43 Chapter 8
Telephone Service for New Zealand
FaxAbility
FaxAbility is a service offered by Telecom that allows you to have an additional number on one
phone line, with its own distinctive ring pattern. This way, when you get an incoming call, you can
identify the number being called by its ring.
How Will the Fax Machine Treat All Other Numbers?
FaxAbility mode ensures that the machine will answer calls to the FaxAbility (secondary) number.
When a call comes in to your main number, all the phones will ring. You can set an external
answering device (TAD) to answer calls on the other number(s). (See the chart in the following
page.)
If you change the answer mode on the fax machine to FAX/TEL (F/T) or FAX ONLY mode, that
setting will override the FaxAbility setup. In FAX/TEL (F/T) or FAX ONLY mode, your fax
machine will answer all
the phone numbers (including its own ring pattern).
What is the Advantage of Using the FaxAbility Function?
Using FaxAbility is the most efficient way to receive both fax and telephone calls on the same line.
It is much easier for your callers who dial manually. The fax machine will answer with receiving
tones so they will not have to press an activation code. And the people who call to talk on your main
number, will not have to talk to your fax machine. Basically, it gives you two independent numbers
without the higher cost of a second line.
How Does FaxAbility Work?
Your telephone number will have the standard ring pattern of long, long tone, while the new number
will have a ring pattern of long, silence, long, etc. When FaxAbility is ON, you will not hear the first
ring of all incoming calls on the fax machine. Extension phones will ring as usual. If the fax machine
recognizes the ring pattern, all ringing will stop and the fax machine will answer and automatically
receive the fax message. Otherwise, you will hear the extension phones and the fax machine
continue to ring. The fax machine always listens to the ring pattern before it answers, so do not pick
up the phone during that time. You will quickly learn to recognize the ring pattern for faxes, so you
will not be tempted to answer that number. Either you or a telephone answering device can answer
the main number(s).