Brother mfc-420-cn all faxes are always busy

History:
With our original land line (phone) service, long distance calls we made were simply added to the bill (at exorbitant rates).
We decided therefore to use calling cards for all our long distance phone calls.
In the meantime, we have had continuous offers for various "long distance packages".
We never signed up for any.
We did not know that the phone company made a change at some point 
so that it is now not even possible to make a long distance call at all
(we assume since they were loosing to many people to calling cards and we had not signed up to a package!).
Since (whenever this change), we have not been able to fax long distance directly either.
Dialing area code + 7 digits, the message is "it long distance, you must dial 1".
Dialing 1 + 3 digits + 7 digits, resulted in a busy signal after 8 digits.
A local fax with 3 digits + 7 digits works no problem as do 1-800 numbers.



Solution for long distance with calling card:
For long distance using a calling card, we can still get a fax out by:
1. laying the paper in the ADF
2. press hook to get a dial tone
3. enter the calling card phone number (a local no.!)
4. when prompted, press 1 for english
5. when prompted the fax number desired (1+3digits+7digits)
6. press start


And for years we did not realize we could not make ANY long distance calls at all with our phone SERVICE provider. Gotta pay a monthly package fee! History: With our original land line (phone) service, long distance calls we made were simply added to the bill (at exorbitant rates). We decided therefore to use calling cards for all our long distance phone calls. In the meantime, we have had continuous offers for various "long distance packages". We never signed up for any. We did not know that the phone company made a change at some point  so that it is now not even possible to make a long distance call at all (we assume since they were loosing to many people to calling cards and we had not signed up to a package!). Since (whenever this change), we have not been able to fax long distance directly either. Dialing area code + 7 digits, the message is "it long distance, you must dial 1". Dialing 1 + 3 digits + 7 digits, resulted in a busy signal after 8 digits. A local fax with 3 digits + 7 digits works no problem as do 1-800 numbers.

Solution for long distance with calling card: For long distance using a calling card, we can still get a fax out by: 1. laying the paper in the ADF 2. press hook to get a dial tone 3. enter the calling card phone number (a local no.!) 4. when prompted, press 1 for english 5. when prompted the fax number desired (1+3digits+7digits) 6. press start
And for years we did not realize we could not make ANY long distance calls at all with our phone SERVICE provider. Gotta pay a monthly package fee!