Receiving a fax, today

The equipment you need, the real cost, and why Faxeroo limits itself to sending.

Receiving means holding a number of your own. Incoming calls are picked up by a fax machine or captured by a server that converts the signal to PDF and sends it to your email. Sending means dialling a number once; receiving means permanently maintaining a line in your name. That dedicated number is billed monthly: which is why free reception hardly exists, while sending a page can be free.

The three steps of a received fax

Traditional machine or online service: the chain is identical.

  1. 1

    An allocated number

    Your contact dials it, whether it is geographic or not. If it doesn't exist, the fax literally has no door to knock on.

  2. 2

    A decoded signal

    The fax tones become an image. With an online service, that decoding runs on the operator's servers: no device and no socket needed on your premises.

  3. 3

    The final delivery

    The reconstructed image reaches you, most often as a PDF attached to a message, sometimes in a customer portal. That is the principle of “fax to email”.

Why reception is charged

The national regulator allocates numbers to operators, who then rent them out to their customers. A number reserved for you is paid every month, whether it receives a hundred faxes or zero — that makes it a subscription rather than consumption.

Sending, for its part, occupies a shared line for only one to two minutes: hence billing per use, or even free of charge on the first page. The free reception offers seen here and there almost always hide the same thing: a time-limited trial, a shared number, or advertising that funds the whole thing.

Three workable routes

  • Rent a number with email delivery

    A subscribed number with incoming faxes arriving in your inbox as PDFs. The ideal formula when fax volume is high — and the sole path without a landline.

  • Keep the machine

    Consistent if the device already works. Check your box, though: a line moved to voice over IP carries a fax poorly, and copper closes year after year.

  • Change channel

    Often the simplest: the sending organisation may well accept a plain email, a secure portal, or even the post. One phone call will sometimes save you a subscription.

The journey of a received fax

In fax-to-email, the document crosses the operator's server before reaching your mailbox, where it stays until it is deleted. Contract, prescription, case document: its protection merges with that of your email. As soon as those pages carry personal data, secure that storage first.

Faxeroo: sending, nothing else

Faxeroo carries your PDFs to landlines in seven countries, with no account creation; the PDF receipts remain an option. We provide no number and accept no incoming fax: bear that in mind before looking for that feature.

Send a fax via Faxeroo

Receiving: frequently asked questions

Is there such a thing as free fax reception?
Very rarely, and never for long. A dedicated number is billed monthly by the operator that holds it. Free offers hide trials, numbers shared between subscribers, or paid advertising.
Receiving faxes without a landline: is it feasible?
Yes, through fax-to-email: the operator holds the number and carries each fax to you as a PDF. No device, no socket to install.
What about with a smartphone?
Yes, indirectly: the fax ends up as a PDF in your inbox, readable on a phone. On the other hand, no mobile number can pick up a fax directly: the cellular network ignores that protocol.
Can you receive faxes anonymously?
No. Every number is allocated to an identified holder at the operator. That is a regulatory requirement, not a commercial choice.
Does Faxeroo allocate numbers?
No. Faxeroo only serves to send faxes. We allocate no number and accept no incoming fax for our users.

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