Can I Fax From My Phone?
‘Can I fax from my phone?’ The answer in today’s word is straight and simple- YES.
I remember a time when emails didn’t exist and if you wanted to transmit any important official information, you had to send a fax to the other person. You might remember those bulky fax machines that used to take so much of your office space?
Well, times have changed since then. However, people who were in love with fax then know how much better it is to email. This is why there are countless people still using fax as their preferred method of communication.
The difference between then and now is that you no longer have to get one of those office nightmare machines in order to use fax. The latest technology offers you the option to fax right from your phone. Surprising, right?
Read on to find out how you can fax from your phone and if it is worth it to do so:
Part 1: How to Fax from Your Cell Phone?
If someone told fax users all those years ago that one day they would be able to send or receive a fax from a tiny device like a smartphone, that person would’ve made himself the laughing stock of the town.
In fact, even today most people tend to find it unbelievable that it is possible. After all, fax works on electronic lines and the smartphone work digitally. So how can a smartphone send out a fax when they operate on different principles?
It is simple- by using online fax service or fax app that cuts out the work for people and does the translation from digital to electronic medium and vice versa. Well, here is the perfect service just in store for you:
Using Fax on Phone - Is It Worth It?
I know what you are thinking- if using the fax service on phone even possible, is it actually worth it? Actually, it is not only worth it but very preferable too.
Faxing through your phone provides you with a comfort that is second to none. You cannot carry your fax machine around for obvious purposes. In fact, you cannot have your computer or even your laptop with you at all times.
However, the case is different with your phone. You would have your phone with you at all times no matter where you are. Therefore, if faxing through the phone is as easy as I am going to tell you, why not use it?
Also, don’t forget about all the savings it is going to cause you. By using the methods suggested below, you wouldn’t have to invest in a fax machine, paper, ink, toners, or anything else. You will be using what you already have- your cell phone!
1.1 CocoFax- Turn Your Smartphone Into A High End Fax Machine
CocoFax is a fax service provider that allows ANY person to send or receive fax through their smartphones. It is one of the most popular fax services with users all around the globe.
The best part about CocoFax is that it does not require an adapter or other hardware of any kind. It is a standalone app that you can run from your smartphone no matter what operating system you use.
Further, in order to provide greater services to the users, CocoFax offers you a variety of ways to send or receive a fax through your smartphone.
And the target user doesn’t need to have a CocoFax account. The fax you send from your phone will go to their Fax machine just like any ordinary fax does.
These ways include:
Sending Fax through CocoFax Web App
You can open CocoFax’s dashboard without even installing any app on your phone. All you will need for this purpose is a smartphone that has a web browser. How much easier can things be?
And this is not just limited to sending a fax. The web dashboard also collects the faxes that you have received.
Sending Fax through Email
CocoFax combines the comfort of email with the love of fax. You can now send fax just from your email client, be it Gmail, Yahoo email, or any other mailing service. You can also get the faxes that you have received right in your email inbox.
When you send any fax through the email, CocoFax will translate the fax document into something that a fax can read. However, you will need to make sure that your email account is registered with CocoFax for this purpose.
**You cannot directly send a fax from an email client without any third party service like CocoFax. This is because of the different architecture that emails and faxes follow**
Requirements for Using CocoFax on Phone
If you want to send or receive a fax through your phone, you require the following:
- A smartphone running any operating system, be it Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows, or anything else.
- A CocoFax account and a fax number. Don’t worry, you can get a free fax number when you create a CocoFax account.
- Any modern web browser like Google Chrome, Uc Browser, Safari, Opera, etc.
- An email account and an app on your phone that can open the email service.
OR
As you can see, these requirements are not really hard to meet. In fact, you might be fulfilling all of them already (except for the free fax number and CocoFax account, which I will tell you how to get in the next section).
1.2 How to Send and Receive Fax from Your Cell Phone Browser
Let us discuss the first method that I mentioned, i.e. sending a fax through the phone using CocoFax web app. Remember that you do not have to download any Android or iPhone fax app for this purpose. You can do everything from your web browser.
Step 1: Open your phone’s web browser and visit CocoFax's website. You will see an option of ‘Get My Free Fax Number’. Click on this option.
Step 2: Fill in the information and choose your preferred fax number. You will be given a lot of options.
Step 3: Once done, you will be taken to your dashboard. You are now ready to send and receive the fax. Select on the option that says ‘Send Fax’.
Step 4: You can now compose the Fax that you wish to send. In the ‘To’ field, enter the fax number of the person who is going to receive the fax. You can create a cover letter for your fax in the body field below. Lastly, you can attach the document that you wish to fax. The document formats that are supported by CocoFax include: pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, png, jpg.
**The cover letter comes as the first page of the fax on the receivers end. Here you can add any note you wish for the fax that you have sent.**
Step 5: Hit on the ‘Send’ button. You should wait for CocoFax to dial the receiver’s fax. You will get a message once the transmission is successful. If the transmission was not successful, you will get a notification for that too!
You will also get a copy of the notification about whether the fax was delivered successfully or whether it failed in the delivery.
**The most common reasons for failed transmissions are that the receiver’s fax machine is busy already, it is turned off, or you probably entered the incorrect fax number. Theoretically speaking, it is improbable that the failed transmission would occur due to a fault at CocoFax’s end.**
As you can see, the steps to send a fax through a mobile phone’s web browser are so easy. Now let us learn about how to receive a fax from a mobile phone.
Receiving a Fax on Phone
Receiving a fax through CocoFax’s web app is even easier than sending it. Just follow the below steps to see the faxes that you have received:
Step 1: Login to your CocoFax account. If you do not have one, you can follow the steps of the previous section to make one.
Step 2: Once you are on the dashboard, select the tab that says ‘Inbox’. All the faxes that you have received will be present here. It is the same as receiving emails in your email inbox.
When you have received a new fax, CocoFax will send you an email notification about the same. Therefore, you don’t have to be on the lookout for new faxes all the time.
Try it out now and send and receive faxes from your phone number with CocoFax. You can use CocoFax’s one month free trial to enjoy the service and evaluate it before you buy it!
1.3 Fax from Cell Phone Email App
If you want more ease than using the CocoFax web app to send or receive a fax, you can use the email to fax service from your phone.
Here are the steps to use email to fax service that CocoFax offers right from your phone:
Sending a Fax
Step 1: Register your email with CocoFax. You should make sure that you use the email ID that you will utilize to send faxes. You can register any email client like Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc.
Step 2: Once the email ID is registered with CocoFax, open the email client and click on the create email option.
Now, this is important, in the destination email address tab, enter the fax number of the receiver followed by ‘@cocofax.com’. For example, if the fax number of the receiver is 123456, you will have to enter the following address:
123456@cocofax.com
You can also enter text in the subject of the email. This text will appear as a note on the receiver’s fax document. Further, if you want to add a cover letter to the fax, you can enter it in the email body.
Lastly, you can attach the document that you wish to fax along with the email. This will be fax document that will be printed for the receiver.
Step 3: Now you can hit on the ‘Send’ button. Once you send the email, CocoFax will receive it and translate it as a fax to the target machine.
You will get the fax delivery confirmation in your email inbox, whether it was successful or not. It will also contain the log time on which the fax was sent.
**CocoFax provides you with a free fax number when you create an account. If you send a fax to anyone, this fax number is displayed as the sender number on their fax. They can also send you a fax on the same number.**
Receiving a Fax
Receiving a fax through your email client is very easy if you are using CocoFax. First things first, you will need to create a CocoFax account if you don’t have it already.
Once you have created an account and registered your email with them, you will automatically receive faxes that people send you on your fax number (provided by CocoFax).
CocoFax forwards you these faxes on your email inbox. You can see the fax as an attached document with the email.
**CocoFax provides you with a high level of security while sending or receiving faxes. These faxes are accessible only to you and the person who is sending or receiving. These cannot be seen by any other third party**
Also Read: How to Fax from iPhone
Part 2: Using a Fax App on Cell Phone
If you don’t want to use a web app or email to fax services, there is another option as well to send a fax via your phone.
There are applications that can be downloaded and installed on your phone. These applications open the dashboard of the fax app right on the phone without opening any web browser.
Once you have such an app on your phone, you can send or receive a fax directly through this fax app. If you want to send a fax, all you will need is the fax number of the receiver as well as an internet connection. Faxes that you receive get accumulated in these apps automatically.
However, you will also require to have a subscription to these fax services in order to use it.
You May Like: 5 Best Free Fax App for Android
Part 3: Using Fax through Phone- Tips to Remember
There are a few things that you should keep in mind when you are using fax service on your phone:
- Fax through the phone is facilitated by third party services. Therefore, you can use this by subscribing to these services, which is generally chargeable. However, CocoFax offers you a 30 day trial period so you can evaluate the service for free before you actually subscribe to it!
- If you are sending a fax through CocoFax, the other person will have to turn on their machine if they are using a Fax machine. However, if they are using a fax service like CocoFax too, the fax will be delivered to their inbox
- A fax number is mandatory whether you wish to send a fax or receive it. However, CocoFax allots you this number for free. You should remember that this number will be displayed to the other person when you sending them a fax. Also, they can reply to you on this number too.
I hope these things help you out. You can indulge in the fax from phone experience fully when you start using CocoFax.
Endnotes
We have not just answered your question- ‘Can I fax from my phone?’ but we also gave you the entire guide to do the same.
Try it out and let us know in case you have any doubts. We will be happy to assist you if you face a problem (it is very unlikely that you would face one).
Happy faxing!