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FaxAbility
This feature is available only in New Zealand.
FaxAbility is a service offered by Telecom that allows you to have an additional number on one phone line, with its own distinctive ring pattern. This way, when you get an incoming call, you can identify the number being called by its ring.
How Will the Fax Machine Treat All Other Numbers?
FaxAbility mode ensures that the machine will answer calls to the FaxAbility (secondary) number. When a call comes in to your main number, all the phones will ring. You can set an external answering device (TAD) to answer calls on the other number(s). (See the chart bellow.)
What is the Advantage of Using the FaxAbility Function?
Using FaxAbility is the most efficient way to receive both fax and telephone calls on the same line. It is much easier for your callers who dial manually. The fax machine will answer with receiving tones so they will not have to press an activation code. And the people who call to talk on your main number will not have to talk to your fax machine. Basically, it gives you two independent numbers without the higher cost of a second line.
How Does FaxAbility Work?
For example, Your telephone number will have the standard ring pattern of long, long tone, while the new number will have a ring pattern of long, silence, long. When FaxAbility is On, you will not hear the first ring of all incoming calls on the fax machine. Extension phones will ring as usual. If the fax machine recognises the ring pattern, all ringing will stop and the fax machine will answer and automatically receive the fax message. Otherwise, you will hear the extension phones and the fax machine continue to ring. The fax machine always listens to the ring pattern before it answers, so do not pick up the phone during that time. You will quickly learn to recognise the ring pattern for faxes, so you will not be tempted to answer that number. Either you or a telephone answering device can answer the main number(s).
Flowchart Sequence of Incoming call
After you have set the FaxAbility feature to on, the receive mode is set to [Manual] automatically. Unless you have a TAD or Voice Mail set up on the FaxAbility number, Manual mode means you must answer all the call yourself. You can not change the receive mode to the other mode while the FaxAbility is set to on. When FaxAbility is on, the LCD will show [D/R] as the Receive Mode.