I was asked to help a friend that does not have POTS (plain old telephone service) in their home anymore. They only have a cell phone.

As I first started to research this topic, I found one hit on a product that could be plugged into the cell phone, but when I searched for it again, I couldn’t find it. As I looked for the solution some of the requirements below were what I was looking for.

Assumptions

• Solution must be very user friendly.
• Receiving organization will not accept the scanned document in an email.
• User has a cell phone.
• User has a smart phone with a camera.
• User has a scanner.
• User does not have POTS.
• User has home internet service.
• Other Information
  • User had a six page document that I was going to fax at FedEx.
  • User has a HP Officejet 5746 (print, fax, scan, copy, web) but only knows how to use the copy part. When I had a land line, I knew how to use the fax. I do have internet for the TV and my Laptop.

Questions

Answers to these questions help determine an appropriate path. I asked the user about the quantity and current costs. because the most reasonable way to fax with no landline is to use your scanner and a fax service. Determining the current cost to the user to fax at FedEx

• How much are you spending faxing now?
  • TBD
• How many pages per month?
  • TBD
• And what is the highest number of faxes pages do you send in a day?
  • TBD
• How many times per month?
  • No more than once or twice a year.
• Before I received all of the answers, the user decided that it really wasn’t worth the effort to build a solution.

Options

Options for Scanning

Using the cell phone camera, photograph the pages and use applications such as Microsoft Office to compile a PDF. (Not user friendly.)

Scan the document on the office scanner, save to an accessible location. (User Friendly)

Options for Faxing

There are many faxing services.

• FedEX
  • This is the option the user uses. User takes the physical files to FedEX and FedEX faxes the document.
  • Also provides fax receipt services.
• eFax
  • This service, while reliable I am sure, costs way more than the user would need.
• Fax.Plus
  • During a period where I had to do a LOT of faxing, I signed up for the free FAX.PLUS account. After the free allotment ran out, I signed up for the monthly service.
  • The service is HIPPA compliant.
  • I could pay as I needed it.
  • Even though I paid as I needed it, I did sign up for the Basic Plan during the period where I needed to fax a lot.

Articles

Below are a few articles to get started.

• How to Send a Fax from Your Phone, Verizon
• How to Fax a Document From Your Smartphone, How to Geek
• The 6 Best Apps to Use to Fax From a Phone, Lifewire