Running out of paper may delay reception of documents for hours if no one notices that the machine is down. Paper costs $7 to $12 for a 98-foot roll, $10 to $12 for a 164-foot roll, and $16 to $20 for a 328-foot roll.
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Resolution: The print quality of a document is the result of the machine's resolution. This is determined by the number of dots of ink per inch, or DPI. Resolution usually starts at 98-by-98 dots and increases, at finer resolutions, to 400-by-400 dots. Some machines offer a choice of standard, fine, and superfine resolutions. Standard resolution, which has 200 DPI horizontally and 100 DPI vertically, is suitable for documents that contain only text, but higher resolution (up to 400 DPI in both directions) is necessary to enhance the readability of small print, photos, and drawings. If your company will routinely fax these materials, get a machine capable of superfine resolution.
Keep in mind that compatibility may be a factor. While most machines with standard and fine resolutions are compatible, those with even more advanced settings may work only when communicating with like units.
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Gray scales: If many of the documents you fax include photos and graphics, consider the machine's ability to reproduce shades of gray, also known as halftones. Most units with this feature provide 8, 16, 32, or 64 shades of gray. The greater the number, the more detailed the reproduction.
Gray scale mode can be activated only at the transmitting unit. If your machine has this feature, the receiving unit will produce gray-scale images whether it has the gray-scale feature or not. But if your machine does not have this feature, documents you transmit will print at standard resolution, no matter how advanced the receiving fax is.
If photographs or illustrations play a major role in your business, then you'll need this feature.
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Fax/telephone switch: A machine with a fax/telephone switch detects the type of call and routes it to either your fax unit or your telephone. The switch obviates the need for a dedicated phone line for the fax machine, which could save an installation charge plus $25 or so each month in line charges. But its major drawback is you can't use the telephone while receiving or sending a fax, or vice versa.
This feature is valuable only for home-based businesses, and even then only for those that don't have high phone usage. But you won't pay extra for a fax/tel switch because it is standard on many low-end machines.
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Memory: The ability to store documents represents a major leap in the usefulness of fax machines. Units that can store up to 16 pages can be bought for less than $1,500, carrying about a $200 premium over machines without this feature. High-end machines may have a capacity of 100 pages or more.
Memory machines are usually found in what are known as receive-only and programmable configurations. Systems with receive-only memory store documents if the machine runs out of paper or if you wish to print them out at another time. More expensive are the programmable machines, which enable users to perform such varied tasks as confidential fax reception and delayed transmission, described below.
Most small companies would probably find memory an expensive frill. But if the functions that follow would be valuable to your operations, then buying a machine with memory may be a cost-effective decision.
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Confidential Reception: Incoming faxes containing sensitive information may be seen by anyone with access to the machine -- unless your fax offers confidential reception. These units store incoming documents in memory until someone with a preassigned code or password logs on.
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Delayed Transmission: No one will be in the office to send a fax when telephone rates reach their lowest levels after 11:00 p.m., but a machine with the delayed-transmission feature will do it for you. Just load documents into the automatic document feeder or into memory and set them for transmission at whatever time you'd like. Many vendors admit that this feature is seldom used, but it nonetheless could provide significant savings if used often.
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Broadcasting: This feature is a must for companies that send the same document to multiple locations. Broadcasting works in any of three ways. With sequential broadcasting, a central office can transmit the same document to each of its sales offices or customers across the country from a preprogrammed list, thereby eliminating the need to keep feeding a document into the machine and dialing each office separately. Delayed broadcasting functions are similar, but transmit documents at off-peak times, providing the same benefits as delayed transmission.
Finally, relay broadcasting offers further savings by allowing a central office in, say, Philadelphia to transmit a document to a branch office in Arizona, where it is then retransmitted to other fax machines in that area. In this way the company can take advantage of local phone rates.
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Batching files: Rather than sending separate documents to the same location at different times throughout the day, documents can be stored in a memory file and then transmitted together on one telephone call. Although this may save a small amount of money, it isn't nearly as cost-effective as delayed transmission.
