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Polling: A company with a central office that needs to access reports from each of its branch offices may find this feature useful. Documents are stored in memory or placed in the automatic document feeder at each of the branch offices. The central office fax then dials each location and receives their transmissions, eliminating the possibility of these units calling your machine and getting a busy signal. Polling would be a frill for all but a few small companies.
Strategic shopping
If you've already purchased office equipment from an office products dealer, you may want to start there, especially if you are shopping for a mid- or high-volume machine and service is a priority. Most office equipment dealers carry a wide selection of one vendor's machines. If all you need is a basic, low-end machine, try the discounters.
As with most office equipment, list prices for fax machines tend to be fictional. Russ Jacketti, vice-president of sales at WJS Enterprises, a copier and fax dealer in Metairie, La., says a bit of haggling with a dealer can get most buyers a break of 20% to 25% off list price. If you buy at an office or electronic superstore, you will pay less, but your choices will probably be narrowed to low-end machines. You'll probably pay the least through a warehouse club. Here discounts can be as much as 50%, but choices may be limited and sales support nonexistent. Warehouse clubs often sell discontinued models; while prices are low, check that replacement parts will be available for the next three to five years.
How much will it cost to operate the machine? If you use a dedicated telephone line rather than sharing the line with your telephone, you will pay monthly line charges plus the cost of each fax call. Telephone and fax calls cost the same, and should you share a line, the phone bill will not distinguish between the two. Expect to pay at least 20¢ to 30¢ a page for a long-distance transmission. In addition, you'll pay 5¢ to 7¢ a page for thermal paper and 3¢ a page for plain paper.
Now that fax has penetrated nearly every company with 100 or more employees and is rapidly becoming common in smaller businesses, those without it are missing out on a valuable tool. The essence of business is communication and facsimile is the new medium for delivering the message. By avoiding a shortsighted approach when buying, you're more likely to get a machine that delivers now and in the future.
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Scott W. Cullen is an associate editor of The Office , in Stamford, Conn.
SMART TIP . . .
Don't try to save money by skimping on automatic paper cutters and feeders, speed dialing, and redial. Without these, using the fax will be so time-consuming the machine will rival the water cooler as a gathering place.
(continued) Batching
If you send documents throughout the day to the same location, you'll accumulate multiple phone charges. Batching enables you to store documents in memory and then send them all at once.
Confidential reception
If your accountant sends a sensitive memo by fax, anybody who passes by the fax machine can read it. But this feature stores documents in memory until someone with a password logs on.
Delayed transmission
You can send documents at 11:00 p.m., after phone rates go down. Delayed transmission enables you to load the fax machine and program it for transmission later.
Memory
Advanced fax machines can store documents. Models with receive-only memory store incoming documents if your machine runs out of paper. Those with programmable memory perform sophisticated tasks such as broadcasting and delayed transmission.
Broadcasting
Do you send the same document to numerous branch offices? Instead of feeding the document into the machine each time, broadcasting enables you to load it once and let the machine do the rest.
Gray scales
Great reproduction of photos and graphics depends in large part on the number of shades of gray, or gray scales, that a fax machine is capable of printing. More gray scales produce greater contrast in the documents you receive. Most fax machines with this feature provide 8, 16, 32, or 64 shades of gray.
Speed dial and redial
The speed dial feature allows you to program a frequently called number into memory and subsequently dial it by punching just one or two digits. Redial enables the fax machine to automatically call a number again if it encounters a busy signal.
Automatic document feeder
If your employees have a lot of time on their hands, they can stand by the fax machine for 10 minutes feeding in long documents one page at a time. Or...you can buy an automatic document feeder.
Automatic paper cutter
When documents are received, employees can snip away with scissors at the continuous roll of paper that emerges. Or...you can buy an automatic paper cutter.
Paper roll
Most fax machines print documents on thermal paper, a medium universally disliked by all who make its acquaintance. Thermal paper curls, is difficult to write on, and fades. A new generation of more expensive machines uses plain paper; as the price declines over the next few years, plain- paper faxes are sure to dominate the market.
FAX PRICES AND FEATURES
Typical price range* Features
Begin at $500 Built-in handset, redial, small document feeder.
$700 to $1,200 10-p. document feeder; 7-15-p. memory; auto paper cutter; 98-ft. paper roll; speed-dialing; autofax/tel switch;16 gray scales; super-fine mode.
