Its software works with most scanners to make it easy to scan a document and immediately fax it. Each service requires you to pay a monthly fee but costs far less than keeping that extra phone line around. That doesn't make sense. All the other phones in the house were fine, and I had the computer plugged into a surge protector. Actually, it makes perfect sense.
Electrical surges can travel through phone lines.
Phones are designed to withstand abuse. However, computer modems are much more sensitive, and after every storm, I get a few calls with modems that no longer connect or dial out. Plugging the power cord of your computer into a surge protector doesn't directly protect the phone line. While many surge protectors do work on phone lines, they require you to plug the phone line from the wall into the surge protector and another line from the surge protector into the modem. Many users forget this step, not realizing the potential harm through the phone lines.