Hey folks, as I know, basically allowing a fax machine and a phone on the same line to operate independently. For example, someone is sending a fax and the phone doesn't ring but the fax receives a fax, something like a splitter of some sort. So, I dont have to get another phone line for my fax machine. What is the piece of equipment that allows the fax machine to distinguish from a phone signal and a fax signal?

Ramona1234, Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums.

You need to check your fax machine. Some of them have built in switches. You get a call and if it's a fax, you press *9 or some other key combination and the call is routed to the fax machine. Check the documentation.

You can also usually set it to auto pickup after a chosen number of rings. But there is no way I know of for the fax machine to know if it is a fax transmission or someone calling to talk. It will pick up regardless if set to auto.

If I need to receive a fax the person must let me know in advance and they have to call me back so I can have the fax machine pick it up using a predefined key as Classic mentioned. It's been a long time since I have had an incoming fax, but if I remember right on mine I simply hit the fax button when the phone is ringing and it will pick it up.

There is software that can distinguish between voice and fax and data after the phone has been answered. There is software that can do this from a PC and appropriate modem and I am sure there must be decent fax/answering hardware with the same basic stuff on it. Having deciphered the type of call the answer machine could trip into answer machine mode (with loudspeaker on or off) or fax receive mode and handshake appropriately with the fax sending machine.

I haven't done this for years and it wasnt all that easy to set up from a PC at that time. Maybe times have moved on. This was the first google hit (http://www.ventafax.com/).

I have a HP 5510 all in one series copy/fax/scanner/printer and it all goes thru my regular phone line so its not on its own line.

I have a task that requires me to go to a website and fax documents to myself because I cannot print from the site directly.

This takes several hours to do, so is there a way to change my settings somewhere so that my fax is default as prime over the phone?
For example take my phone out of the equation and when I'm done I can switch it back to phone prime? I'm not worried about missing calls because what I am doing now is getting up to hit the fax/start button every time that it rings, nobody would get thru anyway.

I tried setting the fax machine itself to auto answer at one ring... that didn't work. Any other suggestions out there? Any help would be much appreciated ~

heidi, start your own thread...