Why a fax failed, and what to do

Open the fax from Sent and read the attempt history. The reason is recorded per attempt, not just once, so a fax that failed after three tries shows what happened each time.

Reasons that are worth retrying

Busy — the line was engaged. VitalFax retries automatically with a growing gap between attempts. Manual retries on top of that rarely help.

No answer — the number rang and nothing picked up. Common outside office hours. Worth retrying later in the day.

Transport error — the connection dropped mid-transmission. Retried automatically.

Reasons that are not

Invalid number — the number is not a working fax line. Retrying will fail identically. Check the digits, and check it is a fax number rather than a voice line.

Not a fax machine — something answered but did not negotiate a fax connection. Usually a voice line or a number that has been reassigned.

Blocked — the receiving end rejected the call. You will need to contact them.

When the outcome is unknown

Occasionally a carrier accepts a document and then the connection dies before reporting what happened. VitalFax records this as unresolved and asks the carrier again rather than guessing.

It will not send through another carrier in this state, because the document may already have arrived. If you need certainty before the carrier answers, telephone the recipient — that is genuinely the faster route, and we would rather say so than invent a status.

Pages are not charged for a failed fax

A fax that does not deliver is not metered against your plan.