How to Send an International Fax Free
Author: Richard Haase
Sending a fax to an international fax machine is not much different than faxing to an US number, there are just a few differences to keep in mind, and as you will see it is almost the same as making an international phone call.
International fax requires you add the country code when dialing the number. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Double check that your online fax service or fax machine is able to communicate to other countries.
- Begin the call by dialing 011 if you are in the USA. This will let the phone company know you are entering a foreign number.
- Enter the country code and the city code if it's needed.
- Now enter the actual number of the fax machine.
- Press Send.
- Your fax is on its way, you just need to wait for the confirmation to arrive in your machine or in your email, if you are using a fax-to-email service.
Some countries such as Canada and other US territories don't need the 011 exit code. Please refer to the list of country codes later on this guide for more info.
How to Dial an International Fax Number?
To send an international fax, simply dial the country and area code, followed by the fax number, and begin the transmission using the instructions provided by your fax machine's user manual or the fax service of your choice.
How to Fax Internationally Through a Fax Machine
This old method still works, but you need to have a fax machine and a dedicated fax line.
You see, every time you send an international fax, you have to pay the cost of the transmissions per minute, based on the long-distance call fees from your phone company.
A dedicated fax line, on the other hand, will serve to avoid interruptions during the process, keeping you from having to send a fax again (and accumulating long-distance minutes).
How to Send International Fax Online
This is the most affordable method because most online fax services don’t make a distinction when it comes to destinations. You can fax online within the USA or send a fax to UK and it will cost the same to you. Instead of international call minutes, you are just using the amount of pages determined on your plan.
If you have a business that is constantly communicating with foreign customers, integrating an online fax solution can prove to be a major money-saver. It also saves you time; given that faxes are sent and received automatically, you’ll spend your time away from the fax machine. Faxes will arrive to your inbox and outgoing faxes will be delivered automatically.
To send and international fax with a service, you can simply log into your fax account, go to the Sending area, add the number you want to send the fax to, and then select the country of destination from the drop-down list.
Another, more convenient alternative is to send the fax from Gmail. Here’s no drop-down list of countries, so just follow the instructions to fax from email, but add the country and area prefixes to the number like this faxnumber@faxservice.com
Here you can find a list of all the country codes.
Can I Fax Internationally for Free?
Although you can’t fax for free using a fax machine, you can do so with the help of an online fax service. But not any service will do. You must choose one that has international coverage and at the same time lets you create a free account.
Luckily, most fax services offer this last option, so you’ll have no trouble creating a free account. This account comes complete with an online fax number, enabling you to receive faxes on Gmail from any destination on your computer or even mobile device.
With a service you can send faxes from Gmail too, which makes it a breeze to fax online.
There are also some pages online that let you send faxes, but they are only limited to USA and some cases, Canada. In addition most of them include a cover page with ads, and limit the amount of pages and even file formats of your fax.
Yet another option is to use a service that lets you fax per page. These days you can find plenty of options both for desktop and mobile devices. Some of them allow you to reach international destinations. However, they aren’t not free, you still have to pay per page, according to the country your fax will be transmitted to.
Final Words
Sending faxes internationally doesn't have to be complicated. With the help of an online fax service you can fax to any country in the World without having to deal with interruptions or delays. It isn't much different than sending a local fax, you just have to know the correct country and area codes. Are you ready to try it out?
Richard Haase is the primary author and contributor on Googleonlinefax.com. On his free time he’s a tech addict and loves to try out new technology for businesses.