When you answer the phone, if you hear a beep every 3 seconds or just silence, you are receiving a fax. Don't panic or hang up your phone. Today's Panasonic fax machines have remote activation. Pressing the fax activation code (usually *9 or *#9) and then hanging up will make the fax machine receive the incoming fax. If you answered the phone using the fax machine handset simply press "start." When you're not at home, your Panasonic fax will automatically receive faxes or route phone calls to an answering machine, as long as the receive mode is set correctly.