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Just in case …
• The remote fax machine prints the representation.
Now, the recipient can use the document.
… and that’s how fax works!
The only difference between a regular telephone call and a fax call is the content of
the transmission:
• On a regular call, your telephone sends your voice.
• On a fax call, your fax machine sends a coded image.
If your fax machine is in Tel/Fax Ready mode and you have other telephone exten-
sions on the same line, all the other phones will ring. In fact, there’s no way to tell if
an incoming call is from a fax machine or from a person until you answer, or your
fax machine answers.
You’ll know it’s a fax call if, upon answering, you hear a beeping sound that repeats
every few seconds. This sound is each fax machine’s way of identifying itself to the
machine it calls.
When you press
START
, your fax machine responds to these signals using other spe-
cial tones (to us humans, they sound a bit like screeches) which are its way of
responding to the other machine’s “greeting”. This acknowledgement — just like
greetings you might exchange with a friend — is called handshaking.
The way fax machines work is regulated closely by international standards applied
by the International Telecommunications Union (
ITU
), an agency of the United
Nations. These standards ensure the compatibility of your fax machine with mil-
lions of other fax machines worldwide. However, they also limit the way you can use
your machine with other devices, such as telephones and answering machines.
Nonetheless, this is a small price to pay for the ability to send documents just about
anywhere on earth!
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