Companies have used faxes for more than 75 years. Faxing has remained a solid workhorse in fields such as law, real estate, healthcare, transportation, and others. However, in recent years, more businesses have returned to faxing for its affordability and convenience. This time, however, they’re taking advantage of online fax services.
If you want to set up an online fax service, you may wonder about choosing the right number. Let’s find out more about selecting a fax number for your business or personal use.
Are All Fax Numbers 10 Digits?
In fields where professionals need a reliable way to share information, faxing has always been to go-to solution for managing vital business communications. However, if you’re setting up a new online fax service, you might wonder about the proper fax number format.
Fax numbers work the same as phone numbers and can vary in length. For instance, they’re ten digits long—including the three-digit area code—in the US and Canada. You may only need to dial the last seven digits of the number if you are sending a fax within your local calling area and have seven-digit dialing enabled. However, if you send a fax from one local calling area to another, you must add a 1 for the trunk prefix, creating an 11-digit number.
Can a Fax Number Contain Letters?
Technically, a fax number can’t contain letters, but you can use letters to represent all or part of a fax number. Phone and fax numbers with letters are commonly known as vanity numbers. Customers and clients can recognize vanity numbers easily.
If you look at the keypad on your phone, you’ll see three letters above or below each number. These letters show the correlation between the letters and numbers. For instance, the promotional number— (800) 123-FREE—is the same as (800) 123-3733.
Do Fax Numbers Include an Area Code?
Yes, fax numbers include an area code. The format for fax and phone numbers is the same. They have an area code, a three-digit prefix, and a set of four unique digits.
Outside of North America, phone numbers are a bit different, so formatting international fax numbers is different as well. The main difference between North American and international numbers is punctuation, meaning the placement of the dashes. Also, the length of fax numbers can range from six to nine digits in countries around the world.
Here’s an international fax number example: +44 (0) 20 7123 4567.
Do You Put a 1 Before a Fax Number?
Faxes use the same network as voice calls. That means you may not need to add a 1 before the fax number when sending a fax to a recipient within your area code. However, if you send a fax long distance, you’ll likely need to add the 1 before the area code prefix.
Let’s say you need to send a long-distance fax in Canada or the United States. In that case, you’d add the leading 1 before the number. Next, you’ll enter the 10-digit fax number. If you’re faxing something to a local office nearby, you likely only need to dial in the area code and number.
How to Get a Fax Number
You can get a fax number easily by signing up with a premium online service like eFax. We make it easy for you to receive faxes from anyone.
The recipient doesn’t even need an eFax account. Your eFax number will work just like a regular fax number. However, we’ll store all the faxes sent to your eFax number as a PDF or TIFF file, which you can view at your leisure.
Best of all, you can get your very own local or toll-free fax number. This makes it easy for customers and clients to reach you without long-distance charges. You can use eFax to send and receive faxes from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection.
One of the big benefits of online faxing is that you don’t need to purchase a bulky fax machine to get started. With eFax online fax service, you’ll have all the essential features to manage your communications workflow.
In addition, you can customize your eFax account to maximize all the benefits an online fax service offers. For example, you can update your profile and customize the appearance of your faxes.
How to Write a Fax Number
You may not know your user settings, and that’s fine. All you need to do is follow standard International Phone Access notation. The format for this notation is as follows:
+ (Country code) (area code) (fax number)
For instance, you might use “+1 (314) 123-4567.”
Your fax number can contain characters for convenience. These characters might include parentheses or hyphens.
When customers dial your fax number, they’d simply ignore the characters. However, they wouldn’t ignore a “+.” The + is the generic International Access Code, so don’t include it in your number unless needed.
The format for your fax number is the same as for phone numbers in your region. You can place the area code in parenthesis. Alternatively, place a hyphen or period at the last number of the area code.
If you used parentheses, leave a space to the right, and write the three-digit fax number prefix. With a hyphen or period, however, do not insert a space.
Place a hyphen or period after the three-digit number prefix for the four remaining digits. The final number should appear as one of the following examples:
- (123) 456-7890
- 123-456-7890
- 123. 456.7890
What Should My Fax Number Be?
You have several options available when choosing a fax number. You’ll get the most out of your fax service if you choose wisely. You can choose from:
- An existing fax number
- A local fax number
- A toll-free fax number
Each option has its benefits, so you’ll need to consider a few factors when choosing your phone number. If your customers or clients are familiar with your fax number, you may want to retain it by porting it to a service like eFax. You’ll also need to consider whether you primarily do business with people in your local area or have a broader geographic reach.
A local number connects you to your area, which may be the right choice for businesses like home repair or wedding photography that focus on a specific region. However, a toll-free fax may be the better choice if you engage with people across the country or around the world. A toll-free fax can give the impression that you’re a large business, even if you’re a small operation.
Where to Find a Fax Number on a Printer?
What if you want to keep your existing fax number with a service like eFax, but you don’t know your fax number? If you have a printer that doubles as a fax machine, it’s easy to figure out the number. Your fax number is the number you use to connect to the fax printer. So you can use the printer to dial your mobile phone and get the number from your caller ID.
On your fax machine, go to “Fax,” hit “Send Now,” enter your mobile number, and press the “Send” button. Your current fax number will show up on the caller ID of your mobile device.
Is an Online Fax Service Right for Me?
An online fax service is a better solution compared to a traditional fax machine in many ways. Notably, an online fax service is much less expensive than paying for a cumbersome fax machine, which requires regular maintenance. Plus, with a conventional fax machine, you’ll need to budget for costly supplies, like ink, toner and paper.
Some of the most developed global business centers rely heavily on faxing, but conventional fax machines are falling out of favor. You can take advantage of all the benefits of faxing without buying any new equipment. All you need is a computer, tablet or mobile device and a reliable internet connection and you are ready to get started with online faxing.
If you’re looking for a trusted, proven online fax service, eFax should be at the top of your consideration set. eFax offers secure online faxing to ensure all of your faxes make it safely to their destination without falling into the wrong hands. Plus,
eFax offers you value-added features like free online storage of all your faxes, so you’ll never lose track of important faxes again. You can use eFax on multiple devices, including computers, tablets and mobile devices, and even fax directly from your email.
Get Your Fax Number Now!
Whether you need to send or receive a fax, it’s essential to have the right fax number. The good news is that getting a fax number is easy with eFax. You can get one online in just a few minutes.
Ready to get started? Get Your eFax Number Now!
