Receiving a fax

What you need to be reachable by fax, and where Faxturbo fits in.

Incoming faxes call for a number of your own, and for something that picks up when it rings: a fax machine, or a server that decodes the signal, saves the pages as a PDF and emails it to you. Sending only requires dialing someone else's number. Receiving means keeping your own line available at all hours, which is why it usually comes with a recurring fee. Faxturbo covers the sending side only; this page explains the options for the other side.

Three elements, whatever the provider

Whether you use a device on your desk or a web service, the chain is the same.

  1. 1

    A number of your own

    Senders dial this number, which may be local or non-geographic. If it does not exist, there is nowhere for the fax to go.

  2. 2

    A device that answers

    Something has to pick up and turn the tones back into an image. A web service does that on its own servers, so you need neither equipment nor a phone socket.

  3. 3

    A way to reach you

    The finished pages arrive as a PDF attached to an email, or in a customer area on the provider's site. The common name for this is fax-to-email.

The reason reception is rarely free

Numbers are issued by national regulators to operators, who rent them out. Yours is billed each month even if no fax ever arrives, so reception is a subscription rather than a charge per use.

A sent fax only borrows a shared line for a minute or two, which allows pay-per-use prices or a free single page. A promise of free reception normally means a short trial, a number shared among many users with no guarantee, or a service financed by advertising.

Ways to deal with it

  • Rent a fax-to-email number

    You get a number and each incoming fax lands in your inbox as a PDF. A good choice if faxes come in regularly, and the only one when you have no landline.

  • Keep an existing machine

    Reasonable if it still works. Beware of lines switched to voice over IP, which handle fax unreliably, and of copper networks that operators are retiring.

  • Ask for another channel

    Frequently the simplest solution. The sender may accept email, regular mail or a secure upload portal. One short call could save you a subscription.

Where incoming faxes are stored

With fax-to-email, the document crosses the provider's servers and then sits in your mailbox until you remove it. For a prescription, a contract or a case file, its protection is that of your email account. If these papers contain personal data, start by securing that account.

Faxturbo only sends

Faxturbo delivers your documents to fax numbers on landlines across seven countries, with no account and with optional PDF receipts. It provides no fax numbers and receives no faxes, so you know before you look for it.

Send a fax with Faxturbo

Receiving: common questions

Can I receive faxes for free?
Hardly ever on a lasting basis. A dedicated number costs the provider money each month, so free offers tend to be trials, shared numbers or ad-supported.
Can I receive a fax without a landline?
Yes, using fax-to-email. The number is hosted by the provider, which forwards each fax to you as a PDF, so nothing needs to be plugged in.
Can my smartphone receive faxes?
Not directly, since a mobile number cannot take a fax. You can, however, open the PDF from a fax-to-email service in your phone's mail app and read it there.
Can I get a fax number without being identified?
No. Operators must know the holder of each number, because the law requires it, not because of a commercial choice.
Can I get a number from Faxturbo for incoming faxes?
No. Faxturbo is a sending service. We assign no numbers and accept no incoming faxes on anyone's behalf.

Keep exploring

More pages to help you prepare, send or track a fax.