| 摘要 |
<p>A facsimile machine (10) is provided with only two receive modes: "Auto Answer" and "Manual". In the Auto Answer mode, the device will automatically receive incoming facsimiles and in the Manual mode it will not. The Auto Answer mode allows the user to automatically receive facsimile calls on either a dedicated facsimile line or a line (16) shared with any other receiving device such as a telephone (12) or answering machine (14). Since several receive modes have been collapsed into a single mode that may be used for all configurations, the user simply controls the behavior he desires by turning (38) Auto Answer mode ON or OFF (i.e., Auto Answer mode must be ON for the facsimile to eavesdrop, or to answer the call when nothing else answers), with Auto Answer OFF being equivalent to Manual mode ON, and vice versa. In Auto Answer mode, "eavesdropping" for a CNG sequence is enabled (FIG 4) for all incoming calls answered by another device (12, 14), and "silent detection" is enabled for at least those devices (14) which are connected in series with ("downstream" from) the facsimile. In order to support users who are accustomed to change the receive mode setting each time they receive a facsimile, the facsimile device (10) is preferably provided with a dedicated button (38) on the front panel (18) that requires only a single press to switch the device between Auto Answer mode and to Manual mode and an LED (40) or other indicator device to alert the user when the unit is set to Auto Answer mode. <IMAGE></p> |
