Receiving faxes, How your fax machine works

Receiving faxes

Q:My fax never answers. What’s wrong?

A:Check to make sure your fax machine is properly connected to a working AC power outlet and phone jack (see pages 1.6–1.8). If you’re using a second phone with your machine, make sure it’s connected properly (page 1.9).

Q:Sometimes when I answer my machine with the optional handset, I hear a beeping sound that repeats every few seconds. Is this a fax?

A:Yes. When you hear such fax tones, someone is trying to send you a fax. Next time, press START and hang up the handset. Your fax will receive the message.

Q:Does my fax machine has to be plugged in (i. e., into the AC power) just to receive a message?

A:Yes. Your phone will ring if the phone line is connected, but you can’t receive a fax unless your fax machine is plugged into both the phone jack and the AC power jack. Make sure your fax machine is always plugged in so you never miss an important fax message.

Q:Can I receive a fax if I’m using the phone on my machine?

A:You can receive a fax from the person to whom you’re talking. When that per- son has a document ready in his/her machine’s feeder, press START. However, like any regular one-line phone, your fax machine can handle only one call at a time. The OneLine + feature (see pages 2.33–2.34) lets you receive calls on up to two phone numbers if your telephone company has installed the appropriate DRD service, but you can use only one number at a time.

Just in case …

Polling

Q:What’s the purpose of polling?

A:Polling lets you automatically “pull” a document from another fax machine’s document feeder. You can poll whenever you need to retrieve information and don’t want the source to pay for the phone call. With polling, you pay for the call and get the information you need.

How your fax machine works

The concept of how a fax machine works is simple. Here’s a simple analogy. Let’s say you want to mail a gift to a friend:

•You take the item, wrap it and send it.

•Days later, your friend receives the package, unwraps it and uses it.

Now, let’s apply that to fax communication.

You put a page into your fax machine’s feeder and call a fax number. Your machine makes a satisfactory connection with the other machine, and then …

•An image scanner in your fax machine examines the information on the page. That’s how your machine takes the document.

•Your fax machine translates the scanned information into a numeric code and compresses the code for the fastest possible transmission speed.

That’s how your machine wraps the document.

•Finally, your fax machine sends the compressed code. That’s how your machine sends the document.

On the other end of the line …

•The remote fax machine receives the code.

•The remote fax machine uncompresses and deciphers the code, turning it into a representation of the scan your machine made.

That’s how your machine unwraps the document.

•The remote fax machine prints the representation. Now, the recipient can use the document.

… and that’s how fax works!

The only difference between a regular telephone call and a fax call is the content of the transmission:

•On a regular call, your telephone sends your voice.

•On a fax call, your fax machine sends a coded image.

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