Raven Fax telephone and answering machine RF-260

Step by step information at the link below.
Brother Fax T96
The F/T Mode is used to allow the fax machine and the telephones to share the same telephone line. When a call comes in, the fax machine and all extension telephones on that line will ring according to the number of rings you have set for the Ring Delay.
When the Ring Delay is completed, the fax machine will answer the call and determine if it is a fax call or a telephone (voice) call.
The fax machine can determine this by the signal it is receiving on the telephone line. If someone is sending a fax automatically , the sending fax machine will transmit a fax tone (a series of beeps every 3 seconds).
If your fax machine hears these tones, it will receive the fax.

If the fax machine does not hear any fax tones, it assumes it is a telephone (voice) call and will begin ringing the F/T ring tones (double ring) for the length of time you selected for the F/T Ring Time. These tones will only ring on the fax machine's handset (extension or external phones will not ring). At the end of the F/T ring time the fax machine will go into the receive mode in order to receive a manual fax.
(If the call was a voice call and was not answered, the caller will hear the fax receive tones also).

• If you answer the call before the fax machine(during the ring delay period) and determine it is a fax, you can transfer the fax to the fax machine for receiving.
  
  
• If you answer the call on an "extension" phone and hear a beep every 3 seconds (automatic fax) or silence (manual fax), press *51 or *91 for New Zealand (remote activation code) on the telephone keypad, wait to hear the fax machine turn on (chirping sounds) and then hang up.
  
  
• If you answer on the handset of the fax machine and hear a beep every 3 seconds or silence, press the Fax Start or Start/Copy key on the control panel of the fax machine and then hang up the handset.
  
  
• If you answer a call on an "extension" phone during the F/T Ring Time, you will hear the F/T ring tones.
  To release the call from the fax machine, press #51 or #91 for New Zealand (remote deactivation code) on the telephone keypad and you can speak to the calling party.
  
  
• If you pick up the handset of the fax machine during the F/T ring time, you may talk to the calling party immediately.

Yes, you must set up your fax machines like this: The receiving fax must be set to auto receive and the telephone line must be inserted in the "line" input. A line must then be connected from the "Tel" to the "Line" of the Transmitting machine, which must be set to "manual receive." This is not really a satisfactory way of doing things as you can't send and receive 2 machines on the same line together. A much better way is to have 2 lines. with a machine attached to each. Get the tel company to put "No answer transfer" on the line as an accesory. Give them the number of the fax machine that transmits. Make it "manual receive" Now you have a versatile system that you can also use the office telephone with.

Receiving a fax
Receiving a fax automatically
1 Make sure the printer is on and is connected to a working phone line.
2 Make sure that Auto Answer is on.
To check if Auto Answer is on:
a From the printer control panel, press (tool icon).
b Press the arrow buttons until Fax Setup appears, and then press ok.
c Press the arrow buttons until Ringing and Answering appears, and then press ok.
d Press again.
Check to see if Auto Answer is set to On.
e If Auto Answer is not set to on, press the arrow buttons until On appears, and then press to save the setting.
3 Set the number of times the telephone rings before the printer automatically receives faxes:
a Press the arrow buttons until Pick-up On appears, and then press ok.
b Press the arrow buttons until the setting that you want appears, and then press to save the setting.
When the number of rings you set is detected, the printer automatically receives the incoming fax.
Receiving a fax manually
1 Make sure the printer is on and is connected to a working telephone line.
2 Make sure that Auto Answer is off.
3 To receive the fax, press (green botton) or press * 9 * on the telephone after you answer it and hear fax tones.
4 Hang up the telephone.
The printer receives the fax.
Receiving a fax with an answering machine
1 Make sure that Auto Answer is on.
2 Make sure you have set the number of times the telephone rings before receiving a fax automatically.
When a telephone ring is detected, the answering machine picks up the call.
• If the printer detects a fax, it receives the fax and disconnects the answering machine.
• If the printer does not detect a fax, the answering machine receives the call.

3 Set the answering machine to answer incoming calls before the printer does.
For example, if you set the answering machine to answer calls after three rings, set the printer to answer calls
after five rings.
Forwarding faxes
Use the fax-forwarding feature if you are going to be away, but still want to receive your faxes. There are three
fax-forwarding values or settings:
• Off—(Default)
• Forward—The printer sends the fax to the designated fax number.
• Print & Forward—The printer prints the fax and then sends it to the designated fax number.
1 Make sure the printer is on and is connected to a working telephone line.
2 Press the arrow buttons until Fax Setup appears, and then press ok.
3 Press the arrow buttons until Ringing and Answering appears, and then press ok.
4 Press the arrow buttons until Fax Forward appears, and then press ok.
5 Press the arrow buttons until Forward or Print & Forward appears, and then press ok.
6 Enter the number to which you want to forward the fax, and then press ok.

Hi,


Manual mode turns off all automatic answering functions unless you are using the Distinctive Ring feature or you are using an external answering machine on the same line as the Brother machine.


*Distinctive Ring is a function of your Brother machine that allows a person with one line to receive fax and voice calls through two different phone numbers on that one line. Brother uses the term "Distinctive Ring," but telephone companies market the service under a variety of names, such as Custom Ringing, Personalized Ring, Smart Ring, Ring Master, Ident-a-Ring, Ident-a-Call, Data Ident-A-Call, Teen Ring, SimpleBiz Fax & Alternate Number Ringing and BT Call Sign.

1. Setting the Receive Mode
   
   1. Press Menu.
   2. Press the up or down arrow key to select Initial Setup.
   3. Press OK.
   4. Press the up or down arrow key to select Receive Mode.
   5. Press OK.
   6. Press the up or down arrow key to select Manual.
   7. Press OK.
   8. Press Stop/Exit.
   
   

Receiving Faxes in Manual Mode

1. Lift the handset of a telephone that is on the same line as your Brother machine.
2. When you hear the sending machine's fax tones (short beeps that occur at regular intervals), do one of the following:
   • If the telephone you answered is near your Brother machine or connected to its EXT jack(socket), press Black(Mono) Start or Color(Colour) Start.
   • If the telephone you answered is not connected to or near your Brother machine, press *51 (*91 for New Zealand) on its dial pad.
3. Your Brother machine will produce receiving tones.
4. Replace the telephone handset. Your Brother machine will begin to receive the fax.

< Easy Receive (Fax Detect) >
The Easy Receive (Fax Detect) feature allows you to receive faxes in Manual Mode by simply lifting the handset of a telephone that is on the same line as the Brother machine. Your Brother machine will automatically generate fax receiving tones, at which point you can replace the telephone handset and wait for your fax to be received and printed.

Your Brother machine's Easy Receive (Fax Detect) feature is turned ON by default. To adjust your Brother machine's Easy Receive (Fax Detect) setting, please follow these steps:

1. Press Menu.
2. Press the up or down arrow key to select Fax.
3. Press OK.
4. Press the up or down arrow key to select Setup Receive.
5. Press OK.
6. Press the up or down arrow key to select Easy Receive or Fax Detect.
7. Press OK.
8. Press the up or down arrow key to select On, Semi or Off. *In some brother machines, Semi may not be in the options.
   If you choose Semi, your Brother machine will only answer an incoming fax if you answer using its handset or by pressing the Hook, Hook/Hold, Hold, Speaker Phone or Tel/R key on its control panel.
   
9. Press OK.
10. Press Stop/Exit.

Note Here are a couple of points to keep in mind:

• If Easy Receive (Fax Detect) is ON, but your Brother machine doesn't automatically answer the incoming fax when you lift the extension telephone's handset, press *51 (*91 for New Zealand).
• If you send faxes from a computer that is on the same telephone line as the Brother machine and the Brother machine intercepts the calls, turn Easy Receive (Fax Detect) OFF.

Please post your feedback and Vote if the problem resolved as per your satisfaction.

Just a plain telephone cord, plug it in. Go into setup and setup your fax name and number that will appear on the fax your sending. Set the number of rings before answering. Place a test fax call to some fax machine.

1. Send a one page black and white text fax to 1-888-hpfaxme (1-888-473-2963).
2. When your fax is received by the HP Test Fax Service, we will generate a return fax to you within five minutes confirming that we received your fax. This verifies that you can both send and receive a fax with your fax machine.

If you do not receive a return fax within 5-7 minutes, there may be a problem with the setup of your fax machine. Consult the user manual that came with the product for proper setup and configuration.

Use the HP Fax Test
The telephone number for this service is 1-888-HPFaxme (1-888-473-2963). The fax service receives faxes and returns faxes within 5 to 7 minutes to the number contained in the fax header. Solution two: Run a fax diagnostic test

1. Load plain white paper into the input tray.
2. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Tools , and then press OK .
4. On the Tools menu, press the right arrow ( ) to select Run Fax Test , and then press OK . The fax diagnostic test prints.

Solution three: Check the telephone line and change the HP fax settings Step one: Test the telephone line

1. Disconnect the telephone cord from the back of the HP fax product.
2. Figure 1: Two-wire telephone cord
3. Pick up the handset of the telephone and check for a dial tone.
   
4. On the single-line telephone, dial the fax number of the receiving fax machine.
   • If the receiving fax machine answers the call, continue with the next step.
5. Hang up the single-line telephone.
6. Use a second telephone line or a cellular telephone to call the telephone number assigned to the HP fax product.

Step two: Change the HP fax settings

1. Connect phone line into line 1
2. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Basic Fax Setup or Advanced Fax Setup , and then press the right arrow ( ) again to change the menu option settings to the settings listed in the following table. Fax menu Fax menu option Setting Basic Fax Setup Rings to Answer 1 or 2 (At least one more ring than a telephone answering machine, if an answering machine is connected.) Advanced Fax Setup Answer Ring Pattern All Rings
4. Use the HP Fax Test Service to try to send and receive a fax.

If the HP fax product still cannot send or receive a fax, continue to the next solution. Solution four: Check VoIP digital telephone line Using a VoIP telephone service can cause faxing to fail because fax transmissions are sensitive to the timing of the signals used to transmit the fax. If using a VoIP digital line is necessary, changing the Fax Speed Adjustment setting to Medium might improve the ability to send a fax over a VoIP telephone line. Use these steps to change the fax speed adjustment to a lower speed.

1. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
2. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Advanced Fax Setup , and then press OK .
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Fax Speed , and then press OK .
4. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Medium , and then press OK .
5. Use the HP Fax Test Service to try to send and receive a fax

Use the HP Fax Test
The telephone number for this service is 1-888-HPFaxme (1-888-473-2963). The fax service receives faxes and returns faxes within 5 to 7 minutes to the number contained in the fax header. Solution two: Run a fax diagnostic test

1. Load plain white paper into the input tray.
2. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Tools , and then press OK .
4. On the Tools menu, press the right arrow ( ) to select Run Fax Test , and then press OK . The fax diagnostic test prints.

Solution three: Check the telephone line and change the HP fax settings Step one: Test the telephone line

1. Disconnect the telephone cord from the back of the HP fax product.
2. Figure 1: Two-wire telephone cord
3. Pick up the handset of the telephone and check for a dial tone.
   
4. On the single-line telephone, dial the fax number of the receiving fax machine.
   • If the receiving fax machine answers the call, continue with the next step.
5. Hang up the single-line telephone.
6. Use a second telephone line or a cellular telephone to call the telephone number assigned to the HP fax product.

Step two: Change the HP fax settings

1. Connect phone line into line 1
2. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Basic Fax Setup or Advanced Fax Setup , and then press the right arrow ( ) again to change the menu option settings to the settings listed in the following table. Fax menu Fax menu option Setting Basic Fax Setup Rings to Answer 1 or 2 (At least one more ring than a telephone answering machine, if an answering machine is connected.) Advanced Fax Setup Answer Ring Pattern All Rings
4. Use the HP Fax Test Service to try to send and receive a fax.

If the HP fax product still cannot send or receive a fax, continue to the next solution. Solution four: Check VoIP digital telephone line Using a VoIP telephone service can cause faxing to fail because fax transmissions are sensitive to the timing of the signals used to transmit the fax. If using a VoIP digital line is necessary, changing the Fax Speed Adjustment setting to Medium might improve the ability to send a fax over a VoIP telephone line. Use these steps to change the fax speed adjustment to a lower speed.

1. Press the Setup button ( ) on the product control panel.
2. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Advanced Fax Setup , and then press OK .
3. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Fax Speed , and then press OK .
4. Press the right arrow ( ) to select Medium , and then press OK .
5. Use the HP Fax Test Service to try to send and receive a fax.

if it sends ok, then it has probably been switched to "manual receive" form "automatic mode"

Note: check your equipment for:
Fax machine must be connected to an answer machine

Receiving a fax automatically:
1 Make sure the Fax Auto Answer light is on.
2 To set the number of telephone rings before the printer automatically receives faxes,
Receiving a fax with an answering machine
When a telephone ring is detected, the answering machine picks up the call.
• If the printer detects a fax, it receives the fax and disconnects the answering machine.
• If the printer does not detect a fax, the answering machine receives the call.
2 Set the answering machine to answer incoming calls before the printer does.
For example, if you set the answering machine to answer calls after three rings, set the printer to answer calls
after five rings.
3 To set the number of telephone rings before the printer automatically receives faxes.

TAD is Telephone Answering Device. TAD mode is the only mode that can be used with an external telephone answering device (unless you are using a distinctive ring number for receiving faxes). Your telephone answering device must be connected to the jack on the fax machine (labeled "EXT" for USA). When someone dials your telephone/fax number (to send a fax or to speak to you), all the telephones (including the FAX) will ring according to the number of rings you set on the TAD. The Ring Delay setting is not recognized in the TAD mode. If you do not answer the call, the TAD will answer. As your outgoing message is playing, the Fax is in the background, silently listening for fax tones. If the FAX hears fax tones, it will automatically go into the receive mode. If the FAX does not hear fax tones, it remains silent, allowing the caller to leave a message. The above information is correct for a Brother fax machine. Is your fax automatically picking up the call or do you have to push a panel button to start the receive fax process? Perhaps the fax is already "in" your fax machine's memory and only needs a manual printout. Check the fax call log.