Wondering how to fax from iPhone? Has a customer or client insisted that you fax a document instead of sending through email? That would have certainly caught you by surprise, but this actually happens way more often than you think. Even though in today's world we regard email and instant messaging as the default preferred way to communicate, many organizations still rely on fax as a way to receive documents.

Is fax still used today?

If you have never touched or seen a fax machine before, you may think that fax is dead, or belongs to the past and no longer used. However, facts state that the fax machine isn’t dead yet. Usage certainly has dropped since its heyday in 1997 (which is the year that was considered 'the year of the fax'), when 3.6 million machines were sold in the United States. However, tech historian Jonathan Coopersmith claims that fax machines is likely to stick around for a long time and is not ready to retire just yet. While there is still a chance you have to fax a document for work, you may want to learn how to fax from iPhone.

Why is fax not ready to retire?

Fax has important features that instant messaging and email has failed to adequately replace. For example, email and instant messaging is not capable of reproducing handwriting or things like signatures, and on some types of documents including agreements, contracts, and approvals like medical prescriptions, this could be something crucial. With fax still not going away anytime soon, how to fax from iPhone becomes and increasingly interesting topic.

What exactly is fax? Can it be sent from iPhone?

Fax, or short for "facsimile" is a method of transmitting printed material from one fax machine to another. It is capable of transmitting documents over a very long range using telephone lines while retaining text and image information.

Related: See how you can send faxes as emails

A fax machine is essentially telephone connected to a printer, and often also with a built in scanner or image reader which will process or scan the document into a fixed graphic image and later converted into a bitmap, and then transmitted through telephone lines in the form of audio waves.

At this point you may be wondering: How to fax from iPhone? When a fax machine requires a physical phone line plus a printer and a phone line? These are things that an iPhone does not have. However, modern technology has made sending fax from iPhones possible, and also surprisingly easy, making it possible to avoid fax machines completely.

3 big reasons to avoid fax machines

Reason 1: Fax machines are expensive

Typical costs of Fax machines in 2018: Prices for a fax machine costs anywhere between $100 - $500, pending on transmission speed, resolution, printing speed etc. Unless you select really basic models that can perform only fax - (those go for as low as $60), you should be ready to fork out between $100 - $150 for a decent office fax machine.

Reason 2: Fax machines require separate fax phone line

To operate a fax machine, you will require a dedicated fax phone line, solely for the use of sending faxes and nothing else. For small companies, the costs adds up. For a fax machine of $150 and monthly fax phone line subscription of $45-$50, the cost of keeping a fax machine is close to $750 for the first year, without counting fax supplies like ink, toner and paper that will further add on to the costs.

Reason 3: Fax machine supplies like ink, toner, and paper costs money too

Fax machines are like printers which need a number of supplies to keep it running. Low-end fax machines make use of ink cartridges, which can average at about $25 for 200 printed pages. If you are using more expensive laser fax machines, a replacement toner char will set you back by about $150 after 30,000 pages.

Can fax be sent from iPhone? How to fax from iPhone? Below, we will explore the advantages of sending fax from a mobile phone and our recommended method to send fax from iphone.

Solution: Learn how to fax from iPhone

To fax from iPhone, use Zap Fax App by Appsverse. It is a currently one of the most download and top rated fax apps in the Apple App Store, which allows you to fax from iPhone directly without using a fax machine.

To tackle the conundrum of how to fax from iPhone, Zap Fax has an easy to use interface to scan documents using phone camera, and send to another fax numbers around the world.

Zap Fax App Features

  • Send and receive with private fax number
  • Get International fax numbers
  • Scan documents in high quality
  • Generate PDF
  • Share and email
  • Lowest faxing rates

Bonus: you can receive faxes back too!

Zap Fax App by Appsverse allows you to transform your iPhone into a fax machine to receive too. To do this, simply choose your own Fax number in the app that becomes your permanent Fax phone line. With your own fax phone line, you can receive faxes directly into your phone in the Zap Fax inbox as text and image messages that you can save to email or forward it to a person.

See Zap Fax App by Appsverse on Apple App Store available for iPhone and iPad.