Distinctive ring, What does brother’s ‘distinctive ring’ do, Do you have voice mail – Brother MFC-8660DN User Manual
Page 61: Before you choose the ring pattern to register, 7distinctive ring
 
Phone services and external devices
47
7
Distinctive Ring
7
Brother uses the term ‘Distinctive Ring’ but 
different telephone companies have other 
names for this service such as SmartRing, 
RingMaster, Teen-Ring, Indent-a-Call or 
Indent-a-Ring.
What does your telephone company’s 
‘Distinctive Ring’ do?
7
Your telephone company’s Distinctive Ring 
service allows you to have more than one 
number on the same phone line. If you need 
more than one phone number, it is 
cheaper than paying for an extra line. Each 
phone number has its own distinctive ring 
pattern, so you will know which phone 
number is ringing. This is one way you can 
have a separate phone number for your 
machine.
Note
Please call your telephone company for 
availability and rates.
What does Brother’s ‘Distinctive Ring’ 
do?
7
The Brother machine has a Distinctive Ring 
feature that allows you to use your machine to 
take full advantage of the telephone 
company’s Distinctive Ring service. The new 
phone number on your line can just receive 
faxes.
Note
You must pay for your telephone 
company’s Distinctive Ring service before 
you program the machine to work with it.
Do you have Voice Mail?
7
If you have Voice Mail on the phone line that 
you will install your new machine on, there is 
a strong possibility that Voice Mail and the 
machine will conflict with each other while 
receiving incoming calls. However, the 
Distinctive Ring feature allows you to use 
more than one number on your line, so 
both Voice Mail and the machine can work 
together without any problems. If each one 
has a separate phone number, neither will 
interfere with the other’s operations.
If you decide to get the Distinctive Ring 
service from the telephone company, you will 
need to follow the directions below to 
‘register’ the new Distinctive Ring pattern 
they give you. This is so your machine can 
recognize its incoming calls.
Note
You can change or cancel the Distinctive 
Ring pattern at any time. You can switch it 
off temporarily, and turn it back on later. 
When you get a new fax number, make 
sure you reset this feature.
Before you choose the ring pattern to 
register
7
You can only register one Distinctive Ring 
pattern with the machine. Some ring patterns 
cannot be registered. The ring patterns below 
are supported by your Brother machine. 
Register the one your telephone company 
gives you.
Ring 
Pattern
Rings
1
long-long
2
short-long-short
3
short-short-long
4
very long 
(normal pattern)