Setting up a fax enabled all in one printer and sending Fax without a landline.

[Ming]

Is this possible? I've only got a cell phone. My router is plugged into the one phone socket in my place but I don't have a landline number with my provider.

I've just got a shiny new Brother all in one laser jet printer (very nice) but I want to get all its capabilities up and running if possible.

 

[xenon]

There are apps to send faxes from smart phones. The printer won't be involved.

 

[lazythursday]

Who would you send it to? Is there anywhere? Apart from northern rail who can't function without them apparently.

 

[Pickman's model]

It's five years since I've seen a fax machine and longer since I saw one used

 

[Elpenor]

Would you consider a telex line instead?

 

[Ming]

It's five years since I've seen a fax machine and longer since I saw one used

We still use them at work quite a bit. To be honest it's more 'I've paid for it so I want it' .

 

[Ming]

Would you consider a telex line instead?

As long as I get my telegram from the King when I hit the century.

 

[Saul Goodman]

1994 called and said it wants its dying technology back.

 

[Ming]

Do I need a woofer and a tweeter for my stereogram?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Unless the software that came with the AIO thing has provision to connect to some server to send a fax over the internet, I don't see how it could be possible without a phone line.

 

[Ming]

Unless the software that came with the AIO thing has provision to connect to some server to send a fax over the internet, I don't see how it could be possible without a phone line.

What's AIO?

 

[Saul Goodman]

What's AIO?

All In One... Printer/Scanner/Fax

 

[Ming]

All In One... Printer/Scanner/Fax

OK. Thanks man!

We still use faxes to communicate legal documents with the city police department and patient records with other hospitals.

Our code blue and code white (which I'm a member of) teams carry pagers! It's got something to do with reliability regarding the pagers apparently.

 

[gentlegreen]

There used to be email to FAX gateways - with bonus added SPAM

 

[Ming]

There used to be email to FAX gateways - with bonus added SPAM

I suppose it must be that an organization like a hospital has to have landlines so faxes but individuals like myself don't.

Oh well. It's still a nice printer.

 

[xenon]

The problem for using the Brother to send a fax is the lack of a phone line. Hence may as well use a smart phone app.

Last saw a fax machine used at work circa 2010 because some customers insisted on still being able to fax stuff in.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Do I need a woofer and a tweeter for my stereogram?

 

[gentlegreen]

I still haven't found much of a use for the telephone - I used to initialise a handful of calls a year at work...
I'm on my third Android phone now - probably with limitless credit (I would have to check) but still rarely use it as a phone...
If I send a text it's usually via the PC.

 

[Ming]

 

[abe11825]

If I recall correctly, you do need an active telephone line / connection for the All In One machines.

If your only "live line" is where the router is, is there a plug in option for a telephone, and if you don't have a landline number, how are you able to get online? Doesn't a phone line need to be activated in order to work? Are you using a cable line (ethernet type) and not phone? (sorry if I'm misunderstanding this)

I'm just trying to think of options to help. If the router can handle a phone plug in, maybe the fax cord can plug in to the router, for you to be able to send / receive faxes. But, you still need an active telephone line and number to do any sending or receiving. The All In One isn't an all in one if you aren't using all the functionalities. Faxes need an active telephone line or they can't do anything (if you're using an app on your mobile to fax, wouldn't it be akin to using your cellular data?).

Sometimes the machines come with all the software, sometimes they don't. You really have to look around in what the installation stuff is. However, there should be an option for the fax software once you put everything on your computer.

Nowadays, the machines have an app for smart devices, so you can download it to your mobile and do everything that way. Maybe there's an option to scan and fax through the Brother app on the mobile? Or, just scan to the cloud and send via email? I know the point of a fax is to send it to a phone number, so if you can scan the document and then email it to a fax number, would that work?

I remember before I left one of my latest jobs, they were working with a provider that received faxes to a specific folder on your computer, and in order to send faxes, you were emailing the document to a fax number. Your email became the cover sheet. But you still had to register this program with a fax number to do anything. I forget what the program was called, but it seemed to be working.

As a side note, my mother has a friend who has one of the fax inclusive devices, and she has a splitter device at the wall level for where her telephone line is. It's a little adapter of sorts, where her main telephone and fax line are connected to the one line. She just has to be called first and be told she's getting a fax because she's got to rearrange some things (and turn on the machine because she keeps it off most days).

The splitter looks like this:



I could be wrong and will happily admit to it.

 

[Ming]

If I recall correctly, you do need an active telephone line / connection for the All In One machines.

If your only "live line" is where the router is, is there a plug in option for a telephone, and if you don't have a landline number, how are you able to get online? Doesn't a phone line need to be activated in order to work? Are you using a cable line (ethernet type) and not phone? (sorry if I'm misunderstanding this)

I'm just trying to think of options to help. If the router can handle a phone plug in, maybe the fax cord can plug in to the router, for you to be able to send / receive faxes. But, you still need an active telephone line and number to do any sending or receiving. The All In One isn't an all in one if you aren't using all the functionalities. Faxes need an active telephone line or they can't do anything (if you're using an app on your mobile to fax, wouldn't it be akin to using your cellular data?).

Sometimes the machines come with all the software, sometimes they don't. You really have to look around in what the installation stuff is. However, there should be an option for the fax software once you put everything on your computer.

Nowadays, the machines have an app for smart devices, so you can download it to your mobile and do everything that way. Maybe there's an option to scan and fax through the Brother app on the mobile? Or, just scan to the cloud and send via email? I know the point of a fax is to send it to a phone number, so if you can scan the document and then email it to a fax number, would that work?

I remember before I left one of my latest jobs, they were working with a provider that received faxes to a specific folder on your computer, and in order to send faxes, you were emailing the document to a fax number. Your email became the cover sheet. But you still had to register this program with a fax number to do anything. I forget what the program was called, but it seemed to be working.

As a side note, my mother has a friend who has one of the fax inclusive devices, and she has a splitter device at the wall level for where her telephone line is. It's a little adapter of sorts, where her main telephone and fax line are connected to the one line. She just has to be called first and be told she's getting a fax because she's got to rearrange some things (and turn on the machine because she keeps it off most days).

The splitter looks like this:
View attachment 456065


I could be wrong and will happily admit to it.

Thanks man! I'll try your suggestions. I know it's old tech but we still use it at work so might be useful if i'm off sick or on vacation. We still use pagers for code teams in the hospital (i'm a psych nurse). I asked a code blue (resus) team member why and he said it's more reliable than cell tech. I'm an ATR (advanced team response - code whites) member and we carry pagers also. The VPD (Vancouver Police Department) use faxes and we usually use them for transferring any requested patient records for transfers and admissions. Not sure if there's a reason for not using newer tech. We obviously have intranet records too.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Thanks man! I'll try your suggestions. I know it's old tech but we still use it at work so might be useful if i'm off sick or on vacation. We still use pagers for code teams in the hospital (i'm a psych nurse). I asked a code blue (resus) team member why and he said it's more reliable than cell tech. I'm an ATR (advanced team response - code whites) member and we carry pagers also. The VPD (Vancouver Police Department) use faxes and we usually use them for transferring any requested patient records for transfers and admissions. Not sure if there's a reason for not using newer tech. We obviously have intranet records too.

Amazingly enough they've been banned in the NHS.

 

[lazythursday]

Amazingly enough they've been banned in the NHS.

Huge privacy implications I guess? Printouts of people's personal data and medical history potentially left lying around?

 

[Ming]

Amazingly enough they've been banned in the NHS.

Pagers or faxes?

 

[keybored]

You'll probably need an Internet (VoIP) phone line, an analogue gateway that supports fax and time for endless fucking about. Fax can be tempermental over VoIP.

What is a Fax ATA, and How to Select the Right One

Landlines are being phased out, but a fax ATA will let you keep using your old equipment for years to come.

www.techrepublic.com

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Huge privacy implications I guess? Printouts of people's personal data and medical history potentially left lying around?

Yes. That and they belong in the last century and are shit.

Of course there will still be some kicking about, but they were supposed to be totally gone by 2020.

Pagers or faxes?

Both, but both are still being used.

 

[abe11825]

Thanks man! I'll try your suggestions.

You are so welcome; good luck

Huge privacy implications I guess? Printouts of people's personal data and medical history potentially left lying around?

Honestly, before my job went to the electronic faxing, my little office space had the big fax machine. There were days I would walk into my (locked) office and find dozens of personal information for one of the residents. He use using the fax machine as his own personal business, even though he wasn't supposed to (I worked at a retirement community, and this was a resident who was trying to secure some business or something back where he used to live). It didn't matter what the guy was doing, but he had copies of bank checks and accounts come through this machine, as well as applications with social security numbers. I questioned it to some people in leadership (my bosses) about the legitimacy of keeping the files "in view of others" and they said "put everything in an envelope when you see it, lock it in the lockbox in your office, and when he comes to retrieve the paperwork, it'll be fine". So that's what I did even though anyone with a key to my office (quite a few people because it was shared), could see this guy's information. Which is why going to that email fax service saved everyone.

You'll probably need an Internet (VoIP) phone line, an analogue gateway that supports fax and time for endless fucking about. Fax can be tempermental over VoIP.

What is a Fax ATA, and How to Select the Right One

Landlines are being phased out, but a fax ATA will let you keep using your old equipment for years to come.

www.techrepublic.com

That is what the program we were using is almost like - a registered email service going over VoIP. Yes, it was temperamental some days because we never got notifications a fax came through, as it would appear in a desktop folder, but sometimes it never came through at all. Depending on what type of document you were sending (how many pages), it might fail as well. At least 8 times out of 10, it worked, so can't complain on that.

Ming - one of the things I could suggest too, before you get super involved, would be try "faxing" someone you know personally who might still have a fax line. But use your email as the sending.
What I would do is:
1) log in to your email.
2) compose an email to a fax line, and use the fax number as the "to" and put something in the subject line
3) Body of the email do some salutations and what not
4) attach any document you might need to provide (a fake Word doc or whatever. Even a scanned document you use your scanner for)
5) Send that when you're done and see what happens.

That's the premise anyway, of what we were doing with our faxes.

I remember when I had a flip phone, I would text my friend with his email address as the "to" and he'd see my text in his email. He would respond with long messages back, so I would have to tell him "keep it short because it's going to text on my phone and I can't see it all", so he learned when he saw my mobile number as the sender, I was texting him.

The same thing might work for faxing? Like I said, at least that's the idea of whatever service we were using. Except responses would come back to our fax number. Outgoing faxes were email generated to whatever business, incoming faxes were pushed in to a folder on the network.

 

[Ming]

You are so welcome; good luck


Honestly, before my job went to the electronic faxing, my little office space had the big fax machine. There were days I would walk into my (locked) office and find dozens of personal information for one of the residents. He use using the fax machine as his own personal business, even though he wasn't supposed to (I worked at a retirement community, and this was a resident who was trying to secure some business or something back where he used to live). It didn't matter what the guy was doing, but he had copies of bank checks and accounts come through this machine, as well as applications with social security numbers. I questioned it to some people in leadership (my bosses) about the legitimacy of keeping the files "in view of others" and they said "put everything in an envelope when you see it, lock it in the lockbox in your office, and when he comes to retrieve the paperwork, it'll be fine". So that's what I did even though anyone with a key to my office (quite a few people because it was shared), could see this guy's information. Which is why going to that email fax service saved everyone.


That is what the program we were using is almost like - a registered email service going over VoIP. Yes, it was temperamental some days because we never got notifications a fax came through, as it would appear in a desktop folder, but sometimes it never came through at all. Depending on what type of document you were sending (how many pages), it might fail as well. At least 8 times out of 10, it worked, so can't complain on that.

Ming - one of the things I could suggest too, before you get super involved, would be try "faxing" someone you know personally who might still have a fax line. But use your email as the sending.
What I would do is:
1) log in to your email.
2) compose an email to a fax line, and use the fax number as the "to" and put something in the subject line
3) Body of the email do some salutations and what not
4) attach any document you might need to provide (a fake Word doc or whatever. Even a scanned document you use your scanner for)
5) Send that when you're done and see what happens.

That's the premise anyway, of what we were doing with our faxes.

I remember when I had a flip phone, I would text my friend with his email address as the "to" and he'd see my text in his email. He would respond with long messages back, so I would have to tell him "keep it short because it's going to text on my phone and I can't see it all", so he learned when he saw my mobile number as the sender, I was texting him.

The same thing might work for faxing? Like I said, at least that's the idea of whatever service we were using. Except responses would come back to our fax number. Outgoing faxes were email generated to whatever business, incoming faxes were pushed in to a folder on the network.

Thanks so much Abe! It is old school faxing i know. I work in locked psych units mainly so when a patient goes AWOL we have to fax a form authorising police to pick up the individual and take them back to the unit (or ER) but we fax it to all concerned. The police, community teams, ER, ER psych liaison, etc. It's funny that a 4 billion CAD organisation like my employer here in BC isn't more up to date but there you go!

 

[abe11825]

Whatever works and makes life a little easier, gets the job done. So you're using old fashioned ways of doing things, but guess what - new school tech isn't that much safe either. So you do what you can. Makes sense to have that system in place that you have. It's an emergency situation and you need to get the information out to the right departments.

I could stand corrected, but there was a time when US Government agencies were using (offline mode, I think) Windows 95 + 98 systems, and this was around 2005 - 2010. I don't know if they've upgraded their software, but I remember hearing about that and wondering why these big agencies weren't trying to keep up with things, given the fact they "run" the country. Some software can't roll over as the years progress, so it's understandable in a sense.

Hopefully you can get something working in your favor, Ming

 

[moochedit]

There used to be email to FAX gateways - with bonus added SPAM

My work can receive faxes by email. Our phone company intercepts our fax number externally and forwards them onto us as pdf's by email. I don't think we get many of them these days. I don't think we have anyway of sending faxes though (at least that i am aware of). Our phone lines are all voip so i'm not sure if a fax machine would work on them (if we had one).