Cheap Fax Machine

I think you all know that I’m a big fan of Skype, right? It is the closest thing I have to a landline and it’s much better than any POTS (plane old telephone service) line I’ve ever had. It’s cheap for one thing. I have a plan that sets me back $3 a month for unlimited calling anywhere in the US or Canada. That’s not just calls to other Skype users. That’s calls to any phone. That plan comes with a phone number, too, so people can call me from any phone. Most people don’t even know they are calling me on Skype.

I use my computer as a phone, which might bother some people. But I love it. I can click to call, easily record phone interviews, and send text messages right from my desk. But I could get a Skype phone if I wanted one. There are lots of choices here.

Today, though, I discovered a sweet little add-in for Skype that lets me send faxes from my computer without paying some absurd monthly fee, buying a fax machine, or getting another phone line. PamFax is a little download that installs right into the Skype software. Now when I want to fax something, I pop it in the scanner of my all-in-one printer, open Skype, and choose Tools/Do More. There it is: My little fax machine. I could also fax directly from a Word doc or other file. It costs only a few cents per page – and you can buy credits from PamFax to lower the per-page price – and it doesn’t take up any room on my desk. Sweet.

I already use the free service at eFax.com so that I have a fax number that costs me nothing. That service is better than a fax machine, I think. Because the faxes come to my email so I get them no matter where I am and I don’t have to print them out (and kill trees) to read them.

But now I have a complete, cheap and portable, fax arrangement for those few clients and vendors I deal with who still insist on using faxes.