Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? Does the box pick
> up the line, waits for a few seconds, and ...
> -- if it gets a FAX tone, it will direct the call to the fax plug
> -- if it gets nothing, it will forward it to the phone plug?
You got it.
But if it's a voice call, will users just get silence for several
> seconds, or does the box simultaneously listens to the incoming call
> to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case
> it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing?
Depending on the box it might play a fake ring tone, or it might start the answering machine message. Either way, it's pretty putrid.
My suggestion is to order distinctive ringing, a second number that rings on the same line with a different pattern. Then get a fax machine that understands distinctive ringing (a lot of them do, check the manual) and will only answer if it hears the ring-ring pattern for the second number. That works great, fax and voice have separate numbers and there's no question who's supposed to answer what call.
R's,
John