Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Internet Faxing

Will AC work with internet faxing, i.e. using a DSL line rather than a dial up modem? I have been using Mightyfax as suggested by someone here and we find that cumbersome and slow with a dial up modem and 2-4 minutes per fax transmission. I am not sure internet faxing will allow the attachment of patient records from AC.

AC will work with anything. It is only the limitations of the hardware you are using that keeps you from doing something. For example, my networked fax machine can send faxes from AC via a modem or an Internet connection. I am not sure what is going on with your fax modem connection, because ours takes about two seconds. There is something seriously wrong with your set up. What happens if you just send a fax to someone? It is probably the software you are using with your fax machine? Are you using WinFax? You may wish to consider changing to a more robust fax machine such as a networked digital PC to Fax and Fax to PC machine like a Brother. Lots of information on them on here in Tips and Tricks or otherwise. Many other companies such as Toshiba, Muratec, Canon, Xerox, etc. have fax machines (usually with printers/scanners/copiers as well) which have fax software which are basically drivers where each workstation can "print" to the fax machine.

Internet fax is different. Yes it can be faster. My machine can use Internet fax easily, but the machine on the other end must be Internet capable, and this willh ave to wait until the teenagers finally set things up. We are way behind on that one. Ours can also email to fax, but you would have to have the same setup or use a third party program such as eFax or Ring Central in which case you could Internet fax directly from each PC, but it costs about 7 cents per page.

HTH

Thanks for your reply Bert. I am not using a fax machine nor WinFax, just Mightyfax which is software that intsalls a printer driver which sends a fax on the PC's fax/modem on a dedicated fax line by dialup. What I am asking is, can AC info, like the h&p and referral letter be accessed by an internet faxing service over a DSL line (rather than a dial up fax line) so the process would be much quicker? I can attach other documents to Mightyfaxes, I just can't get into AC to attach an h&p. Thanks, Ron

You wouldn't be able to use Mightyfax with DSL. You would have to get a network fax machine to connect the phone line and your computer/router. It would allow you to fax quickly from AC. You could send faxes through internet/DSL using MetroFax, FaxAge and many others, but you would have to pay for the faxes sent/received, and you wouldn't be able to send them directly from AC.

Our new all in one has the new 33 point what ever speed modem in it, and I'll tell ya, as long as the other side has a chip to capture and store what we are sending, it moves at the speed of pages being scanned pretty much. It is one of the few things I really do like about our new HP. After seeing what a difference just this one feature makes in getting things out the door, I will never buy another faxing product that doesn't have one.

Like I am looking for a Brother probably to use for PC faxing so as to be able to stop wasting money on paper and ink, as well as stop killing so many trees. But which ever model I choose will have to have the new extra fast 33 speed modem.

The way I look at it, you still can't go much faster than either the scan of the pages or the other machine recieving it on the other side anyway, and mine has enough memory to scan the extra pages to hold and send out at the speed of the recieiving machine too. So when it's done scanning them in, I'm done anyway. And it's an AIO, so it serves a few purposes around the office at the same time. Not too bad from where I sit.

I just removed Mightyfax and downloaded RKSfax (same company better sofware) and it can stack several faxes and send them unattended and it seems to be much better. I wish internet faxing would work from within AC though.

Ron

My personal opinion for you to consider:
Buy a networked fax or networked all in one fax/scanner/printer/copier. Therefore any computer in your office can send a fax by "printing to" the fax machine.

I use this method, it works wonderfully well. I fax from the exam room all the time, Rx's mainly, but sometimes work notes for patients.

The staff fax from their P.C.'s such as referral letters, records, imaging reports, etc.

I agree with Adam here. And if you want a reasonalbly prices product that is fairly available look at some of the Brothers. Although their supply prices are not the best, if you cut out most of the printing of faxes and other things, so most of what you do turns into pdf's and the like because of PC faxing, you will quickly save lots of money. And since we aready have a fairly good on supplies cost HP AIO even as we move towards a Brother for Faxing, I will almost certainly keep our HP on the Network for basic printing needs.

Ok, I will look into the Brother. Thanks for everyone's input.

Ron

OMG! Adam and Paul agree! Run for the hills.

Hey as much as he seems a little weird, he is your best buddy Bert, so just how bad can he be??????? (hee, hee, hee to quote Vinny) Ok now I'm running too, Hey Adam think you can catch me???

>>> Ok, I will look into the Brother. Thanks for everyone's input.

Darn, I wish I could agree... I feel like the odd dog on this...



But, there's only one problem with the Brother multifunction printers. If you are as cheap as I am and want to purchase toner cartriges from anywhere but Brother, it will be difficult to buy the "generic" toner cartriges or even to refill the cartrige with toner due to the fact that Brother puts in a fuse that prevents you from using anything but their toner, which sucks. Even toners that come with replacement fuses are problematic!

Last year I purchased a HP 1240 multifunction fax machine and it is a workhorse, probably the best multifunction that I've ever used. I bought it to replace a Brother machine that still works but that Brother did not furnish any XP drivers for it so it's unusable- another problem with Brother. Now, this is not a laser jet, but a color inkjet machine. The machine now goes for about $100 (including shipping) and the toner refill kits sell for under $10 each. Heck, I'm still using the ink that came with the machine, as I hardly ever use it as a printer. It's fast, it's reliable, and it carries a small footprint... and it's an HP, which I feel probably makes the best peripherals out there.

Al,
I used to share your love of HP products which is why we have so many here at our office. But as of late their software and drivers are a perfect example of your concept of Bloatware. And I continue to have issues with them half a year after installing their stuff on my machines. I am convinced that this is because I installed their stuff with the "ET phone home" uninstalled.

We still have an old HP K-60 that I just loved. It too didn't have XP drivers although for a while it ran OK with the windows supplies drive that is in the OS itself. Then it started to get funky. In light of the trend issues we had of late now I wonder if some of them were just the security package getting in the way of the computers and the printer being able to talk each other clearly... Back then it never dawned on, and this his how and why I ended up getting Nancy the 6300 for the backroom NYS Rx's.

But the issue here is to stop printing, wasting ink and paper on all the faxes we all get hammered on each and everyday. So the real question to you is, does this nice tidy unit do real in and out, recieve and send PC faxing, which is something most printer, HP's included just don't do. I am tired of killing all these trees and paying for the pivilege of doing so. Bert's FAP and the scansnap aside, it is still a pain in the rump and a waste of money. We are all looking for a machine to allow this PC faxing at a reasonable price.

Hi Paul:

The HP fax machine is used mostly to faxx over signed prescription refill requests from the pharmacy, and at that job it does splendidly well.

One HP scanner that I used in the past came with a faulty paper feeder back in 2006... I called HP and they sent me a new one in 2 days, no questions asked.

Their computers, though carry a lot of punch compared to, say, similarly configured Dells, do tend to have low quality materials... case in point- the HP that I had to change the power brick, Ram memory, and HD.

Cool, but again I think most of us here are looking for a PC Fax machine. I'm thinking of setting up that K60 at the home and seeing how it does. It was built back before they put the garbage in the software that was intended to stop counterfeting. You should see the copies it makes in top quality color mode. I have copied our car reggies so Nancy and I can both have a copy of the reggie on us and at times the copy looks better than what DMV sent me out the door with. I hope to keep this machine around for certain "special jobs" forever.

Anyway, they are just about to start the "4th" period (OVERTIME!!! Gotta Love, Play half the night if need be to determine a winner) between Detroit and Pittsburg so let me run... Have a nice night...
Paul

See other post on the Faxing Software I just posted. Think this sums it up pretty well....

Hey haven't read this yet with this great double overtime game on NBC, the fight for Lord Stanley's Cup... But check out this link to the Brother 8740 and internet faxing.... Perhaps this machine can be the solution to many peoples needs...

http://www.brother-usa.com/ModelDoc...20Manual/NUM_MFC_7440N_7840W_EN_1458.PDF

Hope this helps folks..

Hey folks now that I have had a few moments to read this manual, it speaks to the fact that internet faxes have similar levels of security, low levels that is, as an email. So they recommend using a traditional phoneline fax for "confidential" documents. Remember that regular email is not considered HIPAA compliant.

For what it is worth as much as it sounds hip, I would use the high speed 33 speed fax on a standard hardline for safety's sake. Just my two cents here for what it is worth...

Can the Brother receive a fax (e.g. from the lab) and import that into AC without having to print it, then scan it? Also, are the consumables expensive?

Ron

The Brother can receive a fax from the lab or anywhere. It receives to its Paperport software. From there, it can be converted to a PDF file, edited if needed and then imported to AC as you would import anything else. One can also drag it to other applications such as Word, Email, Paint, Excel, Quicken.
I have to admit, the toner cartridge on the 8860 did not last as long as on the previous model but, as I am not printing anywhere near what I used to it is still tolerable. $67 for replacement cartridge. On my previous model, I had to replace the drum once which I think was around $100. I used that machine continously for about 5 years and am still using it in the billing department.

Leslie

Brother suplies are expensive. I had Brother MFC-7420 and had to spend $50-60 every 2 weeks for the cartridges and another $80 a month for the drum. Brother-compatible and refurbished cartridges had very poor quality of printing (very pale). Refilled cartridges didn't work at all. I switched to HP. HP has perfect quality of printing, very unexpensive supplies, very easy to refill (costs me $10 to refill a cartridge every 2 weeks), no need to buy a drum. HP interface is not as convenient as Brother, it takes longer to fax a Rx. So, if you use network fax primarily for faxing, Brother is better, but HP is more cost effective.

I'm with Leslie on this one. Brother MFC-7420 works great. Supplies shouldn't be a factor if you have set it up to receive via the PC rather than printing via paper.

I'm not sure you would have a networked Brother and then not leverage the PC fax receive capability. Why print, scan and file when you can go from fax-file without printing a page?

Best of both worlds; We have a new HP 7780 inkjet (OfficeJet) that scanning is a pig in terms of start up times, but it does really well on consumables cost wise. So I think we shall print and make our copies on the 7780 we already have and then as Eric said leverage the capabilities of the Brother for PC faxing in both directions and substancially cut down on our paper and ink costs all while getting all of our things filed into File Assist Pro. Watch for FAP thread, it rocks my world...

Paul

I tried PC fax receive capability, but it turned out to be more time consuming for me. It takes less time for me to initial the printed report and put it to the outbox, rather than opening each file on the computer, scrolling it down, adding notes and signature, forwarding it to the employees or filing it to the patient chart. It only takes seconds to look over a pile of papers and give them to the employees, who would do the rest (scanning, filing, notifying, etc). That's why I am still getting paper faxes.

See FAP!

Apricot-
Your process makes sense..we all have to do what is most efficient in our particular situation.

Apricot-
When using PC fax receive, I should mention that we have our staff do the PDF fax translation and review, the subsequent import into Amazing charts within the appropriate patient chart and then the fax just becomes a message to be signed off by the physician.

EricB, I am sure internet faxing with well trained employees can be fun, but... highly-skilled employees begin to ask for raise and it is more difficult to find PRN replacement for skilled employees when they get sick or something.

I have not used every Internet Fax programs, but the ones I have used including eXtremeFax and RingCentral WILL allow you to fax directly from AC. Most of them work on the same principal as all of these programs whether regular modem or Internet: Print to fax. With RingCentral, you simply brought up the prescription writer and used the RingCentral print driver and then sent it via Internet.

At this point, there is really no huge advantage with Internet faxing over regular fax unless you feel too bogged down from the cash in your wallet. At roughly seven cents a pop, it adds up.

It really is easy (although you may have to fork out a few bucks) to network a fax machine with PC to Fax capabilities.

If you Internet fax, you have to go analog to digital, and there must be an Internet fax server out there, i.e. RingCentral, eXtremeFAx, eFax which will convert it back to analog and route it to the appropriate destination. The fax machine Adam uses can use direct Internet faxing or email to fax, but there must be a recipient out there with the proper software to receive it.

I have also found that regular fax modems and sending it directly yourself is more reliable and quicker than Internet fax. Try as we might, it is going to be very hard to kill the fax machine.

My Mopar club used to have an end of year "Bash" and it really was a bash! We would use a little of the funds raised at our annual show to fund the end of year bash, while we always donate a nice check, the majority to a really worthy health charity. Used to be National Marrow Donors to sign up and type donors, now we are giving to the local burn unit...

Anyway, I digress as always, so we would get some junker Asia rice burner and a bunch of sledge hammer and quite literally have ourselves a BASH!

So why not at all our AC get togethers might someone who has a dead or dying FAX machine bring it along so we can have ourselves a BASH!!! If you can't beat 'em, Beat 'em, right?

OK, I'll go hide in the corner now and continue with my bookkeeping... Nite

It sounds to me like and internet faxing program (instead of an all-in-one machine) may do the same thing and be cheaper even if you have to pay a monthly and a per page fee. I don't know if internet faxing would work in AC though. Has anyone tried that?

Ron

Like Bert, I have tried both internet faxing (maxemail.com) and an all-in-one multifunction solution (brother MFC 7820N). The MFC is quicker and more efficient hands down.

Ron, you have to read the posts. Yes, you can easily fax directly from AC using Internet Fax. Most have you use a print driver and that is always an option from anywhere in AC. But, how you can make a case that Internet Faxing with a monthly charge and a per page charge once over the limit, is cheaper than paying NOTHING for each regular fax is questionable.

Ok, but I have read reviews on the Brother 7820N saying it is plasticy and cheap. Also, can it be connected on a wireless network, or does it need to be usb connected to a pc that is on a wireless network? I don't want to get something that I regret later on (again).

Ron

Ron,

Well, first I think to comment on a machine in that much of a negative way when someone else has it, can only make them feel bad at best. I would maybe message Eric, show him the reviews and ask him his take.

Any machine that is networkable, will network on a wireless or a wired network, BUT the machine (fax) would have to have a wireless network card/print server or whatever. My suggestion on these is to research what you want and then contact the distributor or manufacturer and verify with them it will do what you want. Get it in writing and make sure you can return it if it does not do what you want it to do.

You can also mix wired and wireless.

I do know that Eric is very computer literate and network savvy, and I would trust him if he says that his fax machine is a good one.

Ron,
Go to brohter.com and you'll have all the info you can stand. They have a feature that allows you to read in pdf any of their printers manuals. And their regular web sales area ain't too shabby either. So grab a cup of coffee and a go computer and you'll find out the anwers to almost all of these questions and then some. Heck if you do I'll bet you'll be answering of rookie's questions soon too...

Piece of advice though. Their color lasers have all four drums in one unit so if one goes bad then you are into an expensive replacement of a four drum unit. So until they offer a model that allows separate drums I will only buy their monocrome lasers. Lastly you might want to do what we are doing, as much as I buy AIO's because they can always switch hit for one another in a pinch and prices are not that different these days, you may find having 2 or 3 modest cost printers serving different main duties and in different parts of the office makes more sense. Buy one good one, live with it for a bit and then see how your office flows and what you need and where the bottlenecks are.

We in NYS have to print on NYS specific paper and so we have an extra little HP 6300 in the back just for the Rx's but very close to the examroom. I frequently sit near that computer station anyway, so as the Rx prints I just slip it under the door to the doc and feed it paper if it suddenly runs out. This way our Rx's are not out and about where others can get at them either.

Again, make a decent choice, live with it for awhile, and then I bet you'll find your flow and figure out if you want an extra one just for faxes, or Rx's, or for the staff in the back so they don't have to walk all the way across the office just to get what they are working on. As I stated before I have a good day to day printer in an HP7780, good cost per page, color officejet, so I am looking for an AIO that can mostly be an "E" PC Fax center for us as we continue to move away from paper. If this was going to be our main B&W printer, then I would probably get one of the bigger Brothers ala or the like for longevity, bettter cost per page, max. monthly use and the like.

You'll find your way....
Paul

Paul, thanks for you in depth reply. I will do just what you said, and I already have my coffee. I have asked about the Brother 7820N at my local Office Depot and they say it is discontinued (I don't always get correct info there). They were able to locate one at another store for $149. That would not be a large investment, and as you said, we could live with it for a while, and if it does not work out we could ues it as an additional printer.

Bert, I did not intend to make anyone feel bad, just seeking info before I purchase. As I stated in another post, I have been told the Brother 7820N has been discontinued but I have located one for $149, so I think I will give it a shot and if worse comes to worse, I will have an extra printer, copier, and scanner as a backup.

Ron

Eric, thanks for your reply. As stated in other posts, I have been told the Bro 7820N has been discontinued (not sure that's true) but I have found one for $149 and I am going to give it a try on our wireless network today. I may need to use you as a lifeline if I get stuck on setting it up. Thanks for your thoughtful input.

Ron

Ron,
I know that they PC faxing is very important to you. Go to the website, pull the pdf manual and just make sure. Again after upgrading from 14 speed modem to a 33 speed on, I will never go back. So try to get that feature as well even if you do need to pay a few bucks more. The increased speed will feel better and probably save you time, and time in our business is always valued.

But yes if you are going to make this your "main" AIO machine get one of the bigger, tougher ones. Last thought. If you are going to use the thing to make a lot of in house forms and other documents you may want to make sure the one you choose will auto print two sided documents as well. It is amazing how much paper and ink/toner you'll go thru soon enough. Again that is why I like our HP7780 in terms of the duplexing and cost per page. Have fun....

Unfortunately, the networking documentation is on a cd and not in the pdf online. I purchased the MFC 7820N and hooked it up and it does not want to share the machine on my wireless network. I thought it would share like our printers do, but noway. Evedintly that requires a wireless print/scan router connected to my AT&T wireless router. That router is not where I want the AIO to be located. Looks like I will have to run a wire. It is fast though at faxing and scanning