We’ve been testing an on-line fax service for a few months now, and have found OneSuite.com to be reliable for incoming and outgoing faxes.  Get yourself your own fax number, from a selection of 16 U.S. states, with unlimited incoming fax pages.  Your faxes are then transmitted to you instantly to your e-mail address in a multi-page PDF format. Get started for as low as $1.00 a month for unlimited incoming fax service! and you can get started within minutes with a minimum pre-paid amount of $10.00 US Dollars. Use the link below to sign up, and get an additional 5% sign up bonus and your 1st month free!  https://www.onesuite.com/A96909221/suitetreat

If you want to be able to send and receive faxes, the service is $2.95 a month and includes unlimited incoming faxes.  Sent faxes are charged at a per page rate , in USA/Canada the current rate is 2.5 cents per page. 

No setup fees, no hidden fees, you pay for what you use and the monthly fee of only $2.95 for sending and receiving, or $1.00 a month for receiving only.  Each subscription plan includes your own fax number, with unlimited fax receive.

Use SuiteTreat promotion code : A96909221 to receive the 5% Bonus plus your 1st month free.

Shown above is a typical internal PC fax modem and a DSL modem

At one time, fax/modems were a common hardware item that were bundled with many pre-built PCs.  In an effort for computer manufacturers to reduce prices, and because of the decline of dial-up Internet modem usage, fax/modems are not usually bundled with a computer and must be purchased seperately as an add-on. While dial-up internet still being used, it’s rapidly being replaced by high speed internet service, such as DSL.  The DSL modem that is usually supplied to you when you subscribe uses the high frequency (25 kHz – 1 mHz) of your telephone line for internet service.  The lower frequency (4 khz and below) is used for use for regular telephone calls (voice), fax and data calls.

So the question is, if I have a modem for my DSL connection, I should still be able to send a fax with WinFax, right?

The answer is no, with an exception.

During the 1980s, modem manufacturers started adding the ability to fax with their dial up modems. You could send faxes directly from your computer with fax software that could communicate directly with the fax modem.  Soon after, they added the ability to receive faxes. By the mid to late 1990s, most PCs came bundled with a fax/modem which could both send and receive faxes at speeds up to 14,400 bps. During this time, all the modem manufacturers came up with a few standards, we can call it a ”language”, for faxing via the PC.  These standards still exist today, and are available in different variations.  Class 1, Class 2, and Class 2.0.  If you have a modem that supports Class 1, Class 2 or Class 2.0 then it is a fax/modem. Some fax modem models will support only one class (usually Class 1) , or multiple classes (such as Class 1 and Class 2.0). 

To use WinFax PRO, you need a modem that has the ability to understand at least one of the fax classes.  DSL Modems are specifically designed to use the high frequency of the telephone line (25 kHz and up) and they are not designed to communicate to the computer using any of the fax classes. This is why you cannot send a fax via DSL using fax software on your PC.   A DSL Modem that supports a fax class does not exist. 

I’ve sent faxes before using my DSL Modem, how was this possible if you say DSL modems don’t support fax?

When you send or receive an “internet” fax (using a service like eFax), it isn’t actually being sent or received by your DSL modem. When you send a fax through the internet , your fax is routed to someone else (it’s uploaded to a internet fax service) which then handle the actual faxing.  In simple terms, its like you going to a nearby Kinko’s/Staples/Copy place, handing them the pages you want faxed, and paying them to feed the pages into a fax machine and dial the fax number for you. Of course the Internet Fax service does this process in the background and its completely automated, so it may appear your DSL modem is sending a fax but its only providing the means of getting your document to the Internet fax service.

Is there an Internet fax service for WinFax PRO?

Yes, this is the exception where you can use your DSL Modem to send internet faxes with WinFax PRO 10 (actually, all you need is a high-speed internet connection and WinFax PRO 10). A company called Concord Fax offers a plug-in for WinFax that adds Internet Fax service for WinFax PRO. If your interested in pricing or other details, contact Concord Fax. They are no longer actively promoting this service anymore, but I believe it still active for current WinFax users.

http://www.concordfax.com/support/faqs/winfaxprofaq.aspx

Conclusion

So, you have a few choices with WinFax PRO faxing.

Either you purchase a fax/modem that has Class 1, Class 2 or Class 2.0 capability (I’ll post information about choosing a fax modem in a future blog entry), or, use the Concord Fax plug-in to send faxes using WinFax PRO. 

Using WinFax PRO with a fax/modem provides you the ability to have full control of the faxes you send or receive, you eliminate the costs of a  monthly fax service and you can benefit from a flat rate or long distance savings plan from your telephone company. It also provides an added security that only you and recipient will see the fax you are sending/receiving.

If you do add a fax/modem to your PC (internal, or external), ensure you add the appropriate DSL filter to it. These devices filter out everything above 4 kHz frequency since you do not want the 25kHz-1Mhz frequency being heard by the fax modem. This would cause faxes to fail. A filter should be installed on every telephone, fax/modem, telephone answering device, or any other telephone device that uses the low frequency band (4 kHz and below). Some installations of DSL may not require the use of filters (Dry-loop DSL/Naked DSL). Check with your Internet provider if filters are required, if so, they can provide them for you.

DSL Modem Setup

Shown above is how a typical desktop phone should be connected with the appropriate DSL Filter supplied by your Internet Service provider. An internal or external fax/modem (not shown here) should be configured in the same method.

If you decide you don’t want to install a fax/modem to use WinFax PRO, the only way to send a fax is subscribing to a third-party fax service.  Discard WinFax and use the Web interface the fax service provides, or the software they provide you. There are dozens of services available, some are better than others and some also provide toll-free numbers for you to receive incoming faxes.  Some are pay-per-use, and some are monthly fees based on a limited amount of fax pages you send or receive. You would have to evaluate how many faxes you expect to send and receive to determine if this is of value to you.

I recently picked up a Magicjack, you might have seen the commercials on television, its a USB device that plugs into your computer that allows you to plug a telephone into it, giving you a dial tone so you can make telephone calls using a regular corded or cordless telephone. The difference is the telephone call is routed via your computer to the Internet, using the Magicjack service.

The big advantage to the Magicjack service is its price, and the ability to hook up almost any type of household telephone. The Magicjack retails for $39.99 and includes 1 year of US & Canada unlimited incoming and outgoing calls.  They also claim that service after 1 year is only $19.99.   Yes, you also get an incoming telephone number, where you can pick from dozens of area codes across the United States (Canadian area codes are not yet available).

My first test was with voice calls on a Notebook (Core 2 Duo, T5200, 1.6Ghz, 2GB RAM) with Microsoft Vista SP1.  The installation was completely plug & play, I simply inserted the MagicJack into a free USB port and it turned on and begin downloading the installation program for Vista.  Within a few minutes, the software was installed successfully. I registered on-line and selected my incoming telephone number. A lot easier than I expected it to be.  I plugged in a regular corded telephone, picked it up, and got a dial tone!  I dialed a number, and sure enough it worked.  My first voice call quality was comparable to a regular land-based telephone line, if there was a difference I couldn’t really tell.   I tested incoming by dialing my new Magicjack number. The telephone rang, and the Caller ID appeared on the telephone display. So far, so good.

My next test was on an older Pentium III, 450Mhz, 768MB PC running Windows XP Service Pack 3.  I use this PC for my Skype calls as well, so I expected some conflict or performance problem.  I plugged the Magicjack into my USB Hub, and sure enough, the Blue LED lit and it began installing the software.  Within minutes it was configured and ready to go.  I didn’t have to repeat any of the registration process, since my phone number was already configured.  Surprised, outgoing calls seemed to work perfectly.

I’ve been using MagicJack now for voice calls for about 2 months and in the most part, it works as advertised. You will encounter quality issues if your Internet connection slows down. I tried the service on a 1MB down/768b up ”Lite” DSL service, and for the most part, voice quality was reasonable. In some calls, the person would complain they couldn’t hear me properly but I could hear them fine.  On a faster 4MB down/1MB up Internet DSL service, overall the call quality was good but I would have problems with some calls due to bandwidth issues.  Usually the problem was with the caller hearing me.

Faxing using MagicJack with WinFax PRO

I checked with the people at MagicJack directly and they claim that faxing isn’t supported. I believed them, since I know that a fax call isn’t as forgiving as a voice call if there is any drop in quality. I thought I would try it anyway, so I unplugged the fax modem telephone line and plugged it directly into the Magicjack.  I started up WinFax PRO and send a fax as I normally would on the regular telephone line, sure enough it dialed andstarted to send a fax.  I tried a simple 1 page WinFax quick cover page, it worked.  I then tried faxing a multiple page fax.  It failed.  I then tried a 1 page fax again, and it failed.  I started adjusting the settings in WinFax.  I turned off High Speed Compression (2D), ECM for sending and ECM for receiving.  I adjusted the Maximum Transmission speed to 4800 bps or 2400 bps.  This did seem to improve the success rate, but it was still giving me problems with some faxes.  After trying several different combinations, I came to the conclusion that faxing may or may not work using the MagicJack.  Send 10 faxes, if your lucky, maybe 50% may go through if they are short/1 page faxes.  Once you increase the number of pages, or the amount of data on each page, you risk a greater chance of a failure. Results probably will vary depending on the call quality and your PC’s performance.  I did not try incoming faxes, but I would expect similar results. If anyone has had better success please post your comments!

Some things I don’t like about the MagicJack

• If you call a number that is BUSY, you don’t get a busy signal.  You get silence followed by a dial tone.
• There is no uninstall for the MagicJack software.  When you plug it in, it will automatically install device drivers. However, the good news is that MagicJack will only start with Windows if the actual device is plugged in.  If you do remove the MagicJack from the USB port, the MagicJack software does not start (but the device drivers are still installed).
• There is no normal method to close the MagicJack software while it is active.  I haven’t really had any reason to do this, but in some cases you may only want to have MagicJack active when you want to use it, not all the time. (Yes, you can close it using End Task from the Task Manager)
• The MagicJack software window opens when you use it. (You can’t keep it minimized and out of the way)

Overall opinion of MagicJack

I like it, but wouldn’t use it as a replacement to my regular land-line considering you need a computer on 24/7, plus a working (fast) Internet connection 24/7.   Its great for a 2nd line, or just for making long distance calls to friends and family.  It is an excellent value at $39.99 for the initial cost, and $19.99 for the additional years of service.  Not recommended for faxing with WinFax or any other fax software, and definitely not for data usage (such as credit card authorizations, modems, data transmission etc.)