Many people consider faxing to be obsolete. Who needs to send information on paper these days? Well, there are certain instances where you will want to receive or send a hard copy of something. For example, if the recipient needs to sign the document or needs a completed form.
Although few businesses and homes have a fax machine these days, there are ways to send faxes in a modernized way. For example, you can use Gmail to directly send a fax to someone.
Can you send a fax with Gmail?
Unfortunately, sending a fax directly from Gmail with standard settings is not possible. Google does not yet have such a feature. However, you CAN use an online service to help you fax to email.
Signing up for an email-to-fax service
Fortunately, there are email to fax services that allow you to fax within Gmail. Once you have signed up for such a service and set everything up correctly, you can enter a phone number in a Gmail message and fax the contents to a fax machine.
You can find one of these services on Google, such as eFax. Most of them are quite simple. Keep in mind, however, that these services are not completely free. Of course, most of them will allow you to send several faxes for free, but after a while you will be prompted to pay a subscription or buy credits or tokens. On the other hand, some may offer free faxing but incorporate a company cover letter or add a watermark unless you pay for premium services.
Some email-to-fax apps you can use
Another important note: Whichever email service you choose, you'll need to use the email address you signed up with to send faxes from Gmail. In other words, you will only be able to send faxes from the address you used when you signed up for the service.
Send a fax directly from Gmail
Provided you have successfully registered, it is time to send your first fax. The problem with many fax to email services is that they often don't offer a complete guide on how to send faxes from Gmail. Luckily, you found the correct instructions on how to do it. Here's how.
1. Create a new email account in Gmail
Here's how to create a new email, just in case you didn't know. Go to the Gmail homepage and log in using your credentials. Then on the main page and navigate to the top left corner of the screen. To select Compose. A new chat-like window will open in the lower right corner of the screen. This section is where you enter all delivery information and fax message content.
2. Enter the information
As you would any other email, you'll do it here the same way. However, in the Addressees field, you will enter more specific information containing the " fax number, " including the area code (without dashes).
You will then need to enter more information. After the fax number, without spaces, enter the supplier's fax number " domain. » Your email provider should provide this information.
The Recipients field should look like this: [email protected]
3. Add content
Let's start with the typical body of an email. This section is where you will enter your cover letter. It means just about anything. Enter all the information you want. It can be an ordinary letter.
The actual content of a modern email-to-fax is in the attachments. Most providers allow sending DOC, PDF, JPG and TXT files. You will find many other extensions available from provider to provider. To attach these files, select them and drag them to the body of the email. Otherwise, select Attaching files and choose the files you want to send in the window that appears.
4. Send the email
Once you've finished adding all the content, typed or attached, it's time to send the message. Make sure you have entered all the correct information and that all attachments are there. Feel free to add information to Subject field in the email. You don't have to, however.
Once you've double-checked everything, all you have to do to send the email to someone's fax machine is hit the button " Send " button, just like sending a typical email.
The benefits of email to fax
The main result of using email to send faxes is, clearly, not having to get a fax machine or drive somewhere to use one. The one huge benefit of using an email-to-fax service is accessibility. In this way, you can send content to someone else's fax machine using your smartphone or tablet.
As long as you're using the Gmail you used to sign up for an email-to-fax service, you can use any device to send your faxes. This is an important bridge between new and old methods of faxing.
Sending faxes from Gmail
As you can see, using your Gmail to send real faxes is possible. Of course, you won't be able to do this natively from your Gmail account, but many email-to-fax services will let you do this. The process of composing a fax is as easy as sending any other email.
Did you successfully send a fax to someone using your Gmail account?
