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+--- Thread: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? (/showthread.php?tid=11180)
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Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - Marcello Santos - 05-12-2006
Hey I'm a little out of touch here, so bear with me if this is super common knowledge. I have a single phone line and I want to get a fax machine. Will I be forced to do manual receives? I don't want my incoming faxes to get my answering machine nor do I want incoming phone calls to get my fax machine nor do I want to run over to the machine to manually recieve a fax. Do fax machines these days automatically detect whether a call is fax or voice?
Thanks, MS
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - wurm - 05-12-2006
The quick answer is yes. But you have to help it. Call your phone company and ask if they have a feature called "distinctive ring" or whatever their equivalent is called. It may cost you a couple of dollars a month for that feature. Then you can set the fax machine to answer, based on the type of ring; i.e. one long ring, two short rings, etc.
I have an old Panasonic fax machine that I bought used a few years ago. Even that thing can deal with distinctive ring. I'm sure any modern one can.
Oh yeah, that means you'll get an additional number that you can give out as your fax number. You really still have only one line for use at any given time, but you'll know when a fax is about to come in.
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - SteveJobs - 05-12-2006
how about something like this?
(I might just get one MYSELF)
http://www.ahernstore.com/cs5500.html
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=2352&affid=10000485
http://www.command-comm.com/cs5500.html
http://www.sandman.com/lineshar.html
Not sure about this one:
http://www.geek-guy.com/product_info.php?currency=USD&products_id=24448
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - Pat - 05-12-2006
One phone line with one number at our house. Call gets automatically routed to fax or answering machine. Then again it is all software based. Chugging away for nearly a decade now:
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - tortoise - 05-12-2006
Most modern fax machines can autodetect and pick up a fax, and not fight with answering machine. We have one set up on a business line with answering machine, faxes are automatically detected and received and calls are handled by the answering machine, no need for special ring tones or whatever. Machine we use is Brother Intellifax 775, I think it was about $100 from Staples.
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - Robert M - 05-12-2006
Marcello,
Tortoise is right. Fax calls are distinctive and most modern machines can tell the difference between a fax call and a regular. Some do it automatically. Others have to be programmed for it. The problem is knowing which machine support this feature. Best bet is to choose a machine and contact the manufacturer about it before making your purchase.
Robert
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - Ken Sp. - 05-12-2006
Some faxes have answering machines built in and automatically detect the difference
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - jdc - 05-12-2006
like Pat i use my computer -- easy as pie to use -- OS X has it built in even
i opted to buy Pagesender cause i needed some more features, but other than that...works perfect every time
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - ho'ard - 05-12-2006
I also use Pagesender. Happy.
However it sounds like you want to be able to receive faxes 'round the clock.
I also would like the answer to your question-- I have a fax machine and an answering machine sharing a line and I never figured out how to do what you're asking (for lack of patience more than anything).
Re: Fax machine at home - with one phone line ? - johnc - 05-12-2006
Most (all?) fax machines can be set to not answer or to answer after a maximum number of rings (in the case of a prehistoric Murata thermal unit I'm still using, that number is seven)--if the latter, set the answering machine to answer after a shorter duration (number of rings). The fax machine will silently "listen" for transmission tones (whether you pick up the handset or the answering machine answers). If those tones are detected, it will disconnect the handset (or answering machine) and receive the incoming fax.