I have a VFP form that faxes a memo field. The form works, but here's what I need to know. I am having a problem with timeout before the fax machine finishes answering the call from the fax modem.

When I had a 33.6K fax modem and faxed a page I would connect and send the page without a hitch, but after I installed a 56K fax modem, it would take up to 7 redials or attempts to connect to the target fax machine before the page was received.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might cause a fax machine not to answer on the first dialing attempt? And you must also know that the fax machine is not busy and the line is working because eventually after multiple retries, the fax modem connects and the fax machine receives the faxed page from the fax modem.

I tried changing timeout settings in both Windows 98 and the VFP Fax Plus Active X control settings for speed and timeout, but no help. I also found that I could add commas after the phone number to be dialed and that might help, but it didn't.

What else can cause a fax modem not to send to a fax machine? The fax machine says, "Answering" after the ringing stops after every single attempt, but the receiving process doesn't happen until the 7th dialing attempt.

Thanks for your ideas. I think it's a speed and/or timeout problem.