Fax sending/ dial up/broadband problems

socks_uk

On behalf of a friend...

My friend has just joined up to broadband via Virgin Media but still has to send and receive faxes via computer for her business. She still has the 2nd line which she pays £11 for rental and pays £12.50 a month for dial up internet access just for the privilage of doing so.

I have suggested it might be cheaper to buy a fax machine, to still be able to do buisness by fax, and stop paying the £12.50 a month for the dial up, the down side to that is all the unwanted faxes that will print off and waste paper. My friend likes to see the faxes on screen (using Winfax) and only print the faxes needed.

Can anyone give her any advice please? Thanks.

Jill

P.S.

It would cost quite a few hundred pounds to change all paperwork, buisness cards and vehicle signwriting to do away with the second line fax number.

DonnyDave

socks_uk wrote: »

My friend has just joined up to broadband via Virgin Media but still has to send and receive faxes via computer for her buisness. She still has the 2nd line which she pays £11 for rental and pays £12.50 a month for dial up internet access just for the privilage of doing so.

Why does she pay £12.50 for dial-up internet when she has broadband?

mrJ_5

why not use pay as you go instead, but i guess it depends on how many faxes your friend sends

redux

There's no need for the dial-up internet, and it would also be possible to get rid of the second line.

It's possible to have a fax-to-email number from various suppliers. An advantage of this is no need to leave the PC on all the time to receive faxes.

eFax is one of the largest providers of such services, and several ISPs have affiliate deals with them. But I wonder if it is worth approaching one of the VoIP companies that do this, and ask about porting in the presumably BT existing landline number

For sending, Windows has a Fax service built in, but it's not usually installed by default*. I can't tell if that is what is actually in use there already. It just uses the dial-up modem to send as a fax, without needing to go via an ISP, and could be connected to the same phone line as the broadband, plugged into the other socket on the filter.

I think that Windows Fax could be used for incoming as well, but I haven't done so, so if the second line is to be kept as it is for the sake of the number that will be similar to the existing use.



* to install Windows Fax, you need a Windows CD, go from Control Panel to Add/Remove Windows components, tick Fax ...

socks_uk

DonnyDave wrote: »

Why does she pay £12.50 for dial-up internet when she has broadband?

As I said, she has just joined up to broadband, yesterday in fact(taking advantage of an offer I think). She can't just cancel dial up until the fax side of things is sorted, so not to lose business.

socks_uk

mrJ wrote: »

why not use pay as you go instead, but i guess it depends on how many faxes your friend sends

Could you give us more details of 'pay as you go' faxes? Thanks

DonnyDave

socks_uk wrote: »

... She can't just cancel dial up until the fax side of things is sorted, so not to lose business.

But you don't need dial-up internet in order to use your modem as a fax machine!

How is she using the PC as a fax? What software?

payless

To keep the existing fax number (assuming a normal 01 / 02 number) she still needs to pay the line rental ( unless some way of closing down redrecting BUT no need to pay anything on top other than cost of sending faxes thro' that line ,

THe extra £12.50 is likely for unlimited dial up... thats not for faxes but for
internet ( not needed anymore, as BB replaces) ... unless its £12.50 for free calls package and uses it for dialup & faxing ( which would be strange but not unheard of)

socks_uk

redux wrote: »

eFax is one of the largest providers of such services, and several ISPs have affiliate deals with them. But I wonder if it is worth approaching one of the VoIP companies that do this, and ask about porting in the presumably BT existing landline number

This look intresting... I've had a look at the eFax website for more information.
They run their business from home and both their existing lines are Virgin Media (NTL or Diamond Cable to those of us who remember that far back!). The second line is the fax number and was also used for the dial up internet access for the computer.

They have to keep the same fax number for people to use for at least a year as that's how long it will be before they use up all their current stationery, business cards & invoices etc. I'll pass on the information you have given me. Thanks.

socks_uk

DonnyDave wrote: »

But you don't need dial-up internet in order to use your modem as a fax machine!

How is she using the PC as a fax? What software?

She's using Winfax.

How would customers, old and new, fax to my friend if she removes the second line, which is the telephone number printed on the vehicles and all paperwork? She would love to cut down on her bill as long as she can still receive the faxes.

socks_uk

payless wrote: »

To keep the existing fax number (assuming a normal 01 / 02 number) she still needs to pay the line rental ( unless some way of closing down redrecting BUT no need to pay anything on top other than cost of sending faxes thro' that line

OK... so, now I need to know if she just keeps the phoneline plugged in and that's it, or is there something else that is needed to be done. She says she never hears the computer 'dialing up' when she sends a fax.