Do I still receive a fax successfully if I pick up the phone?

Answer 1

if the phone is connected to the fax then no you wont get the fax

Answer 2

NO, you will put a break in the transmission and the receiving fax machine will not be able to read the transmission.

If you pick up a second line just to hear the transmission then you could interfere with it just be picking up the phone, the click would be heard by the machines and it could be interrupted as another signal. The check sums (signal error checker) wouldn't add up and you would get an error message.

This is true of any electronic transmission of the phone lines, and why the machines usually stop transmitting when another open line is detected. Computers have better check sum procedures so they could maintain the link. The signal you broke into would have to be resent. Fax machines and other devices only use one check sum (if any), so any break in the transmission will be seen as an error and the entire transmission will be junked.

Answer 3

Probably not. Fax technology relies on audio signals, like pre-DSL modems. Picking up the phone would allow background noise in that would interfere with the fax signal, and cause problems with the received page.