Phone and fax, 1 phone line question...

[aircooled]

Got a friend that doesn't want a 2nd phone line for faxes.

Is there a device that can plug into the phone jack that knows when someone is sending you a fax??? He wants to leave the fax machine on 24/7 and have the fax machine answer when someone sends a fax, but wants his answering machine to answer otherwise.

Any such device ???

thanks

 

[VBboy]

Just pass the cable through the fax machine (phone line to fax machine, out of fax machine to the phone), or buy a $1 cable splitter. The fax machine will know it's a FAX. It will not confuse the fax signal with the regular signal. That problem was solved a long time ago.

 

[aircooled]

Actually the fax machine answers the phone no matter what. If I call with my voice phone the fax machine will answer. It doesnt care if its a fax calling or not.

 

[VBboy]

ok, then something is screwed up.

Are you sure you can't configure it to only answer FAX calls?

In any case, you can set it to answer after N rings. Set it to the max. number, e.g. 6. Then your other device should pick up first...

 

[eplebnista]

Another option is to call the phone company and set up a distinctive ring service(you'll get a separate phone #, without a second line), then configure the fax machine software to answer a distinctive ring call with the new phone number.

hth,
eplebnista