Send and receive faxes

Dial Raven can give your business a fax number without a fax machine. Faxes arrive in ConnectUC and your email, and you send them by uploading a file or emailing it. If you still need a paper fax machine, we can connect that too.

Before you start

• Faxing needs its own phone number. A number can take voice calls or faxes, but not both, so your fax number is separate from your main line. To add a fax number or move one from another carrier, contact Dial Raven support.
• Each fax number is linked to a user, whose email address receives the faxes. Many offices create a user just for faxing, such as “Office Fax,” with the No Portal role.
• Faxing to numbers outside the US isn’t supported.

Receive faxes

Incoming faxes appear in the Fax section of ConnectUC, and they stay there until you delete them.

To also get each fax by email:

1. In the Manager Portal, go to Users and select the fax user.
2. Make sure there’s an email address on the Profile tab.
3. On the Voicemail tab, in Unified Messaging, choose an Email Notification option. Fax emails use the same setting as voicemail emails. Choose a Send w/ attachment option to get the fax itself as a PDF.
4. Select Save.

See Set up voicemail for what each email option does.

Send a fax from ConnectUC

1. Open Fax and select New Fax (or select + New → New Fax).
2. Choose a cover page: none, one you type in, or a file.
3. Attach the document to send. PDF, Word (DOC and DOCX), OpenDocument, HTML, JPG, and PNG files work.
4. Choose which of your fax numbers to send from. It’s printed in the header at the top of each page.
5. Enter the recipient’s fax number with the area code (10 or 11 digits).
6. Select Send.

You’ll see a confirmation when the fax is accepted. If the line is busy or doesn’t answer, the system tries again, up to six times in all. You get an email either way, and the result shows in your sent faxes.

Send a fax by email

Email-to-fax lets you send a fax straight from your email program. Contact Dial Raven support to turn it on; we’ll give you the address format to use. Once it’s set up:

• Send from an email address that belongs to a user on your account. The fax is refused if the address isn’t on any user. Changes to users’ email addresses take about an hour to start working.
• Attach PDF, Word, OpenDocument, or HTML files. Several attachments are combined into one fax in alphabetical order by file name, so name your cover sheet something like “1 Cover.pdf” to put it first.
• To send the same fax to several numbers, add one address per recipient.
• Faxes sent by email show a general sending number to the recipient unless support sets your fax number as the caller ID. Ask us to do that when you turn email-to-fax on.

Use a fax machine

If you’d rather keep a fax machine, Dial Raven can provide a fax adapter that plugs into your network and your fax machine’s phone cord. It stores each fax and sends it as a file, so faxes go through reliably even when the internet connection isn’t perfect. Received faxes can also be emailed to you. The adapter has an equipment cost and a monthly fee; ask support for details. Each adapter handles one fax number.

Plugging a fax machine into an ordinary phone adapter usually works poorly, because fax tones don’t survive small internet hiccups the way voices do. We don’t recommend it.

Limits

How you fax	Size limit
ConnectUC	20 MB or 100 pages, whichever comes first, and up to 5 documents per fax
Email	10 MB or 100 pages, whichever comes first
Fax adapter	No set limit, but keep each fax under 100 pages

If a fax fails

The failure email gives a reason. The most common ones:

• Busy or No answer — The receiving line was in use, or the fax machine didn’t pick up. It may be out of paper.
• Human voice answer — A person or voicemail answered instead of a fax machine. Check the number.
• Phone number not operational — The number is wrong, disconnected, or not a fax line.
• Fax machine incompatibility — The call connected, but the two fax machines couldn’t agree. Try again later, or ask the recipient to check their machine.
• Rendering error — The document couldn’t be turned into a fax. Make sure it isn’t password protected, has no macros, and is a supported file type.
• Telephony error — A problem setting up the call. The system usually retries on its own.

Faxing medical and other sensitive records

To keep faxes private, have people read them in ConnectUC rather than by email, and send each fax to a single intended recipient. Email forwarding can expose the contents. Online faxing is encrypted in transit. Your own privacy policies and procedures still matter; talk to support if you have questions about your setup.

Common questions

Can my main number also receive faxes?

No. A number handles voice or fax, not both. Most businesses list a separate fax number on their letterhead.

Who on my team can see faxes?

The user the fax number belongs to. To share faxes with a team, use a dedicated fax user and set its email notifications to a shared inbox, or share individual faxes through team chat.

How long are faxes kept?

Received and sent faxes stay until you delete them.

Related articles

• Phone numbers and devices in Inventory
• Set up voicemail
• ConnectUC overview
• Contact Dial Raven support