Sending fax using a smartphone

I cannot forget the incredulous look on the man's face when I told him it would cost him AUD$10 to fax a one-page document overseas. He was holding a AUD$2 coin on his hand. He was absolutely, genuinely stunned. It costs him AUD$10 to fax the first page, and AUD$2 for each subsequent pages.

Many people do not know how easy it is to send a fax using the smartphone. There are numerous apps that cater to this. On the smartphone, it typically costs US$1 per page to fax to any of the designated countries worldwide.

My favourite app is CamScanner. It allows you to take a snapshot of your document and automatically turns it into a .pdf file. You can choose to do anything with the file (e.g. email, fax, sms).You just need to top up your account with whatever amount needed as and when you want to fax something. The app itself is free. Another easy-to-use app is FaxDocument. There are many more than I care to explore.

Alternatively, how about simply taking a snapshot and emailing the .jpeg image to your destination? Better still, use Whatsapp to send the attachment for free.

So the next time you have a need to send a document urgently to someone, just remember what your smartphone can do for you.