Appendix a, Setting up telephone services, Distinctive ring – Brother MFC-7820N User Manual
Page 118: What does brother’s ‘distinctive ring’ do, Do you have voice mail
 
A - 1
A
Setting up telephone 
services
Your MFC supports the Distinctive Ring and 
Caller ID subscriber telephone services that 
some telephone companies offer.
Note
■
If you have Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Call 
Waiting/Caller ID, RingMaster, an 
answering service, an alarm system or 
other custom features on your telephone 
line, it may affect the way your MFC 
works. (See Custom features on page 
1-13 and Custom features on a single line. 
on page 11-12.)
■
If you have Voice Mail on your phone line, 
please read the following carefully.
Distinctive Ring
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?
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 MFC.
Note
Please call your telephone company for 
availability and rates.
What does Brother’s ‘Distinctive Ring’ 
do?
The Brother MFC has a Distinctive Ring 
feature that allows you to use your MFC 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 MFC to work with it.
Do you have Voice Mail?
If you have Voice Mail on the phone line that 
you will install your new MFC on, there is a 
strong possibility that Voice Mail and the MFC 
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 MFC 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 on next page to 
‘register’ the new Distinctive Ring pattern 
they give you. This is so your MFC 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.
Appendix A