Comments on: Large capacity PDF 2 Fax service?

Question: Large capacity PDF 2 Fax service?

morganw — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:59:45 -0800

PDF to Fax service that can handle ludicrously large files and number of pages?

I'm dealing with an intransigent bank that wants an application faxed to them. Their form plus supporting documents totals 126 pages and the largest PDF is 40MB- a scan of a 16 page tax return. A few more files are 5-10 MB but most are 12-325KB and there are about 30 total.

PayPerFax is kind of what I'm looking for: no monthly account (though I don't mind having one for a month or two & canceling it when this process is over) and no limits, but at their rates it would be $50. Not unreasonable considering what's at stake here (1000x that), but if I could find something for a little less, it would be great.

The bank & I are in California, U.S.A., Earth.

Related questions pointed to some services, but reviews and the services' own FAQs don't usually mention the attachment/upload limit except for MetroFax which is 20GB. I might break that big one into 2 or re-scan at a lower DPI.

By: Dansaman

Dansaman — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:15:25 -0800

I'm not clear exactly what you are trying to do. Can you please clarify?

By: morganw

morganw — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:24:01 -0800

I'm trying to send a 90+ page FAX to my bank. I have about 30 PDF files of 1 to 16 pages each and 12KB to 40MB in size. I could combine them into 1 monster PDF (with Mac OS X Preview-- I also have access to Win 7).

I could print them out & load up the document feeder in the FAX machine at work.

I would rather use an online FAX service like PayPerFax or MetroFax that lets you either upload a file to their website or email it as an attachment to them. These services tend to be set up for people that want to send short faxes to a lot of people or short faxes occasionally (the typical use case for Metafilter users).

I prefer this method because it tends to give more readable images at the end, especially if the bank uses a service too and I don't want to babysit a real FAX machine all day.

I would really prefer to email the PDFs right to the bank or even drop off hardcopy, but that's not an option.

By: gracedissolved

gracedissolved — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:28:27 -0800

Not an option? I can understand them maybe having a problem with email or dropping off, but did you ask about having something overnighted? When I was doing accounting, we sent stuff to banks that way on a regular basis, and I'm pretty sure you'd be talking about like half that cost, and no question of whether or not the fax is going to arrive readable. Which it might not, even with an internet fax service.

By: RandlePatrickMcMurphy

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:33:18 -0800

Maybe not helpful now, but last week AT&T told me I had to fax them a print out of an email that they (actually another department) had sent to me. I laughed and laughed, ("what are we in 1997 here?") until they found a supervisor's supervisor who gave me an email address.

By: morganw

morganw — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:23:44 -0800

> Not an option?

The bank is not returning voice mails to me or my realtors. The form claims that they will respond within 5 days to their stupid form & attachments being FAXed in.

I have a name of the guy who handles short sales now, so I'll start leaving voice mails every couple of hours & see if that helps, but once I get my co-borrower's signature, I'm going to to FAX this puppy with PayPerFax if I haven't found a cheaper alternative.

By: Sir Cholmondeley

Sir Cholmondeley — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:01:58 -0800

I found this fax guide on the Web. I can't vouch for it personally, but they have links to discounts and free trials for some of the major fax services.

By: gracedissolved

gracedissolved — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:57:28 -0800

Oh, it's not actually your bank. Gotcha. Usually when it's your financing, they're not nearly so unhelpful. Ringcentral has a lot of pages with their monthly fax service, as I recall, but it was someone else I knew using them and I can't remember if they ever said anything about the service quality or whether that's only incoming. The other thing is maybe check with your employer. I used to work a place that had an unlimited fax line and was happy to let us use it after-hours.

By: eatcake

eatcake — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:50:30 -0800

I use hellofax and have been very content with the service. To fax 90+ PDFs to a real fax number you'll need to sign up for the premium plan (500 pages).

You'll have a record of when it was sent, to whom and it keeps your documents saved so if you need to re-fax something it's a click away, and you'll get your own fax number to receive faxes.

If you want to try it out they have a free account that gives you 5 pages.