How to set the number of rings before the machin answers

Maybe the answering machine is set to pick up at say"5 rings" and the voice mail is set to pickup at "4 rings" . Change the voicemail setting to a higher setting than the answering machine. That may be the problem.

Make sure you've got the machine set to answer calls, and set the number of rings to four. If you need a copy, you may download the manual here.

It seems that you're sharing your home phone line with your Lexmark fax machine. You can adjust the "pick-up" ring from the printer operator panel by pressing the Setup button > Fax Setup > Ringing and Answering > Pick Up On > select your preferred number of rings before the fax answers.
Please note:
If you have an answering machine connected to the same line as the fax, set the answering machine to answer incoming calls before the printer does. Increase the number of rings by a factor of 3 over the answering machine. For example, if the answering machine is set to pick up on 4 rings, set the printer to pick up on 7 rings.

If you have a voicemail feature in the same line as the fax, you may subscribe from your phone service provider for a distinctive ring pattern feature. You can program your printer to have a distinctive ring pattern and phone number for incoming faxes.

Should you still need assistance, please leave a comment to my response and I'll get back to you. Should this resolves your problem, your rating will be greatly appreciated.

Either your fax machine is set to answer on more rings then your answering machine is or you dont have the automatic answer key pushed?

Determine how many rings your answering machine picks up on and then change the number of rings to a lower amount on your fax machine. To change the number of rings before picking up the line, press the "menu" key on the fax machine and use the up and down arrows to scroll until you find the "basic fax set up" or the "advanced set up" areas. I am not sure which one will have the number of rings setting. Try looking in both until you find it.

when you see it press "ok" or "enter" get in and change the amount of rings before answering. call your fax machine to make sure it picks up before your answering machine.

This should solve your problem.

Set rings to answer
You can select the number of rings that will occur before the fax answers an incoming call. If you are using your machine as both a telephone and a fax machine, we suggest you set the ring count to at least 4 to give you time to answer.
TIP: HP 1050 Fax: The Toll Saver function for the Digital Message Center interacts with Rings to Answer. See Toll Saver on page 40. If you have the HP 1050 Fax and have Toll Saver turned on, set the Rings to Answer to 2.
1. Press Menu repeatedly until BASIC FAX displays and press Start/Enter.
Rings to Answer will display.
2. Press Start/Enter.
3. Enter the number of rings you want (2-7) and press Start/Enter.
The HP Fax rings the set number of times and then answers. It then produces a different sounding ring to alert you to which type of call is incoming.
• The additional ring may occur once for a fax call
• The additional ring occurs 5 times for a voice call. After the 5 additional rings, the answering machine will answer.

>first run fax test, press set up go to tools menu then select run fax test,all entries should be pass
>then check your connections, do you have one line or number for your fax and phone?or a separate line or another number for fax and another number for phone?
>let me assume you only have one number for fax and phone..
>check connections, this should be downstream connection, the fax machine using the black phone cord provided by hp should be connected directly to the phone jack using line 1 at the back of the fax and the answering machine or the telephone should be connected to ext 2 or line 2 at the back of the fax...there should be no other devices phone or answering machine connected directly to the phone jack.
>next set rings to answer on the fax machine higher than the answering machine...if your rings to answer on answering machine is 4 rings, set the fax to 6 rings...if it is a voice call the answering machine will pick it up at 4 rings then if it detects that it it a fax tone then it will transfer the call to fax.
>also check if auto answer is on in your fax
>you can check auto answer and rings to answer by pressing set up or menu button on your machine look for it in basic fax settings or advance settings
>also check if your voice prompt for your answering machine is not too short there should be like at least 5 seconds after cutting your message to allow the machine to transfer the call to the fax if it is a fax tone.

Rings to Answer:

THIS SETTING ALLOWS YOU TO SELECT THE NUMBER OF RINGS BEFORE THE UNIT ANSWERS A CALL.

1. The unit announces, "Rings to Answer (the current rings to answer setting). To set rings to answer press NEXT. Press SET to continue.

2. To chantge the rings to answer, press and relase the NEXt OR GREETING/PREVIOUS button and the unit announces a number, such as "2,3,4," or "2, toll saver, 5."

3. After choosing a number, press and release the STOP/SET button to store the rings to answer. The unit confirms the setting and enters Message Length menu.

Taken directly from the instruction booklet that came with my GE 29888GE1 instructions.

Hope it works for you ! jp

I assume you have distinctive ringing since both numbers are on the same line. According to the manufacturer's specs, the fax machine supports distinctive ringing. Set it up for the ring pattern assigned to the fax number and to answer on the first ring. Then it will pick up right away when someone calls the fax machine, and the answering machine will pick up the other number.

Telephone wire goes to fax, out to answer machine, Important to set fax on answer machine mode and set the ring count to pick up AFTER the telephone answer machine. Set fax ring count to 5 rings, and answering machine to 3 or 4. When some one calls answer machine or you pick up first, then if no one will leave a msg. fax tones are different than voice tones, they are called CNG tones. Most new fax machine will sense this and if a fax will go to fax only. Ring count is the key. Also you could set fax up for maual mode and would not jump to anser machine or fax till you want.....good luck

I found in the manual that if the machine doesn't answer after the correct number of rings, then it may be the ringing system used by the phone company. But I have also heard of people with VOIP (such as Vonage) having problems with this as well.

http://telephones.att.com/docMgt/public/art/21714/1738_english_manualpart2.pdf