We recommend that all customers request that their telephone service provider provision the fax line with a feature known as either CallerID or ANI. This is an added security measure you can take to help verify that the faxes you receive are actually from the person or company named in the fax. It also provides with you proof of who sent the fax. Normally, your provider will charge a small additional monthly fee to provide you with this feature.  Knowing the calling name and number also helps route the fax to the correct person and to verify the number to be used for a return fax.

When the server receives a fax, it will be converted to an Adobe PDF file and emailed to a designated account.  The subject line will contain the calling party's name, telephone number, and the "stationID" of the remote fax.  If you not have CallerID, or if the calling party does not provide their name/number, these items are not shown in the subject of the fax email.

Junk faxes are almost always sent with blank, false, or misleading stationID information and are never sent with a calling name or number.  This provides a way to help screen out unwanted, junk faxes.  In fact, if you have CallerID service, we can configure the ONS server so that it does not answer the phone if there is no CallerID or if the calling party's number is on your fax block list.  When junk fax senders see that their faxes are not being delivered, they will most likely remove your fax number from their call-list since, to them, your fax machine is "non-working".

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules prohibit sending unsolicited advertisements, also known as "junk faxes," to any fax machine. This prohibition applies to fax machines at both businesses and residences.  You can get more information about how to complain to the FCC about junk faxes here.

Another approach is to notify your telephone service provider that you do not wish to receive calls that do not have CallerID information.  This is called "Anonymous Call Rejection".   If BellSouth is your provider, callers that block the sending of their name/number will hear:

"Your call has been properly delivered, but the party you are trying to reach is not accepting calls from callers who do not allow delivery of their telephone number. Please hang up, do not block the delivery of your number, and call again."

This feature is described here: BellSouth Anonymous Call Rejection. If you use this feature, ask your telephone provider to explain how it may interact with other features you may have.