Faxing with Call Waiting
I’m planning on adding “call waiting” to my home phone service. Will this cause any problems with my fax machine?
Sending and receiving faxes from a line on which you have call waiting can be a real hassle. If someone else happens to call or fax while a fax in coming in or going out, the fax will take longer to transmit, and line could disconnect so the fax won’t go through at all.
You can temporarily disable call waiting by pressing a special code (typically *70, but check with your phone company) before dialing the number to which you want to send a fax. With most phone services, call waiting is automatically restored after the call. On others, you may need to re-enable call waiting by inputting another code (perhaps *71). You can try these same steps if you’re expecting a fax, but it may not work. Additionally, if you’re talking on the phone and hear the tone signaling that you have another call coming in, quickly switch lines (if appropriate) and, if it’s a fax, it should go through.
If you’re still convinced you need call waiting, consider adding a dedicated fax line to your service. Or, go with an Internet-based fax service.
Do you have a question about faxing? Send me your fax question.