Fax explained
Virtual fax number: what you rent, and what you do not own
This page is not about how to receive a fax — another guide covers that. It is about what you commit to before renting a number, and why cancellation deserves more attention than the monthly price.
Short answer
A virtual fax number is a number rented from an operator that answers on your behalf and turns the pages into PDFs. Four things decide its worth: who owns the number, what becomes of it on cancellation, where received pages are stored and for how long, and how outbound sending is billed. The advertised price tells you about none of the four.
The four things to check before subscribing
- 1
Who holds the number
A rented number stays assigned to the operator. Ask before signing whether it can be ported to a competitor: portability, where it exists, is requested before cancellation, never after.
- 2
What happens on cancellation
A surrendered number returns to the operator's pool and will be reassigned. Correspondents who never updated their records will then be writing to its new holder.
- 3
Where the pages are stored
The operator stores received faxes in order to relay them. Ask for the retention period and the hosting country: on privileged documents, it is that storage, not the reception, that constitutes the processing.
- 4
How sending is billed
Most offers include reception and bill outbound pages on top of the subscription. Occasional sending therefore does not always justify a subscription at all.
The number you rent is not yours
This is the one point comparisons never raise, and the one with the heaviest consequences. On cancellation, the operator puts the number back into circulation. Documents sent afterwards by correspondents still working from the old reference — a laboratory, a colleague, a public body — reach a stranger. For a medical practice or a law firm, the leak does not begin during the subscription: it begins the day you stop paying.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a virtual number send as well as receive?
- With most operators, yes, and it is the selling point. But sending is usually billed per page on top of the subscription: the plan covers reception, not outbound use.
- Can you keep the number when changing operator?
- Sometimes, and the answer depends on the type of number and on the operator. The question belongs before you subscribe, not when you leave: once cancellation is under way, the number is gone.
- Do you need a virtual number to send from this site?
- No. The service sends without an account and without an assigned number: you need a number only in order to receive — which is precisely what this site does not do.
Send a fax now
The form fits on one page: a PDF, a recipient and a return address. No account, no card.
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