callers hear fax tone instead of automated attendant

[dlazure]

Hi

I have two installations having this issue.

both are V11 with Patton gateway and CO lines. When you call them 1 time out of 5 you get a fax tone instead of the automated attendant. there is no fax connected to the lines or system.

any ideas?

 

[lneblett]

A copy of the log may help.

While there may not be a wired fax per se, consider the following:

1. That somehow the call is being forwarded to the built-in 3CX fax server usually located at 888
2. That analog adapters have been used and the end-user has plugged a fax or even an all-in-one (AIO) printer in line and then into their phone. The caller only gets the tone when the end-user has turned auto-answer on.
3. That users may be using the forwarding rules and these are somehow pointing to a machine or other modem.

The latter happened to me as the end-user, not really knowing anything about the underlying phone system got a new printer (AIO) and not knowing any better simply hooked the unit up according to the instructions of the printer manufacturer, which of course meant the fax side too.

 

[leejor]

Could this be an alarm system, on one of the PSTN lines, that the caller is reaching?

Many are set to answer if you call, let it ring once or twice, hang up then call back.

 

[dlazure]

The customer did not connect any fax on the system. note that the issue is happening at 2 customer site equiped with the same gateway. What brand of gateway are you using ?

 

[leejor]

If you believe that it is actually a fax machine (and not just a modem), you could call it (after hours), using an actual fax machine to see if it answers and will accept a fax. If set-up correctly, most fax connections will tell you the assigned phone number of the machine you reached.

 

[lneblett]

I use both Patton and Grandstream (and others) and have not experienced this issue. A log showing the instance will be the only way to get an idea of what is happening. At this point it is pure conjecture as it could even be that users have their forwarding rules set-up incorrectly, but I can pretty well assure you that the gateways are not by themselves arbitrarily generating the tones on their own.