Changing the number of rings on fax.

What is the make or brand/model of the phone you are referring to? Does it has a line 1/2 selector or a ringer selector on the panel?
Maybe the phone you have has a selector on its side.
I need more info.
Best regards.

The following set up assumes you have one conventional phone line, but two different phone numbers. One being your regular phone number and the other a distinctive ring for your fax machine

If that is what you have then this is how you set up the phone. Its important to know what type of distinctive ring your phone company will send to your phone. If it doesn't work you can talk to them about getting a different one than their default distinctive ring.

2 Set the HP all-in-one to answer incoming calls automatically.

Press the Auto Answer button until the light is on.

3 Change the Answer Ring Pattern setting to the pattern that has been assigned to your fax number by the telephone company, for example, double rings or triple rings.
For information on changing this setting, see Change the answer ring pattern
(distinctive ringing).
Note Your HP all-in-one is factory-set to answer all ring patterns. If you do not set the correct ring pattern assigned to your fax number by the telephone company, your HP all-in-one might answer both voice calls and fax calls or it might not answer at all.

4 (Optional) Change the Rings to Answer setting to one ring or two rings.

For information on changing this setting, see Set the number of rings before answering.
5 Run a fax test. For information, see Test your fax setup.
Your HP all-in-one will automatically answer incoming calls that have the ring pattern you selected (Answer Ring Pattern setting) after the number of rings you selected (Rings to Answer setting). Then it will begin emitting fax reception tones to the sending
fax machine and receive the fax.


If it is easier or you want to know other options which may be more applicable to your phone setup. You can find that information here.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00235090.pdf

I have a HP Officejet J6480 All-In-One and needed the answering machine and fax to be on at the same time.  I called the help line at HP and they said I needed another phone line into the home but I tried this and it worked. 
First I got a different phone number for the fax machine - they do this for no charge at my phone company. This is not another physical line into the home - it is just another phone number with a different ring - it rings 2 fast rings for the fax machine instead of the phones regular one ring. I set the answering machine built into the phone to pick up after 4 rings and I set the fax machine to pick up on 2 rings. Be sure to set it so the fax pick up number of rings are less than the answering machine pick up number of rings.  It worked for me. Hope this works for you too.

You need to purchase a cross-over cable to use on your fax machine. This cable will change line 2 to line 1 for the fax so it will pick up the line when line 2 rings and not line 1.

If you want to use a regular cable you'll have to have someone rewire the jack in the wall to swap line 1 and line 2, then just plug the fax machine into this jack.

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)

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)

Here is a link to the user guide.. This should provide info on how to program the fax to answer o n the second ring. I don't know however how you have 2 numbers assigned to one line?


http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?product=351106&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us

• The Rings to Answer feature might not be set to answer after the
appropriate number of rings for your office setup.
• If you have a voice mail service at the same phone number you use
for fax calls, you must receive faxes manually, not automatically. For
information on how to receive faxes manually, see receive a fax
manually from a phone on page 48.
• If you have a PC modem on the same phone line with your
HP Officejet, check to make sure that the modem’s software is not
set to receive faxes automatically. Modems with this auto fax
receive feature turned on will take over the phone line to receive all
incoming faxes, which will prevent the HP Officejet from receiving
fax calls.
• If you have an answering machine on the same phone line with
your HP Officejet, you might have one of the following problems:
– Your outgoing message might be too long or too loud to allow
the HP Officejet to detect fax tones, and the calling fax machine
might disconnect.
– Your answering machine might not have enough quiet time after
your outgoing message to allow the HP Officejet to detect fax
tones. This problem is more common with digital answering
machines.
The following actions might help solve these problems:
a. Disconnect the answering machine and then try receiving a fax.
If faxing is successful without it, the answering machine might
be causing the problem.
b. Reconnect the answering machine and re-record your outgoing
message. Make sure the message is as short as possible (no
more than 10 seconds long), and that you speak softly and
slowly when recording it. Try again to receive a fax.
• If you have a special ring pattern for your fax phone number (using
a distinctive ring service through your telephone company), make
sure that the Answer Ring Pattern feature on your HP Officejet is set
to match. For example, if the phone company has assigned your
fax number a double ring pattern, make sure Double Rings is
selected as the Answer Ring Pattern setting. For information on
changing this setting, see change the answer ring pattern
(distinctive ringing) on page 63.
Note that some ring patterns cannot be recognized by the
HP Officejet, such as those with alternating short and long ringing
patterns. If you are having problems with a ring pattern of this type,
ask your phone company to assign a non-alternating ring pattern.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00095626.pdf

Try changing the receive mode from automatic to FAX ONLY and set the number of fax rings higher. You should be able to receive phone calls and if you are not answering your phone it will automatically receive a fax.

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 !