A fax went through when the receiving fax machine confirmed the pages during the call. In Faxsure you see it three ways: the fax shows “Delivered”, you get a notification, and a PDF receipt is ready with the number, the pages, the time of delivery, the number of attempts and a confirmation code. If the fax could not be delivered, the app says “Not delivered” and gives the reason.
How a fax machine confirms the pages
A fax is a phone call between two fax machines that follow the same international procedure, ITU-T Recommendation T.30. After each part of the document, the receiving machine answers the sender. One of its answers is the message confirmation, which the standard defines as a signal “to indicate that a complete message has been satisfactorily received”. If the pages were not received well, the receiving machine says so instead, and the sending side can send them again. A delivered fax is one where the receiving machine confirmed what was sent.
Check your receipt
Open the receipt and compare it with what you meant to send:
- The fax number is the one you meant to send to. If you used the directory of official fax numbers, compare it with the number on the directory page for your form.
- The page count matches the document.
- The time of delivery is shown in your time zone. Keep it if a deadline matters.
- Attempts shows how many calls it took. A fax delivered on the second or third attempt is delivered like any other; the earlier calls were, for example, a busy line.
- The confirmation code identifies this fax if you need to ask us about it.
Save the receipt with your copy of the document. It stays on your iPhone, and you can share it as a PDF.
What a receipt does not show
The receipt shows that the recipient’s fax line accepted the pages at that time. It does not show that a person has read them, or that an agency has accepted or processed what you sent. Agencies set their own processing times and decide how they reply:
- The Illinois Department of Revenue says faxed power of attorney requests “will be processed in three business days, and you will only receive notification if your request is denied.”
- Under the IRS Fax-TIN program, “you can receive your EIN by fax generally within 4 business days.”
If you need to know that the recipient has acted on your fax, ask them, and have the receipt ready.
If the fax was not delivered
Faxsure tries up to 3 times when the line is busy, nobody answers or the call drops. If the fax still does not go through, the app shows “Not delivered” with the reason in plain words, and the fax goes back on your balance automatically. You can try again free for 24 hours, or change the number. A number that turns out not to be a fax machine, or that does not exist, fails at once without further attempts. Why a fax fails goes through each reason.
Where to look while it is sending
The app shows the fax page by page (“Sending page 2 of 4”), on the Lock Screen too, and sends a notification when the fax is delivered or not delivered. While a fax is waiting for a free line on our side it shows “Queued”; that is not a failure.