Stuff Israeli People Like #9: Faxes (and a survival guide)
The dreaded fax-lover
They don’t warn you about it in the Nefesh B’nefesh aliyah catalog, but Israelis are still, in the year 2009, in love with the fax machine. They do enjoy the wonderful world of email as well, but are still loyal to the fax. I can almost understand using a fax for business to business transactions. Maybe. But, most people in Israel (or at least, that I know) live in a fax-free environment. Mostly because there shouldn’t be a need for it anymore. Sometimes I have the energy to explain to a fax-lover how to scan and email, but often, I just find myself throwing my arms in the air and giving up. Luckily, I’ve come across some decent online solutions if you’re in dire need of a fax service in Israel.
- Myfax.co.il – For free, you can get a temporary fax number. The fax-lover will send you a fax and you’ll receive it in your email.
- Freefax.co.il – If you need to send a fax to a fax-lover, then you can upload your document, enter the fax number, and click send.
- Interfax.net – You can send and receive faxes through email with this service. It costs 50 agurot (~12 cents) per page to send a fax. It costs 64 shekels a month to receive faxes through your email. (Steep!)
http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js
Here’s a scene from Office Space which aptly expresses how I feel about the fax:
[warning: explicit lyrics]
If you’re interested in seeing more stuff that Israelis like, read this post: Stuff Israeli People Like #1-8
The Big Felafel 
Windows has an inbuilt fax machine which we use. With our scanner and our dial-up modem which came in our computer, we hook up our computer to send and receive faxes.
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoThat is really good to know! I am trying it out now. But what do I put as my incoming fax number if I only have a cell phone?
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoI wish I knew about that first faxing website months ago! This post is especially helpful for people trying to make appointment with an Israeli government office like the Misrad Hapnim. Faxing them for an appointment (or to change an appointment) was the only way I could get a response. They don’t answer the phone nor do they provide an email address. But after a fax, I got a call back within 72 hours.
btw, I’m not sure who’s on that video but it’s definitely NOT the guys from Office Space. Regardless, whoever it is recreated that scene really well!
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoGood point about misrad hapnim, I’ve also heard that they only look at faxes from others as well. And good call on the video – I think I found the real one now.
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoVery true.
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoI’m not sure why they still love it. We are the nest of so many wonderful hi-tech inventions, but still, the good’ol fax has survived the digital era in the holyland somehow.
Poor old fax machine. Despite the hi-tech age, it is still a brillian invention. Somehow, the concept of an email is not as mind boggling as the idea of a physical letter going through a machine, and somehow turning up as another identical letter on the other side of the world, without it going anywhere. That doesn’t minimize the inconvenience for us non fax owners, but cut the fax machine some slack!
| Posted 13 years, 10 months agoI forgot about that scene! Now I have to watch the movie again.
BTW the video you embedded doesn’t work in Israel (copyright issues). Here’s one that does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzGWvZAd228
| Posted 13 years, 5 months agoThanks Miriam – I fixed the link with another version.
| Posted 13 years, 5 months agoThank you, I found this very helpful.
| Posted 9 years, 10 months ago