Muratec F-98 Receiving faxes, Working with your answering machine, 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 have to be plugged in to the AC power jack 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 2.24-2.25) 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.

Polling

Q:What’s the purpose of polling?

A:Polling lets you automatically “pull” a document which is set in another fax machine. 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.

Just in case …

Working with your answering machine

Q:People have complained that they call my fax machine and hear my answering machine’s message, but are cut off before they can send a fax. What happened?

A:Any remote fax machine attempting to send a fax must “hear” responding fax tones within somewhat under 40 seconds after the person at that machine presses the start key. That 40 seconds includes getting the dial tone, dialing the number, “listening” to the pause before the ringing starts and the remote fax machine answering the ring. Only after that time does your message play

That’s why we urge you to make a short outgoing message. The shorter the overall waiting period, the more likely it is that the remote fax machine will proceed with the transmission. Please make an outgoing message that is no longer than 10 seconds (see page 1.20 for a suggestion).

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.

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