Legal aid and nonprofit teams send applications and benefit forms to agencies by fax and get replies that ask for more documents by a date, for many clients at once, with few staff. With Claude or ChatGPT connected to Fax.Plus through MCP, that becomes a routine: one word shows the fax log for a case, another sends an application after you check the number and keeps its report, and a third reads the agency's reply and lists what it asks for. Below is the process, how to set it up once, and example results with simulated documents and fictional clients.
Everything here is an example. Change the prompts, the order and the times to fit how you work; nothing is set in stone.
Before you start
- Use an active Fax.Plus Basic plan or higher and an existing authorized Fax.Plus MCP connection.
- MCP is unavailable for accounts with Advanced Security Controls, including HIPAA and PHIPA configurations. If your records include health information on such an account, this guide does not apply.
- Give every client a case code, and use the code, not the name, in prompts and comments.
Not connected yet? Start at the Fax.Plus MCP setup hub.
The process
Faxing is one step in a longer process. The steps marked Fax.Plus MCP are what the Fax.Plus connector does. The steps marked Optional are examples of other connectors you may already use: any connector you have set up in Claude or ChatGPT can be a step in your process, and the Fax.Plus connector is simply one part of it. The connectors do not talk to each other and Fax.Plus does not pass data to them: the assistant carries the information from one step to the next inside the same chat, because you told it to, and it asks for your OK before it changes anything. Whether an optional step works depends on your AI client and that connector.
- Fax.Plus MCP: you send the application or form to the agency after checking the number, the sending line and the page count.
- Fax.Plus MCP: the confirmation report for that transmission is collected, so each case has its own record of when it was sent.
- Fax.Plus MCP: the agency's reply arrives and the assistant lists the documents it asks for and every date exactly as written.
- Fax.Plus MCP: you approve, and the case code is written into the fax's comment.
- Fax.Plus MCP: the case log is shown on request: every fax tagged with the code, with date, direction and what it is.
- Optional, for example Google Calendar: a date from a reply becomes a calendar event, after your OK.
Set it up once
Instead of pasting the rules into every chat, keep them where every chat can use them, so that one word starts a routine. The prompts are the same in Claude and ChatGPT; the setup steps differ a little.
- Connect Fax.Plus. In Claude, add it under Settings → Connectors. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP app: turn on Developer mode, then go to Plugins → Browse plugins, select +, then Create app → Create MCP App, and sign in with your Fax.Plus account. Step by step: Claude and ChatGPT. Connect any other connectors you use the same way.
- Keep the instructions in a Project. Create a Project in Claude or ChatGPT, name it after the desk, for example "Case desk", and paste the instructions below into the project's instructions, filling in the parts in [brackets]. If a connector does not show up inside a project chat in your client, open a regular chat instead and paste the instructions as your first message.
- Start a chat, make sure Fax.Plus is selected for it (in ChatGPT, choose FaxPlus from the apps or type @), and type a routine name. The assistant runs the steps and stops at every change for your OK.
- Edit the instructions whenever the routine should change.
Interface labels and plan availability differ between clients, so check the current screens in yours.
Case desk instructions
You are my case desk for my Fax.Plus account. Rules: 1) Refer to clients only by their case codes, never by name, and never repeat identity numbers, addresses or benefit details beyond what I ask. 2) Before you change anything, such as a comment, show me exactly what will change and wait for my OK. 3) When you read an agency reply, list the documents it asks for and every date exactly as written. If a date is not on the page, say so. Never advise a client, never say whether someone qualifies for anything and never work out a deadline yourself. 4) Leave out fax numbers in summaries unless I ask. 5) Send a fax only when I ask for it in that message, and before any send show me the recipient number digit by digit, the sending line and the page count and wait for my OK. 6) If something fails, tell me what failed and check the outbox and sent faxes before trying again. Routines, run one when I type its name. LOG [case code]: list the faxes whose comment contains the case code, sent and received, with date, direction, pages and what each is. SUBMIT [case code]: show me the number, the sending line and the page count for the document I attach and send only after my OK; then get the confirmation report and tell me whether it shows success. AGENCY [case code]: read my newest received fax from the agency; list the documents requested, any reference number and every date exactly as written; add the case code as a comment after showing me the change and getting my OK. TAG [case code]: add the case code as a comment to the received fax I point to, after showing me the change and getting my OK.
SUBMIT: send the application and keep its report
Type SUBMIT with the case code and attach the document. Check the agency's number digit by digit: a misdirected fax of client information cannot be taken back. After it is sent, the confirmation report records the date and time, the numbers, the pages and the result of the transmission. Guide: Fax a signed document covers the send flow.
Submit the application
Fax the document I attach to [agency fax number] from my Fax.Plus number. Show me the number digit by digit, the sending line and the page count, and wait for my OK before sending. Then get the confirmation report and tell me whether it shows success.
AGENCY: read what the agency asks for
Type AGENCY. Example result for a simulated reply: case C-021, the agency asks for proof of income and a signed consent form and gives a date to respond by, which the assistant lists as written on the page. It does not say whether the client qualifies. Reading is read-only. Guide: Find and read a received fax.
Read the agency reply
Read my newest received fax from the agency. List the documents it asks for, any reference number and every date exactly as written. Say so if a date is not on the page. Do not say whether anyone qualifies. Do not change anything.
TAG: write the case code into the fax
The assistant shows which fax it would change and writes the case code into the comment after your OK, then reads it back. Guide: Keep your fax inbox tidy.
Tag with the case code
Add the comment [case code] to my newest received fax. Show me which fax you will change and wait for my OK, then read it back to confirm.
LOG: the fax history of one case
Type LOG with the case code. The assistant lists the faxes carrying that code in the comment, sent and received. The log is as complete as your tagging is, so tag each fax when it comes in or goes out.
Case log
List my sent and received faxes whose comment contains [case code], newest first: date, direction, number of pages and what each one is. Leave out fax numbers. Do not change anything.
Keep it safe
- Check every agency number digit by digit before you confirm. A misdirected fax of client information cannot be taken back.
- The assistant reads and lists what a page says. It never advises a client or says whether someone qualifies for a benefit.
- Client documents are read by your AI assistant under that client's terms. Check your organization's confidentiality policy and the rules that apply to you before using it, and keep identity numbers and addresses out of prompts.
- Prompts that change your records or send a fax ask the assistant to show you the change and wait for your OK. Whether your client also asks for approval depends on its permission settings, so keep the Fax.Plus tools that send or change data on the setting that asks first.
- If a reply looks wrong, do not assume nothing happened. Check the outbox and sent faxes before you try again.
Related guides
Fax a signed document, check fax delivery, find and read a received fax and keeping your inbox tidy cover the steps above. More prompts are in Fax Prompts with AI, recurring checks in Fax Automation with AI.
