Receiving faxes via Macs-es?

You can set up your own Mac to receive faxes if you have a compatible dial up modem.

How to with OS X 10.4 [apple.com] and 10.5 [apple.com]

Ask your ISP.

Mine (a budget Australian company) has a service that if I pay a nominal fee (I think its a dollar or two per month) they will provide a 'fax number' that will convert any faxes to email and plonk them in my inbox.

Shouldn't be too different over your way?

Sam.

I've used the built-in faxing support of Mac OS X before, and it works well. The downside is that you need to leave your computer on 24/7. (You could do this and also participate in distributed computing projects. Give your fax machine and spare computer time both to charity - a double-whammy!)

(Actually, now that I think about it, you may be able to set your computer to wake on ring, though I don't know how that might be done.)

A quick google for receive fax service [google.com] turned up lots of hits, like this one [efax.com], which for a monthly fee will let you set up a fax number that will drop any faxes it receives on your email address.

Assuming you don't already have one (Or something similar), you might need a Apple USB Modem [apple.com]

Do web-based; this way you don't need a second phone line or anything hardware-wise.

I use maxemail.com which is $24 per year, and includes free inbound faxing, and you also get outbound faxing as well, if you ever need to send a fax.

http://www.maxemail.com/max/comp.html

Efax has a free product, but they'll try really hard to upgrade you. I believe the inbound faxes are in a proprietary format, but you can download their viewer.

https://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/signupFree

There used to be a lot more providers who did this for free. Either one of those would probably be much cheaper than getting a phone line for faxing.

eFax is definitely the way to go, rather than another phone line. I have had a free eFax number for years, and while they do occasionally try to get me to upgrade to the paid service, I have not found the efforts intrusive. The number I have is not in my own area code, but that makes no difference to anyone I've ever dealt with.
signup: https://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/signupFree?curren cy=USD
download: http://a248.g.akamai.net/f/248/528/7d/images.j2.co m/twa/US/efxsetup3.dmg

Seconded for Efax. The mac Efax Reader app opens efaxes up like PDFs. You can even forward them via email to other people, and they can download the reader software and read them too. Not bad for free!

I gotta say, I think it's hilarious that this page is covered in advertisements for exactly the sort of service you're looking for.

Several others have said it, eFax. But you have come across a great way to get information. Use context ads, begin a thread on the topic you are interested in and wait for the ads to roll in. Clever...

http://www.google.com/search?q=fax%20to%20email
gawd, they're even in the PPC!
Who knew there was money in fax to email?

efax. I have used them, they are all right. They send you the faxes in their proprietary format, which you need their reader to open. You can get a free account, and a free fax number from them in your local area code, if you are willing to suffer their occasional "promotional" e-mails (organized spam). As far as faxing goes, with a computer, they do all right.

eFax=awesome sauce.

Had it for years.

Nary a problem.

Because I use the fax so sparingly, and only for receiving, I'm gonna give the eFax free service a try.

It's so wonderful to go into it knowing a lot of folks have been happy/content with it. Thanks!