LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Home > Guides > Receive fax, no machine
You can't receive faxes through LetterAgent: it sends outbound faxes only. To receive without a machine, get a virtual fax number: an online service receives faxes on your behalf and delivers each one as a PDF in your email. Many services include a local number; some let you port an existing fax number.
The provider owns a bank of phone numbers and runs fax servers that answer calls to those numbers. When someone faxes your number, their machine talks to the provider's server exactly as if it were another fax machine. The server converts the received pages to a PDF and emails it to you. To the sender, the whole thing is indistinguishable from faxing a physical machine: they get a normal confirmation.
Number porting is the part most people don't know about. If you already have a published fax number on business cards or forms, most virtual fax services can port it: the number moves to the service and you never touch a machine again.
Most charge a monthly fee with a page allowance, plus a per-page overage charge beyond it. If you receive faxes rarely, look for pay-as-you-go or low-volume plans: a full monthly subscription for three faxes a year is money down the drain. Free inbound-only services exist, but they usually cap pages, add branding to your documents, or show you ads in exchange.
Here's the honest catch: a fax travelling phone line to phone line is point-to-point, but fax-to-email parks your document in an email inbox, which is a different security picture. For health information or financial documents, check that the provider offers encrypted delivery and signs the agreements your situation requires. If a sender insists on fax "for security" and you're receiving by email, the security story they imagine isn't the one you're getting.
Not directly: phones don't have fax modems. What you can do is use a virtual fax service's mobile app, which is effectively the same thing: incoming faxes arrive as PDFs in the app or your email, and you read them on your phone. Some apps also let you sign and forward what arrives.
| Option | How you get the fax | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual fax number | PDF in your email or app | You receive faxes regularly |
| Free inbound-only service | PDF in email, with page caps or ads | One or two faxes a year |
| Port your existing number | Same as virtual, but you keep your number | Your number is already published |
| A friend's office machine | Paper in their output tray | Exactly one fax, and you trust them |
Ask whether the sender can email it instead: many "fax only" policies have an email alternative if you ask. If not, a free inbound service or a one-month virtual number is cheaper than buying a machine. And for sending in the other direction: LetterAgent handles outbound faxes through your AI assistant, but it cannot receive faxes for you.
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