About Fax Machines; Custom Features; Do You Have Voice Mail On The Phone Line; Why Should There Be Trouble - Brother FAX-1800C Owner's Manual

About Fax Machines

If you're a first-time fax machine user, fax operation might seem a little
mysterious. Soon, you'll recognize the unusual fax tones on your phone line,
and be able to send and receive faxes easily.

Custom Features

Do You Have Voice Mail on the Phone Line?

If you have Voice Mail on the phone line on which you will install your new fax
machine, there is a strong possibility that Voice Mail and the fax machine will
conflict with each other while receiving incoming calls.

Why Should There Be Trouble?

Since both fax machines and Voice Mail pick up the line at the number of rings
you have set, each of them has the ability to keep the other from receiving calls.
For example, if your Voice Mail is set to answer after two rings and your fax
machine is set to answer after four, your Voice Mail will keep your fax machine
from receiving faxes. If you set Voice Mail and the Brother machine to answer
at the same number of rings, there is no way of knowing which one will answer
first. It is important to remember that neither Voice Mail nor the fax machine
can pass the call back to the other after the call has been answered.

How Can You Avoid Possible Problems?

A very good way to avoid problems like the one mentioned previously is to get
a second phone number on your present phone line. Many people with Voice
Mail opt for this choice, which is called "Distinctive Ring", and they are very
satisfied with it. For details about this type of custum service, please see
Distinctive Ring
Another way to avoid possible problem is to replace your Voice Mail with an
answering machine. Your Brother fax machine is designed to work in tandem
with an answering machine or TAD (telephone answering device). (See
Connecting an External Telephone Answering Device (TAD)

Fax Tones and Handshake

When someone is sending a fax, the fax machine sends fax calling tones (CNG
tones) — soft, intermittent beeps at 4-second intervals. You'll hear them after
you dial and press Black Fax Start; they continue for about 60 seconds after
dialing. During that time, the sending machine must begin the "handshake" with
the receiving machine. Each time you use automatic procedures to send a fax,
you are sending CNG tones over the phone line. You'll soon learn to listen for
these soft beeps each time you answer a phone on your fax line, so you can know
if you are receiving a fax message.
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