LetterAgent
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Email the document unless the recipient specifically requires a fax. Scan and email is faster, free, and gives you the document in a searchable format. Send a fax when the recipient's rules demand it: insurers, hospitals, courts, and government offices still list fax as the accepted channel, and a fax confirmation page proves exactly when you sent it.
Almost always, when it's allowed. Email arrives in seconds, costs nothing, and keeps the document in a searchable PDF the recipient can file digitally. It also handles colour, photos, and long documents without per-page costs. If the recipient gave you an email address for submissions, use it: nobody prefers a blurry fax over a clean scan.
Fax-only requirements survive in specific corners: health insurers processing claims, hospitals and clinics receiving referrals, courts accepting filings from self-represented parties, and government offices that still list a fax number on their forms. In these cases the requirement is institutional, not technical: their intake workflow is built around fax, and emailing anyway means your document lands in an inbox nobody monitors.
Check the form or the notice before deciding. If it lists both an email and a fax number, the email is fine. If it lists only a fax number, or says "fax only," take that literally.
For proving you sent something on time, yes, usually. A fax confirmation page records the destination number, the page count, and the exact time transmission completed: it's generated by the sending machine, not by the recipient's goodwill. An email read receipt only tells you the message was opened, and the recipient can decline to send one. A delivery receipt proves the message reached a server, not that anyone saw it.
| Scan and email | Fax | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Small per-page cost, or a machine and phone line |
| Speed | Seconds | Minutes per fax; longer for many pages |
| Proof of sending | Delivery receipt (reached the server) | Confirmation page (reached the fax machine, timestamped) |
| Long documents | No problem | Split into batches; failures rise with length |
| Colour and photos | Full quality | Degraded to black-and-white |
One more practical edge for fax: it sidesteps file-format trouble. A fax prints whatever arrives, so you never lose a submission to a corrupted PDF, an incompatible version, or a corporate inbox that silently rejects attachments over its size limit.
If the recipient requires a fax and you would rather not own a machine, you can ask your AI assistant to send it through LetterAgent: page count verified, per-fax quote, you approve the exact total and pay once. US and Canadian numbers only; fax is currently in testing.
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.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com