Set up fax on same line as phone answering machine: Poor doc or default settings

[ca10392]

HP 6950 *can* be configured to answer fax calls and let non-fax calls go answering machine.  I imagine that this is the situation for many home users, but the default config prevents it, and the installation wizard doesn't ask the right questions to help the user set up properly. 

IAfter much frustration and configs that didn't work, I stumbled on the solution at: 
https://support.hp.com/lt-en/product/hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-m477-series/7326560/document/c0329590..., "Set the number of rings-to-answer"

The default "Distinctive Ring" setting is 3 rings, which is approp...

[banhien]

@ca10392

Please try the following instructions to setup fax and phone (with answering machine) on one phone line

             http://smallbusiness.chron.com/phone-fax-modem-share-same-line-57618.html

Regards.

[ca10392]

A phone splitter might work.  And if this doc came up in any of the internet searches that I did, it might be a viable solution.
I don't think that a user in my situation should have to depend on a kind and informed forum responder to enable me to use the product.  That's just poor user experience design. And that solution requires more hardware.  (I assume that my situation is typical).
A solution that requires no additional hardware is to set the fax rings-to-answer value (6 is typical) greater than the answering machine rings-to-answer value (4 is typical).  The default rings-to-answer value for the fax is 6 rings, and would work wiith a typical answering machine *if* the distinct ring value were set to "single ring".  However, the default distinct ring value for my printer/fax is "3 rings".
I believe that a few tweaks to the setup wizard with consideration for a "typical" home user would make the product usable for many customers.