About Fax Machines; Custom Features ; Why Should There Be Trouble?- Page 18

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      I N T R O D U C T I O N

About Fax Machines

If you’re a first-time fax machine user, fax operation might seem a little mysterious. 
You’ll soon get used to 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 custom service,  please see Distinctive Ring

, page 8-1

.

Another way to avoid possible problems 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)

, page 2-9.)

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 when you dial, 
and then press 

Fax Start

, and 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 know if you are receiving a fax message.