I am servicing a brother MFC 8480. The customer reinstalled new drivers and the machine will not send and receive faxes. The line was checked out ok with at&t what could be wrong with this machine it is fairly new. Is there a setting and theye are running on XP thanks

ECM (Error Correction Mode)
The Error Correction Mode (ECM) is a way for the fax machine to check the integrity of a fax transmission while it is in progress. ECM transmissions are possible only between machines that both have the ECM feature. If they do, you may send and receive fax messages that are continuously checked for their
integrity.
Sufficient memory must be available in your FAX/MFC for this feature to work.ECM (Error Correction Mode) Detects errors during fax transmission and resends the page(s) that had an error.
If you have Call Waiting, RingMaster, Voice Mail, an answering machine, alarm system or any other
custom feature on a single phone line with your fax machine, it may create a problem sending or
receiving fax data.
For Example:
Your Brother machine handles the Caller ID and Call Waiting/Caller ID subscriber services.
However, if you subscribe to only Call Waiting or some other custom service and its signal comes
through the line while your machine is sending or receiving a fax, the signal can temporarily interrupt
or disrupt the fax data. Brother's ECM feature should help overcome this problem. This condition
is related to the telephone system industry and is common to all devices that send and receive
information on a single, shared line with custom features. If avoiding a slight interruption is crucial
to your business, a separate line with no custom features is recommended.

is your fax machine connected to the phone line? this usually indicates the connection status, thus, if your phone line is in...you wont have the "offline message".

hope this helps.

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.

I cant get my MFC-290 to receive incoming faxes

Ensure that the new telephone is plug correctly into the fax machine the. Phone line belong in the "line" socket. Telephone/answering machine belong in the phone socket. Does the telephoe answering machine work ok without the fax. does fax work with out answering machine

Btw, I’m available to help over the phone in case u need at https://www.6ya.com/expert/normanj_7893313f0751935f

From the Brother web site.


Description of Problem 100000018247
When I launch PC-Fax Receive Program, I receive an error stating: The Fax Receive program must be started to receive PC faxes. What can I do?pc fax rx

Description of Solution 200000023257
You may receive this error if the pc fax application is closed and you have faxes stored in the memory of the machine. To resolve this issue,you will need to print the faxes already stored in the memory of the machine. To print the faxes, please follow these steps:

1. Press the MENU key.

2. Press the UP OR DOWN ARROW key to select Fax.

3. Press the OK key to confirm your choice.

4. Press the UP OR DOWN ARROW key to select Print Fax.

5. Press OK.

6. Press the BLACK START key.

- Your Brother machine will print the stored faxes.

7. Press the STOP/EXIT key to exit the menu.

8. Once the stored faxes have been printed, click WINDOWS/START, (ALL) PROGRAMS, BROTHER, XXX-XXXX (X = MODEL NUMBER), PC-FAX RECEIVING, XXX-XXXX or RECEIVE (depending on your operating system).

9. The Brother PC-fax receiving icon will now appear in your Windows Task Tray indicating that Brother PC-Fax Receiving is active.

Is your phone line DIGITAL? Fax machines are ANALOG devices.

yes. you have to change to tel/fax mode.

manual (installation and manual) can be downloaded from www.brother.com (choose your country and your mfc). read faq, too!)

here you might find an answer:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/faq/faq_top.htm?reg=us&c=us&lang=en&prod=mfc240c_all

First make sure your line cable is plugged into the correct place. Most Brother machines have a plug for Line and a plug for Extension (EXT), make sure it's plugged into "Line".

Go into the menu on your Brother machine and select Fax, then Setup Receive and then select Easy Receive. This will usually solve most recieve problems.
Brother machines come with s default of 4 rings before they will answer, make sure none of your other devices (such as an answering machine) are set to a lower number of rings or the fax machine will never grab the line.

If you have distinctive ring, make sure you have it set up in the machine. There is a section in the owners manual for setting up discinctive ring.

If the machine grabs the line and goes through the motions but nothing comes out on the page (no black print) then make sure you are using a Brother ink cartridge (not refilled or generic) and print out the test page using the "ink" button. Allow the machine to clean a few times and see if the test page prints out correctly. If you are using refills or a generic black, you might have premanently damaged the print head. In this case take it to a service centre to have the head tested.