No RJ11 - no fax modem?

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
I am trying to set up my laptop (1yo Dell) with Win7 to receive faxes.
Is it true that if it does not have an RJ11/12 port, it won't have the required 'fax modem' to make this happen?
 
There are electronic fax services now, no need for an actual landline in your house
 
I would like to look into that sometime Mark. But I would also like to research my question first. Thanks!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I would like to look into that sometime Mark. But I would also like to research my question first. Thanks!
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Yes, it's true. It needs a modem to send or receive faxes the conventional way.

If for whatever reason this is essential to you, you can purchase an external USB fax modem. Just make sure it has Win7 drivers. A lot of the ones out there were manufactured in the XP days.

Rich
 
Modems have RJ11 ports, that much is true..
 
Yep. These days, if you don't specifically order the fax modem, it ain't there.

Edit:

Not even available, generally, it appears.
 
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Back before everybody went on the broadband internet bandwagon, modems were standard issue (56K/fax/etc....). Now they're a specialty item.
 
We even got rid of the Fax machine at the office. There just isn't much need any more and why pay $30 a month for a POTS line. I suppose I could put in an ATA gateway and tap a DID on my SIP trunk, but we really don't use it, so when it broke, we just got rid of it. Fax to email works great for the few people that really need to send one to you.
 
Yep, I don't know how it works but if you fax to my VOIP provider on just my regular number a fax appears in my email box. I can send them out that way, too.

I've got an MF printer in my office but I only tend to use the fax feature if someone insists on something I've only got in paper (the thing has a sheet feeder) and it's easier to scan->fax than to scan it and then send it through the gateway.
 
Why on God's green earth does fax even exist any longer? What a moronathon. Everybody does it through IP now anyway. 'Take a picture and email it' is the modern version of a fax.
 
Henning said:
Why on God's green earth does fax even exist any longer? What a moronathon. Everybody does it through IP now anyway. 'Take a picture and email it' is the modern version of a fax.
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There are a few business I work with, that it is still embedded in the business processes, like insurance and healthcare.
 
John221us said:
There are a few business I work with, that it is still embedded in the business processes, like insurance and healthcare.
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I know, but why? WTF over?:dunno: All the technology to eliminate it has been in place for over a decade.
 
For the same reason that my FBO still uses one of these to track parts orders.

yjmhifi.jpg
 
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dans2992 said:
Looks as modern as the rest of GA.
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I stopped overnight at a place last summer which asked if I wanted to leave a card on file. I wanted to leave early and they said they'd just slip the receipt into a window crack and I could be off immediately. Sure, I said, assuming they'd swipe the card and do some sort of preauthorization and then close it out later. Nope -- they took my credit card and carefully handwrote the name, number and expiration date into a logbook with others.

Some day that book will be a thief's dream come true. Probably a gross violation of their card processor agreements, too.
 
dukeblue219 said:
I stopped overnight at a place last summer which asked if I wanted to leave a card on file. I wanted to leave early and they said they'd just slip the receipt into a window crack and I could be off immediately. Sure, I said, assuming they'd swipe the card and do some sort of preauthorization and then close it out later. Nope -- they took my credit card and carefully handwrote the name, number and expiration date into a logbook with others.

Some day that book will be a thief's dream come true. Probably a gross violation of their card processor agreements, too.
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Ted,

Just having done training for PCI-DSS 2.0, this is a HUGE violation. think fines, etc
 
Yep, the Amazon security people have some strange ideas about technology. I remember when I was setting up stuff (it was either setting up an Amazon Payments account or signing up as a non-profit for their smile program) that I had to "fax" things to them.
 
flyingron said:
Yep, I don't know how it works but if you fax to my VOIP provider on just my regular number a fax appears in my email box. I can send them out that way, too.

I've got an MF printer in my office but I only tend to use the fax feature if someone insists on something I've only got in paper (the thing has a sheet feeder) and it's easier to scan->fax than to scan it and then send it through the gateway.
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Who is your VOIP provider? We have a few OOMA's and found their reliability for faxing to be so poor that we had to abandon it in that role. We maintain a few POTS lines - a couple lines for faxes, and 2 lines for alarm dialers which similarly do not work well with VOIP.
 
RingCentral. It's really a business provider. I initially started with them because I needed to have a virtual number that could get routed to me (cell, home, second home office, etc...). The fax stuff is just another service you get for free with it. More often or not incoming faxes are intended for someone else.
 
FORANE said:
Who is your VOIP provider? We have a few OOMA's and found their reliability for faxing to be so poor that we had to abandon it in that role. We maintain a few POTS lines - a couple lines for faxes, and 2 lines for alarm dialers which similarly do not work well with VOIP.
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Use a RJ31X and you can get rid of your alarm lines. The jack takes over the fax line to send out the alarm.

They have been around for a long time. One time cost to install (cheap) and disconnect the dedicated alarm POTS lines.
 
texasag93 said:
Use a RJ31X and you can get rid of your alarm lines. The jack takes over the fax line to send out the alarm.

They have been around for a long time. One time cost to install (cheap) and disconnect the dedicated alarm POTS lines.
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Thank you for the suggestion. The fax lines are at 2 different properties and the alarm lines are at a 3rd property. So, while I would love to get rid of the 2 POTS lines that are not used for anything other than the fire alarm, I cannot. I find myself paying something like $80 per month for 2 POTS lines. Seems in this day and age there would be a better solution. I do have DSL in the building that has the fire alarm.
 
Try measured lines. It should run you 10-15 less per line.
 
Henning said:
Amazon is making me Fax in documentation...:mad2:
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Scan it, or make it into a Word/PDF document, then head on over to www.faxzero.com

I use it for those few occasions somebody still needs a fax sent. Works great, free for small jobs, and you get an emailed receipt / proof of delivery.

And with apologies to my good friend Dave, whose practice really does need a fax, I like to tell the rest of the people that ask me to send them information in a fax:

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My wireless HP all in one printer has a fax option.
If I were to put a landline to the printer I could select the "print to fax" option from the computer. Wifi to the printer to send a fax.

Other than that, a usb fax modem would be the next best option.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Scan it, or make it into a Word/PDF document, then head on over to www.faxzero.com

I use it for those few occasions somebody still needs a fax sent. Works great, free for small jobs, and you get an emailed receipt / proof of delivery.

And with apologies to my good friend Dave, whose practice really does need a fax, I like to tell the rest of the people that ask me to send them information in a fax:

attachment.php
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I recieved an email telling me I had recieved an eFax. The link in the message to open the fax had an embedded URL to Russia, opened a web page in Cyrillic and attempted to install a virus and malware.

I opened the email on a trash computer running Linux for protection.
 
FORANE said:
Thank you for the suggestion. The fax lines are at 2 different properties and the alarm lines are at a 3rd property. So, while I would love to get rid of the 2 POTS lines that are not used for anything other than the fire alarm, I cannot. I find myself paying something like $80 per month for 2 POTS lines. Seems in this day and age there would be a better solution. I do have DSL in the building that has the fire alarm.
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Alarm companies like POTS lines. Our alarm company needs to be able to dial in as well, so it can't be a shared line. We have to have one for the fire sprinkler alarm too. Very annoying.
 
sferguson524 said:
Ted,



Just having done training for PCI-DSS 2.0, this is a HUGE violation. think fines, etc
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Already outdated. PCI 3 is here.

And actually, folk here might be surprised to know that a merchant can actually use something as awful as that book to track CC transactions, even under the latest PCI rules. They have to pay a penalty to do so, which on less than 500 transactions a month, amounts to about $130.

All their totally insecure book method proves, is that they're willing to spend $1560/year to keep doing it whatever way they like.

Often the costs of becoming PCI 3 compliant are higher than the penalty. Millions of businesses fail compliance each year.

Problem with this is, businesses can simply budget for the fines, and that the fines themselves are now significant free revenue to the CC industry. But then again, PCI 3rd party quarterly auditing is a heck of a lot more expensive than $1560 a year.

The industry has painted themselves into a corner they can't get out of until they cut off the transactions of non-compliant business.
 
John221us said:
Alarm companies like POTS lines. Our alarm company needs to be able to dial in as well, so it can't be a shared line. We have to have one for the fire sprinkler alarm too. Very annoying.
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Same here, they dial in daily to test. It is not just the alarm company, the NFPA code mandates POTS.
 
FORANE said:
Same here, they dial in daily to test. It is not just the alarm company, the NFPA code mandates POTS.
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There are certified cellular and low speed data network replacements for Class I panels that aren't POTS. Talk to a good alarm company, they know what's out there and what's allowed by different fire marshals.

Our building is in one of the toughest districts in the State. Marshall allows one POTS and one non-POTS. NFPA only comes into play in the building insurance policy, if it calls for it. It doesn't. It calls for following the laws and restrictions of the fire district.

Meanwhile, even though I've looked into whether we can change it, I'm not willing to stake people's lives on cellular low speed data when POTS is available. One could maybe argue that having two technologies is better than the single tech, but CenturyLink knows both lines are alarm lines and had better have engineered appropriately.

Now if you want to get me really angry, just ask me about Comcast illegally slamming the phone numbers away from my alarm panel, this triggering an auto-disconnect of service for both lines at CenturyLink. Comcast's attitude, even when told these were life-safety circuits was one of "oh well". CL on the other hand, had both back in service on new phone numbers within five hours of my phone call to our rep.

Oh. One other cost saving tip. Never order alarm lines as fixed business POTS. Order them as MEASURED business POTS. You'll end up half the price even with the daily test calls.
 
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