, and no potential Internet security problem either.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Well, you still need a phone line and a fax modem that way... Also you can't get a fax when you're (a) not expecting it, or (b) not home. But if it works for you, that's all that matters.


Posted by:
John
16 Jul 2008

Bob; I always find Tourbus useful. I had eFax a while back and went over the maximum, which resulted in needing to pay for the service. I went to their link in Tourbus. It doesn't look like they offer the free incoming faxing anymore.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, they still do. From the EFAX home page, click Products, then click Limited Account.


Posted by:
Gregg
16 Jul 2008

Another free faxing resource is at http://drop.io/fax


Posted by:
Pete Wells
16 Jul 2008

Call Wave also offers a for fee inbound fax service. This is a companon to their service that is similar to land line "call waiting" by sending a taxt message to a cell phone and, for dial up uses, a voice mail system when the computer is logged in. www.callwave.com


Posted by:
Chuck
16 Jul 2008

Are there any security issues with sending/receiving faxes via email? For instance, if you put a whole bunch of personal information, say an apartment application(or anything with a Credit Card Number), into a fax, and send it across the internet... what are the changes someone could open the attachment and lift personal identity info?

EDITOR'S NOTE: It would be the same as sending an email... which is basically no security. I'd send the fax and then call the recipient with the credit card info.


Posted by:
Betty
16 Jul 2008

eFax is also no longer free. There was no longer a "Limited Account" mentioned, and the least expensive option was $16.95 per month. So maybe you can help us find another free inbound fax service?

EDITOR'S NOTE: The free option is still there. Click PRODUCTS, then LIMITED ACCOUNT. Or the direct URL is https://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/signupFree


Posted by:
David Watts
17 Jul 2008

jConnect (jconnect.com or j2.com or jfax.com) also offers a free receive-only service. I've been using it for years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: J2 also owns eFax...


Posted by:
Barry Didier
18 Jul 2008

faxdigits.com offers a free incoming fax service. Incoming faxes are sent by pdf to your email account.


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