How to confirm your fax was received

Understand the fax status

FaxToFax.com, the service sendfaxonline.ca recommends, shows one of three statuses for every fax:

• In progress: the fax is being sent, or the system is still trying to connect to the recipient's line.
• Delivered: the recipient's fax line answered and accepted all the pages.
• Failed: the fax could not be completed, for example because the line was busy, there was no answer or the number is not a fax line. Failed faxes use no pages from your plan.

What "Delivered" proves, and what it does not

A delivered receipt shows that the pages reached the recipient's fax number at a specific time. That is strong evidence of sending. It does not show that the right person picked up the pages, that the machine printed them clearly or that anyone has read them.

For a CRA letter, a court filing, a hospital referral or anything with a deadline, follow the recipient's own instructions on confirming receipt. Some offices send an acknowledgement; others expect you to call. When in doubt, check the agency's current instructions.

It also helps to think about what you would need if someone later says the fax never arrived. Usually that is the receipt, a copy of exactly what you sent and a note of any follow-up call, including the date and the name of the person you spoke to. sendfaxonline.ca suggests keeping all three together.

Make follow-up easier

• Put your phone number on the cover page so the recipient can call if pages are missing.
• State the total page count so they can tell if something did not come through.
• On team accounts, use the audit log to see who sent a fax and when, and export it as CSV if you need a record.
• If you sent the same document to several recipients (up to 50 per fax), check the status for each number, as one may fail while the others are delivered.