Are you among the people who fail to distinguish a printer from a fax machine? I am, sadly. However, there’s no need to worry about that issue because you can send a fax from a printer.
How to Send a Fax from a Printer
Guarantee Your Printer Supports Fax Capability
Before sending a fax from a printer, you should, first of all, guarantee that your printer supports the fax capability that allows you to send a fax from the printing equipment. Up to now, quite a number of printers on the market support the fax function and they are called multifunction printers integrating functions of scanning, printing, copying, and faxing.
How to make sure if a printer supports the fax function, then?
First, observe the buttons on the printer. If you find a button with “FAX” on it, then, the printer mostly can be used to send and receive a fax.
Then, observe the printer to see whether it has a telephone on it. To send a fax, a telephone line is a must unless online fax is selected by you to send and receive a fax from a smartphone. Therefore, if a printer has a telephone speaker, it possibly supports the feature of faxing.
How to Send a Fax from a Printer
The guide below indicates how to send a fax from a printer that integrates multiple functions.
Step 1. Prepare your paper file.
To send a fax from a printer, you should prepare your paper file in advance because the file should be scanned first before being faxed out. To scan the file, you should have a file first. Generally speaking, faxes are still commonly required in some cases because of their high validity. For example, if you fax an unemployment assistance file to the government, you need to print the form and sign on it. The signature ensures the validity of your file. In other words, you can never fax your file out until your file has been printed and signed with your signature.
Step 2. Scan your paper file.
To send a fax from a printer or any fax machine, your file should be scanned first. If the file to be faxed has a low number of pages, you can scan it page by page on the printer. If the file to be faxed has a high number of pages, such as a contract, you can put it at the file feeder to let the printer automatically scan it page by page if corresponding functions are supported.
Step 3. Dial the recipient’s fax number to send the fax.
Put up the telephone speaker from the printer and dial the recipient’s fax number out to “tell” the specific address the scanning file should reach. Normally, a fax signal should be received from the phone before clicking the fax button on the printer. Then, the fax will be received by the recipient.
When a Printer isn’t Available, How to Send a Fax if You Must?
A printer isn’t available all the time, let alone a multifunction printer that is usually owned by a company. If you work from home and must send a fax, it’s not an easy job to find a printer or fax machine nearby.
Actually, you’re allowed to send a fax from your smartphone as long as FAX app is downloaded and installed since it can change your smartphone into a pocket fax machine, letting you send and receive at any time and place.
It has the following advantages compared with a printer or fax machine:
- No need to print your file out in paper
- Attach your file from any source
- Add a fax cover sheet to lead your file to stand out in the recipient’s part
- Low cost, one account with unlimited pages
- Make your faxes trackable
- Secure and fast
- Fit for everyone.