Is there a way to send a fax via the internet without having to sign up for a service (i.e., a one-time thing). Or, in the alternative, is there a super cheap way to do this? I don't have a fax machine and need to get something out.

You have to send it to another fax machine, no option for email?

For me (and my company) the advent of being able to either scan documents to pdf or create pdf's direct from word has virtually eliminated fax as a means of transmitting information.

What Nate said, but if you do need to actually fax it, most office supply stores or public libraries do it for a small fee.

It's a service but you can use myfax.com's 30day trial to send it. It's not too cheap but you can use your local Kinko's services to fax it out. Alternately, I have an efax account, if you don't mind I could send it for you.

Thanks gang. Yeah, I can scan to pdf and shoot it out via email, but the recipient is, let's just say not quite in the 21st Century. Mrs. Monkey can do it from work.

I can't believe fax is still in use. Medical seems to be the worst. I asked a nurse at my doctors office if I could just email a pdf of something they wanted me to fax to them and got the long pause on the phone

I just spent a few days in the hospital and was surprised to see a computer terminal in every room. A visit with my doctor two weeks later surprised me even more when he said he had access to all hospital info through any terminal in any examining room at his office. My prescriptions were also "written" on the computer, and given to me at checkout.

We have a fax in our office. I think I saw someone use it once or twice in the 9 months we have been there. Almost all documents are sent using email, and we have already been given the heads up that paperless is coming this winter sometime. I think paperless has something to do with our upcoming ISO recertification.

It's a bummer that you must upgrade to Vista Ultimate or Business to fax. Maybe that'll be different with 7. For my step-daughters college admittance forms I have scanned and emailed when acceptable.

Try efax.com

They have a basic/trial service where you can send and receive a few faxes for free. Works great and relatively secure.

Windows XP has a fax program.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306550

I used myfax.com. It sucks, but useful enough for the time being. The legal profession basically lives via scanned pdf/email. However, there are still plenty of government agencies and regulators out there who do things via fax. It's a huge pain in the ass.

This reminds me of my old workplace when they moved from some ancient system to SAP, yet, because the CRM for mail/phone/fax orders was separate from the system used by the stores and delivery centres, any interaction beyond us receiving orders on our printer and processing them after they were boxed and ready to go required, you guessed it, sending a fax to the call centre. Because of audit rules, all these faxes for things such as unavailable products for orders and customer issues had to be saved. We just tossed them all in a gigantic box.