How to Convert Faxes to E-mails

Eliminate paper faxes.

Having the capability to convert faxes to emails allows for many advantages. Among these are the ability to store faxes electronically, email received faxes and helping eliminate the need for paper storage. The process to convert faxes to emails is dependent on the current configuration of your computer network, as well as the hardware you have in place. Learn the steps for converting to email received faxes from either a fax server or from a standalone fax machine.

Things You'll Need

• Fax server
• Fax machine
• Scanner

Instructions

Converting to email using a fax server

1. Set up your fax server to route all incoming faxes to an electronic format. If you have a fax server, it most likely has an option to convert all faxes to an electronic format. Once converted, the fax server can either email the fax to a specific person or location, or can store the electronic fax in a shared folder.

2. Open the electronic fax and save to your desktop. Unless your fax server routed the fax directly to your email (in which case the fax is already in an email format), you will need to save the electronic fax to your desktop or to a location that you will easily remember.

3. Attach the electronic fax to an outgoing email. Once attached, you can email out the fax using your email client.

Converting a fax using a standalone fax machine

1. Collect your received fax from the fax machine.

2. Scan the received fax using a scanner. If the scanner is a networked scanner, save the file to either your desktop, your folder on the network or to a shared network folder. If the scanner is connected only to your computer, it will save the image file according to the rules set up with your scanning software.

3. Retrieve the scanned image of your fax and save it to either your desktop or to a location on your computer that you will remember.

4. Attach the image to an email. Once you have completed this step, you can email out your received fax using your email client.

References

• Open Text: Fax server, Right fax edition

Resources

• Bright Hub: Fax versus email security