On our bell 350 we had two jacks, one for phone and one for fax but on our new vista 390 there is only one jack. How do we connect our fax machine?

Vista 390-350 - Go through the options menu on your telephone and select the Clear Msg Wtg Light option.

You have no new messages waiting, but your phone says you

Hello,

If your fax does not ring when you call the number then it is not properly connected to the phone line.
Try checking the connections on the fax and to the wall jack; make sure the phone cable is connected to the correct jack on the fax machine.

If this is all good and still no ringing, then you should try another telephone cable or try connecting the fax to another phone jack. The modems and jacks on fax machines rarely break down but if you have tried different wall jacks and different phone cables then you can finally assume that the fax machine is broken.

Thanks,

Pat

You are NOT a ding dong!

These plugs can be confusing. If you are just going to use the machine to fax, then plug your phone line into the jack on the fax machine that looks like a wall jack and connect the other end to the wall jack on the wall. This is also called the "line" jack.

If you want to use a phone with the fax machine (if it isn't already equipped) then plug the jack in as described above and plug a phone into the jack that looks like a phone. Test for a dial tone.

The remaining jack applies if you want to connect your PC modem through the fax machine. Your PC (assuming you have one) may or may not have a modem.

ALL fax machines need an ANALOG phone line to work reliably. DSL is DIGITAL.

I had this exact same problem. First to thing to check is that all other equipment is functioning; it is possible that the receiver on a fax machine has been knocked off its cradle.
Also the wires at your jack should be tested.

It was intermittent. It took a few years, but we finally connected the fact that this only happened after there had been considerable rainfall outside. (... I know!) The Bell repairman was able to determine from outside that the problem was not inside; he had me disconnect each and every piece of equipment and he checked the strength of the signal after each one was removed.

Then he told us the truth; our line was strung up as a 'temporary' line back in 1985!! Bell was replacing trunk lines on city streets to improve a decaying infrastructure and would have replaced all temporary and fraying wires as each street was upgraded. But - according to the repairman who has been with Bell for decades - Bell stopped the upgrade projects in favour of putting the funds into competing with Rogers and the internet. Their philosophy since then has been to make temporary repairs to provide a phone connection no matter how bad, and regardless of how many times they have to make service calls. There are literally tens of thousands of customers who are receiving bad service out there, because a) their main line has been 'temporarily' spliced into a neighbour's existing line, even tho' they all pay full service rates!, and .... b) thousands of street-long trunk lines have frays in them that short out in the rain, scrambling service for everyone along that line, to some degree, but there is currently no one working on system upgrades. There would have to be literally scores of complaints along a particular street for Bell to even think of upgrading the trunkline.

As soon as we had a permanent phone line installed, the 'extension in use' problem stopped.

So please have the outside wires checked out and ask the repairman questions about the condition of the actual lines.

Typically, a fax machine is connected directly to a telephone wall jack with a known working connection. Try plugging the fax machine directly into a wall jack first and pick up the handset on the fax machine if it has one. You should get a dial tone. Then try to fax something to someone you know.

The machine can also usually be routed through the modem in a computer by connecting the "line" cord on the modem to the wall jack and plugging the fax machine into the the "phone" jack on the modem. You may need to install the software that came with the fax machine to get this to work.

If you have no dial tone, check the wall jack with a known to be working single line phone. If there is a dial tone, it's something to do with fax machine, the computer modem or the connections.

Some fax machines can take advantage of internet faxing through a cable modem or DSL connection. Check your manual for the options available.

Two options:

1) Pick up a phone line splitter (Radio Shack or just about any other retailer has them) that has a plug on one side and two jacks on the other. Plug this into the phone jack where the line to your computer is connected. Plug the cord to the computer back into one jack on the splitter and plug the line to the fax machine into the other jack. (If it will physically fit into the space on the back of the computer, you can just plug the splitter into the modem connector, plug the line cord into one jack and the fax cord into the other.)

2) (Useful if the phone jack is behind furniture or just hard to get at.) Get a phone line splitter with all jacks (two on one side, on on the other). Unplug the line cord from the computer and plug it into the single jack on one side of the splitter. Then run a new line cord from one of the two jacks on the other side back to your computer. Plug the cord to the fax machine into the other jack.

you have a crossed phone line in the wirering coming out of the phone jack at the wall

Remove the connection and once again try to re connect the lines between the copier and phone line . You might have some connection . Just give a try .


If this doesnot work . I will let you know how to proceed further .

Not sure what the problem is exactly. You say that your line is good and you successfully sent a fax using the machine but then you said you can't receive or send...apparently using the phone jack you have available for your machine. It should work using any phone jack you have available in your place.

HP.com has a web page that contains a wide variety of fax troubleshooting steps that may help you. Sorry I can't be more specific, but without knowing more about the problem, this is my best suggestion:

Troubleshooting Fax Issues

Post back your results and good luck.