I have used a number of the Mac compatible fax solutions that have come and gone over the years. For the most part, I have only been disappointed. They were either difficult to use, or lacked support. In some cases, they were both! There is nothing worse than going through the trouble of setting up a complicated software package only to find out that it is no longer compatible when Apple releases a new version of the operating system, or is incompatible with another system extension.

With the release of OS X 10.3, Apple added fax support to its OS. This newfound feature set virtually guarantees that Mac users will finally have a solution they can depend on well into the future. And, even if you have already experienced the fax features of OS X, please read on. You might find that there are some little known features not immediately evident.

New to OS X 10.3 and located in the System Preferences Pane, there is an option called “Print & FAX.” With the click of one button it is easy to enable faxing on the Mac. Just set a few simple preferences and the Mac is ready to send and receive faxes.

The Setup:
Start by specifying the phone number the Mac’s modem is connected to. Then designate the number of rings the Mac should wait before answering the fax. This is useful for people who do not have a dedicated fax line and simply send and receive faxes on a voice line. When I am expecting a fax, I just enter a number that is lower that the number of rings my answering machine waits for. This insures that the call will go to the computer rather than the answering machine.

There are also options to archive all received faxes to a folder on the hard drive. It is also possible to specify an email address that all faxes will be automatically sent to. In either case, the file is in PDF format for maximum flexibility. It is also possible to have each incoming fax automatically print to any printer already connected to the Mac.

Once the Mac is configured, it is just a matter of opening a print window to send a file through the fax. This can be done from any application. Just chose the print option. Notice the “Fax” button at the bottom of the Print Dialog box. A click of the button provides access to all of the options necessary to send the fax right from the Mac desktop. Fill in the phone number you are sending to, add an optional title to the fax, and even generate a cover sheet on the fly! It’s as simple and intuitive as you expect the Mac to be.

The fax capabilities have also been integrated with OS X’s Address Book. Any fax numbers that are referenced against names in the Address Book are easily accessible.

If there is more than one machine on your network that needs to send faxes, it is easy to share a single fax modem with the entire Mac network. It’s a little known feature of 10.3, but it is remarkably easy to activate. Just enable printer sharing in the Sharing Preference Pane. This makes that computers fax modem (and any printers attached to your computer) accessible to other Macs on the network.

Accessing the shared fax modem from another machines is easy. Just launch the Printer Setup Utility and chose Show Fax List from the View menu. The Printer Setup Utility will list all shared fax modems on the network. Just check the “In Menu” box next to the modem and the share fax will be available in all print dialog windows. Then, when a networked computer sends a fax, it sends it over the network to the fax server. The fax server instantly sends the fax out through its modem.

Powerful, flexible, and easy to use, Apple hits another home run by adding faxing to OS X. It is easy to turn OS X into a powerful fax server that can be share with the entire network. This is yet another example of Apple’s continuing initiative to make the Mac a vital part of any network.