LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Fax wins when the recipient can act on the document the same day it arrives, since a fax reaches their machine or inbox in minutes. Mail wins when you need an original, a signature on paper, or proof tied to a postal service.
Urgency has two different meanings, and they point to different choices. One kind is "they need to read it today": a deadline tonight, a form that holds up a claim, a correction that stops a wrong charge. The other kind is "I need to prove I sent it by a date": a notice period, a filing deadline, a dispute letter where the postmark or the delivery record matters later. A fax is strong on the first kind and weaker on the second, while mailed letters, especially certified or registered mail, are built for the second.
Ask one question before you choose: what will the recipient do with the document when it arrives? If a clerk will scan it into a file and start work, speed matters most. If a court, an agency, or an opposing party will later argue about whether it arrived at all, the proof trail matters more than speed, and mail with tracking and a delivery record is the safer bet.
| Factor | Fax | Regular mail |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival speed | Minutes, once the call connects | Days, depending on distance and service |
| Proof of sending | Confirmation page with time and number | Postmark, plus tracking and delivery record if certified or registered |
| Original document | Recipient gets a copy, not your original | Recipient gets the paper you sent |
| Readability risk | Fine print and photos can blur or cut off | Print quality is whatever you put in the envelope |
| Best for | Same-day action on a readable copy | Formal notice, originals, and provable delivery |
Fax when the recipient asked for a fax, full stop. Clinics, insurers, courts that accept fax filing, and many government offices still run fax inboxes as part of their intake, and sending by their preferred channel means your document lands in the queue they actually check. Fax also wins when the document is short, mostly text, and needed today: a signed authorization, a one-page correction, a referral form. Keep the pages clean, use dark print, and add a cover sheet naming the recipient and the page count so a missing page is obvious.
Fax is also useful when you have no printer, no stamps, and no time to reach a post office. An online fax route turns a file on your phone or computer into a fax without a machine of your own. LetterAgent fax is available in testing for US and Canadian numbers only, with no inbound faxes: you ask your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted total after the page count is verified, pay once through Stripe, and the fax is sent.
Mail wins when the original matters. Some offices want a wet-ink signature, a notarized page, or a document with a raised seal, and a fax copy will be sent back with a request for the real thing. That round trip costs more time than mailing it right the first time. Mail also wins for long or detailed documents: a fifty-page package with small print, charts, or photos will read far better on paper than after a fax transmission, and a mailed package cannot lose its middle pages to a busy signal.
Proof is the other reason. Certified mail in the US and registered mail in Canada give you a tracking trail and a delivery record that a fax confirmation page does not match. A fax confirmation shows that a machine answered and pages were sent; it does not prove who picked them up or read them. For a deadline where the other side may dispute receipt, that difference can matter, and it is worth a phone call to the recipient to ask which form of proof they accept before you choose.
Yes, and for a genuinely urgent item with a hard deadline, doing both is often the smart move. Fax the document now so work can start today, then mail the original or a clean paper copy with tracking so you hold a delivery record. Tell the recipient you have done both, in the fax cover sheet and in the mailed letter, so they do not process the same item twice or wonder which copy controls. This belt-and-braces approach costs a second sending, but it covers both kinds of urgency at once: fast reading and provable delivery.
One caution: do not fax and mail different versions. If you correct a figure after faxing, the mailed copy must match, or you hand the recipient two conflicting documents and a reason to pause. Finalize the document first, then send the identical file both ways.
Ready to fax it? Fax with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is sent.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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