Are Fax Machines still useful? Part One.
Of course they are. While fax machine usage has dropped significantly in this email age, businesses still can’t let them go.
Why?
-Ease of use. It’s still the easiest way to get a copy of a document from here to there.
-Reliability. When’s the last time you had a fax problem?
-Urgency. They deliver a printed document in just seconds.
-Legality. Most states accept a fax copy as a legal document. Most don’t accept a normal email.
Accepting this, the next question is, how can I save money on these machines I need?
-Step one: Get rid of the machines you don’t need. Fax machines were all over the office 10 years ago. Identify the few you still use and get rid of the rest.
Many were actually rented from the dealer. More were purchased. You should try to cancel the rentals immediately. The dealer will try to offer a buyout price but if you don’t use them, they have no value.
Donate or trash the machines you own. Before you do, check to see if the toner or ink cartridge has any life left. If you are keeping the same model, saving and using these cartridges can save you money.
Once you get the fax count down to a useful level, check your phone bill. If you have a digital PBX or switchboard, many of these still required an analog line for the fax. That is a plain old voice line. You still pay for that every month. You may have been paying for phone lines for years that have never been used.
Finally, check your maintenance bills from your fax dealer. You should cancel the maintenance contract on machines you get rid of but also check to see that you’re not being billed for machines that you took out of service long ago. If you don’t tell the dealer they don’t know.
Watch this space for Part Two – more money saving tips for your office – coming soon.