Need to set up phone/fax instead of just fax

There is excellent support here on basic fax setups. You have what is known as "Distinctive Ringing Service". There are pros and cons to the various setups. I assume you recognize the rings and answer only when the ring for the landline talk comes on. The fax will pick up the faxes, and the answering machine will pick up the voice.

Need model number of your fax - google that!

Service manual for your phone.

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/KXTG7841-MUL.PDF
This link shows various configurations of setting up your phone/fax/answering machine or using an answering service.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c00059780#Dist_ring
Distinctive Ringing Service setup While it is not available everywhere, a distinctive ringing service can be purchased from most telephone companies. With this service, more than one phone number is assigned to the same phone line. Each phone number will ring differently. The main number will ring with a normal single ring and the additional number will ring with a distinctive ring pattern assigned by the phone company.
When a distinctive ringing service is used, set the Rings to Answer to 2 and then follow the steps below to set the distinctive ringing pattern:

1. Press Setup , press 4 , and then press 1 to enter the Answer Ring Pattern setup of the Advanced Fax settings.
2. Use the Right Arrow to scroll through the available settings. When the ring pattern assigned by the phone company displays (double or triple rings), press OK .

Was the fax plugged into another telephone line? Maybe a power surge?

My solution would be to reconfigure the fax from scratch to learn the ring pattern.

From the Manual:

Step 1-Teach the HP Fax the ring pattern

The HP Fax will learn the ring pattern when you call it from another telephone or fax
machine.

1. Be ready to call the fax machine.
2. Press Menu repeatedly until BASIC FAX displays and press OK.
3. Use LEFT ARROW - RIGHT ARROW BUTTONS to scroll through the options until DRPD Mode displays and press OK.
Call this fax from another fax machine... Waiting Ring...
will display.
4. Call the HP Fax.

DRPD OK will display when the pattern has been learned and the HP Fax will return
to Ready mode.

Step 2-Set up distinctive ring (DRPD) answer mode

Once you have activated distinctive ring, it becomes one of the answering modes you
can select by pressing the Mode/Contrast button.

Press Mode/Contrast repeatedly until DRPD Mode appears in the display.

• In Ready mode, DRPD appears in the right hand corner of the display.
• Now, the HP Fax will manage calls and faxes as if it were set to AUTO mode
(AUTO mode on page 28)


TIP: Distinctive ring must be set up again if you reassign your fax number
or connect the machine to another telephone line. Once set up again (that
is, the fax machine has learned the ring pattern and the answering mode is
correctly set), you should test the fax machine by calling the fax number
and another number on the same line. The machine should respond
appropriately to a call placed to the fax number with fax tones, and to a
normal telephone call with the expected ring pattern.

You do not give enough information. What happens when you try to receive? Does it ring? Is there any message displayed?

You will have to look through the options in the unit to find the receive settings in the menu. Make sure it's actually set up to receive. Usually there are receive (RX) options such as: manual, fax/tel, fax only, number of rings, distinctive ring and others.

In most cases if the machine is set to manual, you will have to press a button to receive a fax. It may be just the "hook" button, or a start button. Check your owners manual to see which button. In Fax/Tel mode the machine will assume you are using a telephone on the same line. You will have to set the unit to answer after the phone rings a specific number of times(four, for example). After four rings, if you have not picked up the receiver the machine will take the like and receive a fax. If you set it to Fax Only you can set it to answer on any number of rings, but it's best to just set it to one. In this mode the machine assumes it has a dedicated line.

If you have distinctive rings for various people in your home or business then you will have to consult your manual to see how to deal with the different rings.

One last note. Make sure your phone line is plugged into the correct port on the machine. I get a ton of calls at work from people who have the phone line plugged into the extension port, and the phone plugged into the line port.

If none of this helps, you will need someone to look at your fax machine. If you call HP, have your credit card ready.....

There are a few possibilities. 1) The phone cord coming from the wall is plugged into the phone port on the fax instead of the Line port. It should be on the line port.
2) The fax have been set for distinctive ring. This causes the fax to ignore the normal incoming ring tone and is instead waiting for the distinctive ring from the phone co.
3) The modem in the fax has gone bad. If you have had any power failures or electrical storms/problems this is a possible cause.
Some models will also not answer if the machine is out of toner or paper.

You need to make sure that the line from the wall jack is plugged into the "Line" jack on the fax then the phone is connected to the "Phone" or "Out" jack. You might want to check the number of rings before your fax picks up.

Press
Funcion
7
monitor key slowly 4 times
*
1
44
set

clear 2 times
use number pad to set number or rings 0-15
set

Unplug power cord, plug back in.

Hi,

Setting Ring Delay:
The Ring Delay setting determines the number of times the fax machine rings before it answers. If you have extension phones on the same line as the fax machine, keep the Ring Delay at a default setting of 4:
1 Press Function/Set, 2, 1.
2 Press < or > to select how many times the line rings before the fax machine answers (00 – 04) and press Function/Set. If you select 00, the line doesn’t ring at all.
3 Press Stop to exit.

Hope that's clear enough :)

Chris (ziraffa)

Make sure the "Auto Answer " button is On

Make sure ur answering Mech rings are set more than the fax mech...i.e (if ur answering mech is set to 3 then fax mech should be set to 4)....

If u r using DRPD(distingtive ring pattern i.e If u have one line and two numbers.....) then set double ring for fax and single for Phone or answering mech....or vice versa...

Use an identa call box. You set the distinctive ring pattern (1-2-3) and the box will route the call through depending on what number it is. I have two numbers on one line. I have a tee adapter on the phone plug with two phone cables coming out. Each phone cable one plugs into a small distinctive ring box. I set one box switch to 1, and the second box to 2. If the first phone# rings box 1 allows the signal through to the phone. If the fax line rings the phone won't ring, but the second box will pass connection to fax and vise versa.

I brought mine from Bell Canada phone store. It is called a identa-call box, or distinctive ring switch. Best way to go !

If you actually have a 2 line setup with 2 #'s each with it's own separate line, it's wired backwards. Otherwise (distinctive ring, etc) the machine has to be capable of and set-up to recognize which ring pattern is a fax call.
Also, you have to enable auto-answer on the fax machine.