Fax Number

Many government agencies and medical providers still send documents by fax, and people who use VOICE often need a fax number where those documents can reach them. A digital fax number delivers each fax as a PDF file to the shared inbox, so a group needs no fax machine or phone line where its sessions are held. Setting one up requires an account with an online fax service and a restricted folder where faxes wait until the people they belong to collect them.

Choosing a Service

Many free plans from online fax services can send a few pages each month but cannot receive faxes, because receiving requires a dedicated number. In October 2026, paid plans that include a receiving number commonly cost about $7 to $9 a month, with Fax.Plus's Basic plan as one example. Other services include FaxZero (faxzero.com), which can send a few pages free, and eFax (efax.com). A suitable plan emails incoming faxes as PDF files and allows enough pages each month for the faxes a group expects to receive. Plans and limits change often, so it is worth comparing current terms before choosing one.

Setting Up the Number

1. Create an account with the fax service and choose a number, preferably with a local area code.
2. Set incoming faxes to be emailed to the shared inbox, or to a separate address that the same volunteers also monitor.
3. Create a Gmail filter that labels incoming faxes, so that volunteers can find them easily.
4. Make a restricted folder in shared storage for faxes waiting to be collected. VOICE uses Google Drive, with a folder for each person, named with their full name or the name they use with VOICE.
5. Enter the fax number in the VOICE software's settings, so that every page that mentions the fax number shows it.

Receiving a Fax

1. The fax service emails the document as a PDF file to the shared inbox.
2. A volunteer who monitors the shared inbox identifies its intended recipient from the cover sheet and records it in the Switchboard with New Relay.
3. A volunteer contacts the person in the way they asked to be contacted and, with their agreement, reads the relevant part aloud and helps with anything that can be done remotely.
4. The PDF is saved in the restricted folder, and a printed copy is given to the person at the next in-person session.
5. Once the person has received the document, the digital copy is deleted and the relay is closed.

When the cover sheet does not identify the recipient, the volunteer notes this in the relay and, if the fax shows a return number, contacts the office that sent it. Volunteers can encourage people who use VOICE to ask senders to write their full name, or the name they use with VOICE, on the cover sheet. Faxes often contain sensitive information, so only the volunteers who monitor the shared inbox should see them, and each of those volunteers should have signed a confidentiality agreement.