TOOLS TO TEST A FAX LINE

[n25an]

Ok... I had an issue today with faxing...
I installed a fax card in a km 4035... I tried sending 1 page fax... It worked... I tried recieving a 1 page fax it worked... I then tried sending a longer fax... It died...

So i switched out the fax card... I went through the whole routine from before and everything worked... I then send a 76 page fax and it worked... Customer send a 40 page fax and it worked...

The next day customer was unable to send faxes...
If two fax cards give same error then its not fax card...
Eventually after multiple tests i was able to get the fax to send a fax but it was interupted with an error code... I asked kyocera about the error code... And they told me it was a bad line...

I did not believe this was the case because the customer has point of sale equipment connected on the line and this equipment worked perfectly... Processing visa and master cards...

I checked it with a phone line... But no static... It was clear... No static...

I know it is a phone line issue...

I am wondering if there is a tool that i can purchase or recommend to my employer that can detect phone line faults as they relate to fax machines...

Any help would be appreciated...

[n25an]

Would a tool like elanko telephone analyzer kit work for this situation... or is there something better for this kind of situation...???

[hekotez]

Hold on... is the POS in the same telephone line as the fax?
Does the client have/had any other fax machine on that line along with the POS?

[blackcat4866]

Hold on... is the POS in the same telephone line as the fax?
Does the client have/had any other fax machine on that line along with the POS?

Like hekotez is inferring, POS equipment and facsimile have two things in common.
1) Possibly the same phone line.
2) They are stupid machines. They do not check to see if the line is available. Like the obnoxious friend at a party, he just blurts out whatever he wants to say, whenever he wants, right over anybody else that happens to be talking at the time.

In that case when the line is in use and a second device tries to send, both transactions fail. The only solution is to have each device on its own dedicated line. =^..^=

[hekotez]

Couldnt put it any better blackcat ^^

If your in a pinch about it, i can only suggest a "compromise" (well... does that fax card got a pass over connection for a phone?)
If it does... phone line comes out the wall to the fax (and nowhere else) a line comes out the phone jack of the fax... and goes to the pos.
Whenever the fax is working... the pos will not have phone line... when the pos is working and midway you try to fax... machine will detect a busy line and wait.
Only either one works... tho never both at same time...
It is not and ideal solution i know... but you have no other way really.

[n25an]

ok... first off... here is the setup... phone line to copier... then another line from copier to pos...
copier does not work when pos works and pos does not work when copier works... neither conflicts with each other...

the issue I am having is just straight poor line quality for fax... but great line quality for pos...

possible reason... pos... only active for 15 to 20 seconds tops... while the copier is faxing an 85 to 105 page document for 5 to 10 minutes...

my logic... the phone line quality just overwhelms any extensive traffic...

the reason for this thought is that a short fax of 3 to 4 pages works fine...

[n25an]

and just to reiterate... nobody is trying to use the pos when the fax is working... and no one is trying to use the fax when the pos is working... the client is that intelligent... I have met some doozies... but this client is not one of them...

[KenB]

Are you sure that this is a "normal" POTS line, and not possibly an analog card in an otherwise digital switch?

I just had this happen a few weeks ago with a Ricoh MFP; it could send all day long (normally less than 5 pages), but couldn't even receive a single page.

I spend a total of about two hours on the phone with tech support, running various tests and changing a number of settings. I even had my lead tech change out the fax board with a brand new one - no banana.

Turned out that the customer had a card in their switch (brand name available upon request) that, even according to the supplier, was downright terrible to send an receive faxes with. This card was there to sidestep the cost of a normal phone line for the fax.

The customer has since added a normal POTS line, and joy has returned to Mudville.

[n25an]

I found some tools online that can turn the internal modem on my laptop into a phone line tester... I am checking it out now.... As soon as i run some test... I will post

[n25an]

found a free modem test tool by passmark
not sure how much benefit that will be...
found a modem noise killer
not sure if this will be of any use on todays systems
found some info on line noise
really not sure if its useful...

after doing some thinking about the matter...
I decided maybe the best way is the simple way...

Testing by elimination... Not by data...

if I cannot test the phone line... then test the fax...
so I made sure the fax in my laptop works... and I will use that as my standard...

If met again with a wierd fax situation... I know my laptop fax works...
so if I can send a long fax or receive a long fax on my laptop fax... then the problem is the fax that I am investigating...

laptop fax is good... line is good... fax to investigate bad

if I reproduce the same issue with my laptop fax that is ocurring on the offending machine... then the issue is the line...

laptop fax is good... fax to investigate good... line is bad...