Despite what the title suggests, I am NOT proficient in technology. To put it simply I have an analog fax from the office that I would like to connect to my home internet phone which is VOIP.

I read what Google had to offer but remain confused. I am not interested in other fax options via the internet just basic advice on this task. If it involves much in the way of buying extra devices or lots of hassle, it is not worth the time or hassle. Thanks

The answer is it depends on what equipment you have.

Have you tried setting up your fax machine to use the lowest baud rate it supports and giving it a try?

quote:

The answer is it depends on what equipment you have.

Have you tried setting up your fax machine to use the lowest baud rate it supports and giving it a try?

^^^
The Fax machine is about ten years old. I am not sure how to adjust the baud rate. At the office it just plugged into the landline. Can I try the same at home? Thanks

How your provider provides your phone service is the key to whether or not it is worthwhile to try this. Do they provide you a traditional telco interface that you plug your old phones into (e.g. a phone jack), or are you using SIP phones that connect to your home network?

If the former, you may be able to just plug in the fax to one of the jacks. Whether or not this works depends on the specific hardware they are using as an ATA (Analog Terminal Adapter). Your provider should be able to tell you whether they support fax on their "lines," and how much more you can pay them for the privilege.

If you are using SIP phones, then you would have to acquire your own fax-capable ATA to use your fax machine.

You're making this harder than it has to be.

Get one of the free or very cheap eFax accounts and bypass the hardware. I'm assuming you have at least a scanner.

quote:

How your provider provides your phone service is the key to whether or not it is worthwhile to try this. Do they provide you a traditional telco interface that you plug your old phones into (e.g. a phone jack), or are you using SIP phones that connect to your home network?

If the former, you may be able to just plug in the fax to one of the jacks. Whether or not this works depends on the specific hardware they are using as an ATA (Analog Terminal Adapter). Your provider should be able to tell you whether they support fax on their "lines," and how much more you can pay them for the privilege.

If you are using SIP phones, then you would have to acquire your own fax-capable ATA to use your fax machine.

OK that is what I was looking for. I really was looking for another use for old fax machine. Do not have any great need to fax from home. I work enough as it is! Thanks again for your help.

It has been my experience that legacy FAX hardware does not work well with VoIP service--if it works at all.

Anyway... If what you have is a VoIP phone, rather than an analog phone plugged into a VoIP adapter (aka: Analog Terminal Adapter): I doubt there's any way to do it.

You'd need a VoIP Gateway:
A typical VoIP gateway has interfaces to both IP networks and PSTN (Public switched telephone network) or POTS (Plain old telephone service) telephone services. The gateway may be configured to use these in several ways

I dealt with this for a few years where I work. Throw the fax in the trash and move on. Our HR office still deals with some entities that insist on using fax numbers, so I got them an encrypted eFax account.

Several years ago I had issues with a new HP all in one but a Brother all in one sent and received faxes perfectly over Vonage

It could be hit or miss depending on your equipment or provider.

Currently, no issues with any equipment over Comcast phone system.

This...

MetroFax or Faxage

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
You're making this harder than it has to be.

Get one of the free or very cheap eFax accounts and bypass the hardware. I'm assuming you have at least a scanner.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Several years ago I had issues with a new HP all in one but a Brother all in one sent and received faxes perfectly over Vonage

It could be hit or miss depending on your equipment or provider.

It is this ^^^^^ to which I earlier referred.

I had several brands of FAX machines work erratically, or not at all, once I switched the office from POTS/COTS to SIP (aka: VoIP). But there was a Kyocera AIO that worked flawlessly.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Currently, no issues with any equipment over Comcast phone system.

Heh. We have two local friends on Comcast phone service who have nothing but trouble. And that's with just using it for phones.

Technology advances have been hard on us hoarders. In storage I still have boxes of Centronics printer cables, SCSI cables, ZIP drives, old mice and keyboards, and the like.
I used to use an online fax service when I was doing cardiology call, and faxes still required by hospitals due to HIPAA restrictions.

I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner that has worked great for a couple of years, and it gets all my papers.

If I have to send a document to someone I scan it and e-mail the pdf. I’ve used that for several mortgage finance transactions without difficulty.

As I say, the only use I know of these days for sending by fax is to/from health care providers. The WSJ had an article on that anachronism the other day.

Bottom line: toss the old technology, recycle it and don’t look back. It’s not coming back.

Thanks all. Will probably recycle the old fax.