Mac OS X Panther, Automated Fax Machine
Loads of people these days are still hooked to the conventional idea of owning a fax machine to power their business or complicated personal lives but if you’ve got a mac and a telephone jack nearby, SOHO offices are quickly set up with a fax without the cost of purchasing and maintaining an actual dedicated fax machine.
Mac OS X 10.3, Panther comes with built-in fax functionality. Sending and receiving faxes is a tease. In this article we will teach you how to set up your mac to automatically receive faxes and process them the way you like it. Unlike conventional dedicated fax machines your mac can receive a fax and:
- print it on your local or network printer;
- save it as a pdf document in a pre-defined folder;
- send it off to a designated email address
Setting Up Your Mac OS X Fax
Click on the Apple icon on the top left corner of your Desktop and select the System Preferences menu. Select the Print & Fax option in the System Preferences pane(see Diagram above).
Switch over to the Faxing pane, check the Receive faxes on this computer checkbox to activate the receiving fax function; then enter the receiving fax number. This can be your existing telephone number. Specify the number of rings before your mac picks up the call by keying in the appropriate number, to avoid your mac picking up normal voice calls a higher number is better.
Setting Up Post Receipt Processing
The remaining settings specify how your mac processes the incoming faxes, you can either choose one or a combination of the options:
- save as a pdf document to a pre-designated folder;
- send off the fax to an email address;
- print it off a local or network printer.
Then just leave your mac on, connected to your telephone line. If you intend to also send faxes, you’ll need to purchase a Mac OS X-compatible scanner. Faxes can also be sent from existing files already in your mac’s Hard Drive.
Whenever you select a print function on your mac, the fax option is always present in the print menu window(see Diagram above). Selecting the fax option and setting the appropriate page setup will ensure your fax’s on its way expediently.
