Scanning converts a paper document into a digital image or file, the step that has to happen before most documents can be faxed online.
- Scanning converts a physical paper document into a digital image or file that a computer, phone, or online service can send.
- Faxing over the internet always involves scanning at some point, either done ahead of time or captured in the moment with a camera.
- Fax.Plus's mobile app scans a document with the phone's camera at the moment of sending, no separate scanner needed.
What Does Scanning Mean?
Scanning is the process of converting a physical document or image into a digital file, using a a network scanner, a flatbed scanner, a multifunction printer, or a phone camera. The result can be a PDF, an image file, or, on many devices, an editable text file if optical character recognition is applied afterward.
Scanning Before You Fax
Any document faxed over the internet has to exist as a digital file first, which means it was scanned at some point, whether that happened on a legacy fax machine years ago or seconds before sending it through an online service. Fax.Plus's mobile app handles this step in one motion, capturing the document with the phone's camera and sending it as a fax immediately, without a separate scanning device.
Scanning vs. Faxing as Products
Scanning and faxing solve related but different problems: faxing gets a document to a recipient's fax number, while scanning just gets it into digital form. For document scanning as its own dedicated task, unrelated to faxing, Alohi's Scan.Plus is the product built for that job, Fax.Plus's own scanning capability stays focused on getting a document ready to fax.
A Common Case: Scanning a Delivery Receipt on the Road
A dispatcher at a large logistics company in Louisiana needs a signed delivery receipt faxed back to a customer's billing department the same day, with no scanner nearby. Scanning it with a phone camera through the Fax.Plus mobile app and sending it as a fax on the spot covers both steps without a trip back to the office.
FAQs
Do I need a scanner to fax a document online?
Not necessarily. Fax.Plus's mobile app can scan a document with your phone's camera and send it as a fax in the same step, so a dedicated scanner is only needed for other scanning tasks.
Is scanning the same as faxing?
No. Scanning converts a paper document into a digital file, while faxing sends that file to a recipient's fax number. Faxing usually requires a document to be scanned first, but scanning on its own doesn't send anything anywhere.
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