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EMAIL
WITHOUT A COMPUTER!
Want to print an email? Need to send
a fax?
Landel MailBug makes it very easy to
do both.
If you use a MailBug in addition to a computer, then you can print
email using your computer and access to webmail or alternate email
accounts. But many MailBug customers want a means to print email
without a computer, and MailBug makes printing and faxing as easy as
sending email. There are no cables or ports to worry about, no printer
drivers, nothing complicated. To print an email to a fax, or just
to compose and send a fax by email, all you need to do is send an email
to a special email address, and the MailBug system will fax it for you.
Why is
printing to a fax machine a better solution than a
computer-printer?
- Fax machines are as inexpensive today as computer printers, but
they are easier and cheaper to operate.
- MailBug doesn’t have a printer port. There’s
nowhere to plug in a computer printer. A printer port really
isn’t a convenient option anyway. You would have to worry about
serial cables and printer drivers, and that makes things more difficult
than they should be. Printing an email from a MailBug should be as easy
and worry-free as sending an email from a MailBug.
- Memory capacity for any non-computer device is limited. If Landel
made MailBug work with a serial port and computer printer, it would
have to select a printer with which the MailBug could operate, and then
it would have to insert the necessary programming for that printer into
the MailBug. This means that you would be forced to buy a
specific printer. That isn’t very helpful. Printing
to a fax leaves you free to select any fax machine you like. Get
a standard fax for well under $100, or get a really high quality fax --
the choice is yours, any fax will do. Here’s a shopping
tip: some stores keep complex and expensive “4-in-one”
machines that fax, scan, print, etc, in the computer section. For
simple faxes that are easy to operate and don’t need computers
connected to them, look with the telephones and accessories.
- MailBug customers typically keep MailBug in the kitchen where
they have easy and quick access to it. Who wants computer cables
and bulky printers cluttering up the kitchen counter? Put your
MailBug in the kitchen, and install your fax in your home office or
another room where it’s out of the way.
- MailBug can send your email to any fax destination. Send your
email to your own fax machine to print it in the other room. If you
don’t have a fax machine, send it to the office fax to be
printed. Or, just use MailBug to compose and send quick and easy
faxes of any sort to the office, or to a company, or to the kids, or to
anywhere else.
How much
does it cost?
As part of your MailBug email service, you can send up to five pages
FREE each
month to any fax number in the US or Canada. If you want to be
able to fax and print more, Customer Support can easily add more pages
for you. An extra 5 pages cost only $1/month, an extra 10 pages cost
only $2/month, and so on. Just contact Customer Support.
How do I
send email from my MailBug to my own fax machine?
To print an email from your MailBug to your fax, just use your MailBug
to send the email to your own fax number using the special email
address below. That’s all you have to do. You can
compose and send a new email message to your fax, or forward a sent or
received email to your fax. It’s that easy. But please keep in
mind that this only works from your MailBug. Sending an email to this
special address from a computer will not be successful.
Can I use
my MailBug to send a fax to someone else’s fax machine?
Yes, you can. Even if you don’t have your own fax machine,
you can use your MailBug to send an email to a fax machine at another
location. You can send it to the office, or to a friend’s house,
or anywhere else in the US or Canada. In this sense, your MailBug
has become a fax. Not only can it print email on your own fax,
you can use MailBug as a mini-fax machine whenever you need one.
If you need to fax something to someone, somewhere, you don’t
have to a store and spend the $2.00 per page some stores charge.
You can just type an email as you normally do right on your MailBug and
send it as a fax using the special address below. So if you need
to send a quick fax to someone, use your MailBug to save money and to
save time.
How do I
address my email so that MailBug delivers it as a fax?
MailBug uses a new address format for faxing, in addition to the usual
“cc” and “bcc” formats commonly used to send
email.
* If you address your message as “cc:’
… it will be sent as a “carbon copy” to the
recipient as email
* If you address your message as “bcc:”
… it will be sent as a “blind carbon copy” to the
recipient as email.
* If you address your message as “fax:”
… it will be sent to the recipient as a fax.
To send an email to a fax, simply specify a fax address on the
Mailbug's To: line.
A fax address looks like this: fax: name@faxnumber
The 'fax:' keyword identifies this as a fax address (similar to 'cc:'
or 'bcc:'). Spaces are allowed after the fax: keyword. The name
is optional, if provided it will appear on the fax exactly as entered.
It may contain any combination of upper- or lower-case letters,
numbers, '_', '-' or '.'. If the name is enclosed in quotes then
it may contain any character, including space. The '@' is mandatory,
and it separates the name of the recipient from the fax number of the
recipient. The fax number following the '@' must contain exactly
10 digits.
Following are ways that you could correctly address an email in order
to deliver it as a fax to the Customer Support team here at Landel:
fax: landel.support@4083600499
fax:landel.Support @ 408-360-0499
fax:@4083600499
fax: S-u.P_p.O-r.T @ 4_0.8-3.6_0.0-4.9_9
fax:"My MailBug is a fax machine!" @ 408-360-0499
But the examples below are not properly addressed and can’t be
delivered:
support@4083600499 (forgot the fax:
keyword)
fax: support@3600499 (not enough digits to be a US fax number)
fax: Mailbug Support @ 408-360-0499 (space in the name without quotes)
fax:4083600499 (missing the '@' before the number)
fax: S-u.P_p.O-r.T @ 4_0.8-3.6_0.0=4.9_9 ('='
is invalid)
fax:"My MailBug is a fax machine! @ 408-360-0499 (forgot " after the
name)
The fax address can be used in conjunction with any other email or fax
address on the Mailbug's To: line, for example:
To: support@mailbug.com, fax:
support@408-360-0499, fax: another@3755551212
The email recipient will not see the fax addresses, and the fax
recipients will not see the email or other fax addresses.
Do I need
to get another phone line for my fax?
No. Fax machines can generally share an existing phone line, just as
your MailBug does, and the fax will never interfere with the operation
of your MailBug. Most fax machines have an on/off switch that
tells them whether or not they should answer the phone. The
simplest way to ensure that a fax doesn't interfere with the normal use
of your phone, answering machine, or other telephone equipment is to
just keep it turned "off" so that it doesn't answer incoming calls.
Then, when you are expecting a fax, you can just turn it "on" so that
it answers the call for the incoming fax. Some fax machines are smart
enough to know the difference between a phone and fax call, but this
can interfere with voicemail systems if you use one. Check the
owner's manual of the fax you want to use, to be sure. But in almost
all cases, a fax can be easily used without any need for an additional
phone line.
What will
the fax look like when it is received?
It will look just like a printed email. There is no cover page, just to
save you money, but the recipient will know that the fax is from you,
and for them.
The fax will look like email, as below:
------------------------------------------------------
MailBug Email to Fax Service
Page 1 of X
-- Date : the date you
sent it appears here
-- From : your MailBug
email address appears here
-- Fax To : recipient name and fax
number appear here
-- Subject: the subject you wrote
appears here
The body of your email appears here...
The body of your email appears here...
The body of your email appears here...
------------------------------------------------------
Can I
send a fax from a computer using this address?
No. The fax: keyword is not understood by computers, and is
specifically used by MailBug. Sending email from a computer to "fax:
customer.support@4083600499" won't work. It only works from
your MailBug.
Will I
get confirmation that my fax got through?
Yes. You will receive confirmation by email, right on your
MailBug, telling you whether your fax was successfully delivered or
not. You can also send an email to support@landel.com and we can
check on the status of the fax for you, but the automatic confirmation
usually gets to you faster than we can respond in person.
My
MailBug isn't new, I've been using it for years. Can I still use it to
send faxes?
Sure. Any MailBug that can send an email can now also send a fax.
It doesn't matter if you've been enjoying your MailBug for years or if
you are new to it. All you need to do is send an email as you normally
would. The only difference is that you have to use the special address
format.
How long
does it take for a fax to arrive?
From the time your MailBug transmits your message, it takes only a few
minutes for the message to appear in the fax. Depending on system
variables, it can be from 1 to 15 minutes or so. If the receiving fax
is busy or unavailable, the system will wait and then re-try up to
three times before giving up. The email confirmation will follow
after the fax attempts are complete.
Can I
send faxes outside the US and Canada?
At this time, the automated MailBug system will only send messages to
faxes within the US and Canada. If you need to send messages from your
MailBug to fax destinations in other parts of the world, Customer
Support can generally do that for you. Contact support@landel.com.
For more information, contact Landel at support@landel.com
