Most of our daily communication is being conducted via a medium of e-mail and phone these days, business and private alike, but faxing is still very much alive.Sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation that you have to send or receive a fax message, and if you can find yourself in a bind if you don't know how to send a fax.

Sooner or later you will find yourself in a situation that you have to send or receive a fax message, and if you can find yourself in a bind if you don't know how to send a fax.

The truth is, it's a very simple process, one not necessarily tied to the large scanner/printer device most people imagine when they think of fax machines.

Let's give you a brief rundown of options for sending a fax: You can send a fax message using a fax machine, you can send a fax message using a computer, or you can send a fax message using any device with access to the internet (phone, tablet, or a computer)

Send a Fax via a Fax Machine

This used to be the most common form of long distance communication, but technology is running it's course, and we're seeing fewer and fewer fax machine models on the market.

Still, you can get access to fax machines in most post offices or medium-sized enterprises, so you should at the very least know how to use a fax machine to learn how to send a fax message.

Fax machines are pretty similar to modern scanners and printers.

Place a document you wish to fax in the scanner section of the fax machine (make sure it's the right side up, all fax machines have an icon showing where to point the “up” side of the paper), dial the fax number you are sending the message to, hit the (usually large and colored) “send” button and wait for the process to complete.

Modern fax machines often show “message successfully sent” message on the display, or print out a confirmation page, to show that the recipient got the message – you may want to keep the confirmation slip if you're dealing with important business documents, as they have legal value.

Learn more about how fax machines work here.

How to Send a Fax using a Computer

Since fax machines are taking up a lot of space, smaller offices may rely on a computer with a fax modem for sending and receiving of fax messages.

This method still requires the computer to be hooked to a faxing landline and isn't in any way impacted by the internet connection.

If you don't have access to a fax machine or a computer with a fax modem, you want to be reading about online faxin services, below.

At any rate, you need to have a scanner hooked to the computer, or to have the document you want to send prepared as a file to be sent.

Fax modems have their software suits that you need to have installed and configured, which will let you dial a number much like you would with a fax machine, and with a few clicks your fax modem will be transferring the information to where you want it to go.

Do not turn off the computer until the message is done being sent, or you will interrupt the process!!! It is not as quick as sending an e-mail, so make sure you get the confirmation window before you close the software suite.

How to Send a Fax using an Online Faxing Service

Online Faxing Services have gotten extremely popular recently, as they turn faxing into something much more akin to e-mailing, a communication method everybody has gotten used to over the last two decades.
It is also a method that doesn't require you to have a fax machine or a fax landline handy, so it's less costly if you have only a few fax messages to send monthly.

There are plenty of faxing services to pick from (Nextiva and eFax, for example, but there are much more).

You can easily create an account on any device that's hooked to the internet and start sending and receiving fax messages right away.

You will have to prepare your documents in the PDF format, and you need internet access – if you've got those two, you're good to go.

I hope this helps you the next time you need to send a fax but are unsure of how to do it.

If you find yourself in a position where you don't have access to the internet, like having to fax something while on a trip or on vacation, I have an article on sending a fax in a hurry that can help you.

Learn More About Our #1 Pick For Faxing Online!

Matt Gerchow

Matt Gerchow is an author, marketer, inventor, husband, father and yoga enthusiast. He enjoys travel to distant lands , fine wine, time with his family and dinner with friends.