How Does an Internet Fax Service Work?

Setup

An Internet fax service starts with a website. You log on and upload a document, very similar to uploading a file on Yahoo! or Gmail. Then you select where you want your file to be sent. This can be anywhere from one to hundreds of numbers, but usually the latter because these services cater to mass faxes. Most services have you enter all your contacts, then create distribution lists so you can actually blast out a fax in just minutes.

Preparation

Once you've uploaded your file to the faxing server, it will convert the file automatically to a fax format that it can use for the rest of the process. Then it fires up a variety of fax modems and starts to dial your recipients in batches.

Output

Your faxes then start to roll out at your intended recipients' fax machines. Depending on how many faxes you decided to send to, this process can take anywhere from seconds to a few minutes. Fax modems work like regular faxes and will even keep redialing for a while while they try to reach their intended recipients.