receiving fax - special ring

[Guest]

We have a single incoming line for incoming voice calls and faxes.

If someone dials our fax number the phone rings with two quick rings which
triggers our fax machine to answer... but I wonder if we could plug the phone
line into my PC (XP Pro) and have XP receive the fax. (I haven't checked but
the PC is a relatively new Dell and I assume it has a modem.)

Are there settings in XP to for a "special ring"... or do we need dedicated
fax software?

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP P/I]]

The "special ring" is known as "Distinctive Ring" in the telephone world
and, sadly, Windows XP Fax does NOT use it. If you plug the phone line into
your PC and activate Fax's Auto Answer mode, Fax will answer EVERY call,
unless you pick the phone up before the number of rings set to trigger Fax
to answer. I know of one third party fax application that overcomes the
Distinctive
Ring problem:

http://www.faxtalk.com/
FaxTalk Messenger Pro

And there are several hardware devices that can help:

http://www.heartlandamerica.com/browse/item.asp?PIN=37676&
Emerson Switchboard
http://www.catchacallonline.com/catchacall-internet-call-waiting.html
Catch-A-Call
http://www.command-comm.com/phone_line_products.html
ComSwitch®

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
http://www.kvoa.com -- "When News breaks, we fix it!"
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