Landline telephones and fax machines were once a staple of every home or office, as they were once one of the best ways to quickly transmit information across long distances. In the 70s and 80s, fax machines with built-in scanners could transmit images of documents from a single machine, reducing the need to send documents by snail mail. Financial institutions and medical offices would all adopt fax machines as the primary way to quickly send and receive important documents.
Today, there are a lot of alternatives to fax machines. From texting, emailing, or storing documents on the cloud, we have a lot of digital-only options for sending and receiving documents.
But, some businesses still require faxing as the primary method of communication, including financial, legal and medical businesses. So, can you fax without a phone line? How do you send a fax without a fax machine? This article will show you how you can fax documents from the comfort of your home without the need of a fax machine.
How to Fax Without a Fax Machine
It’s possible to send faxes without a landline telephone or even a fax machine. There are two methods for this, depending on whether you have a physical or digital document.
If you have a digital document like a PDF, it’s extremely easy to fax electronically. Fax.Live is a modern, easy to use service that can fax documents directly through your web browser. Fax.Live works on any browser across any device, including your phone or tablet. To get started faxing without a fax machine:
1. In the Fax.Live interface, select Send New Fax.
To use Fax.Live’s services, you’ll need to log in with a Google account or sign up for an account using an email address. Fax.Live is free to try and offers affordable subscriptions for regular monthly faxing. With Fax.Live, you get access to your fax history and can set up your account to receive faxes as well as send them.
2. Drag and drop your PDF to upload it.
Documents are best faxed in the PDF format to preserve the formatting settings and maintain clarity across all devices. You’ll need to convert your non-PDF documents into PDFs before sending them by fax.
If you have a physical document (hard copy), you’ll need to scan it before you will be able to fax it without a fax machine. If you don’t have access to a printer with a scanner, you have three options:
- Visit an office supply store or library to scan your document(s).
- Download a scanner app on your phone to create a high quality PDF.
3. Enter your recipient’s information and select Send Fax!
The only required information to fax is the recipient’s fax number. Optionally, you can add a cover sheet containing additional information, including the name of the person to whom you’re sending the fax, as well as a personal note.
Once you’ve scanned your document, you’ll need to convert it to a PDF. There are lots of great PDF conversion services out there, but we recommend PDF.Live for simple conversions online.
Can You Fax Without a Phone or Landline?
Yes, if you use a service like Fax.Live, you don’t need a phone or landline to send faxes. Fax.Live’s digital service works within our own phone network so that you don’t have to set up your fax machine with a dedicated phone number. With Fax.Live, you can even receive faxes by setting up a phone number through our online portal. You’ll see incoming faxes in your Fax.Live inbox.
If you have a physical fax machine, can you fax something without a landline or phone number set up?
No, unfortunately you can’t fax through a fax machine without a connected phone line, even if you have a Wi-Fi connection. Traditional fax machines operate by “calling” other fax machines and transmitting documents through electronic dial tones that only work over the phone. A wireless connection will not support this sort of communication. If you don’t have a landline, your best bet is Fax.Live.
How can you receive a fax without a fax machine?
If you or your office doesn’t have a landline or a fax machine, and you need to receive incoming faxes, Fax.Live is exactly what you need. When you set up your account, you’ll receive your own phone number for receiving incoming faxes.
To do this, head to the Fax.Live dashboard and select Receive a Fax. Your account will then be assigned a personal fax number exclusively for faxes. Once this number is activated, your inbox will be set up to receive incoming faxes.
Your personal fax number will always be viewable on the dashboard in case you need to share it at a later date.