I have written recently about how I have been doing more and more work internationally. There are definitely some inspiring things about expanding my work world in such a way—but there are some challenges too. Besides language barriers and time differences, I have had to learn how to master the international fax…
It really is not a big deal—as many of you know—but I did have a bit of a block around it. After all, different countries have different quantity of numbers in their telephone numbers. Some of them can me so long and smooshed together that it looks more like a bank account number than a phone number! After bumbling along for a while, I stumbled across a “Long Distance and International Calling” page in my telephone book and my world of international faxing just opened up.
The important thing to make sure that you get/have for an international fax number is the country code. You may not know it, but that “1” we dial here in the United States is actually our country code. People have a tendency to leave that code off, however, when they tell people the phone or fax number, but you can find lists of the country codes in your phone book or on an online resource site.
So, to dial an international fax: Dial 011, then the country code, then the city code, and the telephone number. You do not need to enter any extra spaces or dashes or anything and can just run all the numbers together. I like to keep my sound on my fax machine so I can hear if the fax goes through, or if I reach a regular telephone number, or if it is busy, or whatever—but that is just personal preference. Your fax machine will tell you if the fax has gone through or not.
See? I told you that it really wasn’t any big deal—but for those of us with home businesses with an international element, we will likely eventually have to learn to master the international fax.
Also: It’s Never Too Late To Take a Computer Class