Office Fax Machine Features You Won't Want to Do Without

While all office fax machines may seem the same, the difference between a good purchase and a great purchase is in the details.
Cheap fax machines may not always be what a busy office needs.

Here's a rundown on office fax machine features to look for beyond price:

1. User-friendly office fax machines

Not all office fax machines are equally user-friendly. Find one that is. Probably the most often-overlooked detail concerns how faxes are handled. Having to flip the page order of incoming faxes so they can be ordered correctly is a pet peeve of mine. Think about it, do you go to McDonald's and ask for a burger and have to shuffle the bun and the burger in the right order before you can eat it? Thankfully, some fax machines do print incoming faxes face down to avoid the need for the fax shuffle. Also look for well-designed incoming and outgoing fax trays so you are not barraged with a flurry of papers that need to be sorted.

2. Size of the facsimile paper tray

Having an office fax machine with a healthy-sized paper tray is also important. Look for one that doesn't need replenishing more than one to two times a week. Any more than that and you risk having an empty paper tray during the night or on weekends. A facsimile machine equipped with memory to handle those out-of-paper moments is a very useful feature to have as backup and adds little to the overall cost.

3. Consider speed of the business fax machine

If you like saving money, go with a business fax machine that can transmit at faster speeds. I recommend looking for a business fax machine that can transmit at 14,400 bits per second (bps) and that utilizes the Modified Modified Read (MMR) compression standards. Faxes will be sent at least 50 percent more quickly than 9,600 bps fax machines, assuming there is another 14,400 bps fax machine on the receiving end. Offices that send a lot of faxes will appreciate the lower phone bills as well as the increased availability of the fax machine. While there are 33,600 bps business fax machines around, they are not widely available, which means that theoretical speed is rarely attained.

4. Consider the connection method of the multifunctional fax machine

If you're thinking about a multifunctional fax machine, find one that has a universal serial bus (USB) port. Parallel port connections are slow and should be avoided whenever possible. And make sure you find out whether a PC is required to start it up even if you simply buy a multifunctional device as a standalone fax machine. I made that mistake once and had to scramble around to find a Windows-based PC when our office only had Apple Macintoshes at the time.

There is still one fax feature that I have not yet seen, though. Have you ever picked up a phone call and heard the sound of a fax trying to connect through and hung up only to have the fax try again and again? I would love to be able to hit the # button and cancel that incoming fax and send a message back to the faxer that they reached a phone number, not a fax number, and to try dialing again. If you know of a fax that can do that, please let me know.

Quick tips for the office fax machine

• Add color to the office. To distinguish faxes from other papers lying around the office, try printing them on colored paper. Just choose a light color in case you need to make copies.
• Sleepy time. Since most office fax machines sit idle most of the time, look for one that has a sleep mode with low energy requirements.
• Batteries not included. If you buy your office or laser fax machine from a local retail store, make sure you have all the cables and toner necessary to get started. They may not always accompany your fax machine sales.

Canon Fax Machine Sales

Offix is an authorized Canon copier dealer and Canon fax machine equipment supplier.
We carry a wide range of Canon fax machines including:

• Canon printer fax machines;
• Canon copier fax machines;
• Laser fax machines; and
• Copier-fax machine-printer-scanners.

Canon Fax Machine Repair Services

Offix also provides Canon fax machine repair service and service contracts. We provide on-site fax machine repair and troubleshooting with the highest quality of service to large and small business in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC (WDC).

Call (703) 530-1200 or fill out a contact form to schedule an on-site office Fax Machine Repair Service today.

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