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  3. FAQ: Fax Lines and Fax Numbers

Fax Lines and Virtual Fax Numbers

FAXAGE sells both Fax Lines and Virtual Fax Numbers. The best way to understand how this works is to think of a line as being like a phone line that you would plug in to a fax machine. A virtual fax number is like a second number that is on the same line.

Based on the analogy above, if you send multiple faxes at the same time, then they will go out on as many fax lines as you have. For example, if you have one line, then all your faxes will wait in queue behind each other and go out on that one line one fax at a time. If you have two lines on your FAXAGE account, then faxes can go out two faxes at a time.

On the incoming side, accounts with 'Unlimited' incoming are provisioned so that only one fax at a time can come in if the account has one line. If the account has two lines, then two could come in at a time, and so forth. Accounts that do not have 'Unlimited' incoming are Never Busy on our system. Because these accounts pay by the minute for inbound (or pay by the minute after a certain number of allowed inbound minutes), we will receive as many faxes as come in at a time.

Internet Fax Pricing specifies which plan types are Never Busy and which are not.

Frequently Asked Questions about Fax Lines and Numbers

A: Inbound routing to email is based on the number that the fax comes in on.

For example, suppose you have an account that you set up with one line and your assigned fax number was 303-555-1212. Within the FAXAGE website, you can control what email address or addresses will receive faxes that come in to 303-555-1212.

Now suppose you add a virtual fax number or a second line to the account. You now have both 303-555-1212 and 303-555-1213 as fax numbers. Each number can have its own list of email addresses (one or more addresses) that the faxes for that particular number will be emailed to. You can set up as many email addresses as you like by creating 'users' in the system. There is no additional per-user charge for additional users.
A: Yes, if you purchase two lines, then you can receive two faxes at a time, or three if you purchase three lines and so on. This rollover or hunting is automatic with no setup required on your part. These statements only apply to plans that feature unlimited inbound, as you are purchasing capacity for unlimited use. See the next question for information about Never Busy numbers.
A: Plans that do not have unlimited inbound (either strictly pay by the minute or a minute allowance after which you pay by the minute) are set up as never busy numbers. This means that you can receive as many faxes as you like simultaneously without needing to purchase additional lines for rollover capacity. Again, the rollover or hunting is automatic.
A: Each line you purchase comes with a phone number. You can elect to have less phone numbers than lines. For instance, you might want to have three lines, but only two numbers. In this case, you would pay for three lines and up to three faxes at a time could be coming into one or the other or a combination of the two numbers.
A: The Virtual Number allows you to add additional phone numbers to your existing lines. This can be useful in the situation where you want to give each person or department in your organization their own fax number, but want to share capacity. For instance, you could have two fax lines and four fax numbers. This would give you the ability to receive two faxes at the same time on any combination of your four fax numbers. The structure in this example would be two lines (which come with a phone number each) plus two additional virtual numbers. If you have a plan that features never busy numbers, then all virtual numbers added will also be never busy.
A: If, for example, you have one line and two faxes come at the same time, one of them will get a busy signal, just like with a regular phone line. This does not apply to never busy numbers.
A: The faxes will queue up and will be sent on as many lines as you have, with later jobs waiting for earlier jobs to complete. In other words, if you had two lines, then two faxes at a time would go out and the rest would wait until those are done for the next two to go out. You may also specify that you want the number of lines used for sending to be limited to less than the total number of lines you have. In this way, lines remain free for receiving faxes while you are sending. For never busy numbers, there is no need to limit the number of send lines in use as the inbound side will not be impacted by sending. However, you will still only be able to send on the number of fax lines you have purchased.
A fax number is like a phone number dedicated to your fax line. It looks like a traditional 10-digit phone number, and it is assigned with your FAXAGE account. So, your fax number could look something like this: 303-555-1212.

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