Talking to a fax machine

Hey all,
I'm working on a project to read emails, disect them, and then send certain emails to a remote fax machine. I've got it working by using DDE and Winfax but I would rather make a direct connection to the fax. I am assuming that a fax machine is just a remote printer? I can dial up the fax and send the print commands but I dont know anything about handshaking so:
When you get connected to the fax it sends a beep. (For lack of a more technical term) What do I need to do from here until I can start sending print commands. I'm thinking I need to get the machine name, then set that as the
printer object.(Could be all wet here) Anyway, if you know of a tutorial or some good info on handshaking, that would be great!
Thanks
Chuck