reassuring to know that the proper 

 signature was obtained. 



Over the long haul , a fabc machine can 

 save you money since all you pay for 

 is the initial cost of the fax ($500- 

 $800 for a mid -priced model), and the 

 cost of a phone call (usually compa- 

 rable to the cost of postage). This is 

 particularly true if you fax when 

 phone rates are low, or if you cur- 

 rently tend to use express or over- 

 night mail services. 



Fax machines aimed at small busi- 

 nesses and the home office are the 

 fastest growing segment of the in- 

 dustry. Fax machines come in three 

 sizes: portable, home office and com- 

 mercial models. Because of the stiff 

 competition among manufacturers, 

 prices for all three have come down 

 dramatically in the last few years. 

 In fact, Paul Allan of Sharp's Per- 

 sonal Home Office Electronics Divi- 

 sion predicts that a bare bones fax 

 machine will be available at Sears for 

 $300 in less than three years. For 

 most businesses a home office fax 

 machine is perfectly adequate. Prices 

 will vary considerably, depending on 

 model features. Only large corpora- 

 tions with a high volume need to 

 consider a commercial machine. Por- 

 tables make sense only if you travel 

 a lot and need to transmit documents 

 to your office. 



Here are a few things you need to 

 know as you enter the fax market- 

 place. There are more than 30 

 brands and probably more than 400 

 models on the market. Frequently, 

 companies don't manufacture their 

 own machines, but buy them from 

 other manufacturers, put their own 

 label on them, and then sell the 

 equipment under their name. Not 

 only is it difficult to determine who 

 really manufactured the produce, 

 but it's also confusing to try and fig- 

 ure out just how much you should 

 pay for it. For the great majority of 

 the fax brands, the list price is prac- 

 tically meaningless. It's the discount 

 or "street" price of a particular unit 

 that you reallly want to know about. 

 Machines are commonly available at 

 30% to 50% -I- off 



Where do you find these super dis- 

 counts? Fax machines are typically 

 purchased from four types of outlets: 

 direct sales, traditional office equip- 

 ment dealers, consumer electronic 

 store retailers, and discount/mail or- 

 der outlets. The largest discounts 



can be found at the last two. The 

 consumer electronics retailer sells 

 smaller electronic products for the 

 home such as calculators, VCRs, 

 home-office products and similar 

 items. These stores normally stock 

 the low-end faxes, and often discount 

 up to 40%, and sometimes even more. 



Discount/mail order firms are usual- 

 ly located in major cities. They obtain 

 huge quantities of stock, and sell at 

 rock-bottom prices. Here you'll find 

 discounts of 50% or even more. Most 

 of these firms get their business by 

 advertising in office equipment and 

 computer magazines, and in national 

 newspapers. It's fortunate that fax 

 machines have a good maintenance 

 and service record since you won't 

 get personal attention ft-om this kind 

 of outlet. 



In addition, you can find fax ma- 

 chines more and more at popular out- 

 lets like department and discount 

 stores. 



Before you decide to buy the cheap- 

 est available fax consider the added 

 conveniences on a mid-priced ma- 

 chine. The features on these ma- 

 chines make sending and receiving 

 more convenient. 



Telephone handset. With an at- 

 tached phone you can talk to the 

 sender or recipient of a fax to make 

 sure it got where it was supposed to 

 go. You can also use the phone be- 

 tween transmi ssions. Answeri ng ma- 

 chines, intercoms and speakerphones 

 have been tacked onto many models 

 as well. 



Document feeder. This automati- 

 cally sends multiple-page docu- 

 ments. Racks hold your outgoing 

 pages on one side and catch them on 

 the other side after they have been 

 sent. Skip this feature, and you'll re- 

 gret it every time you have to stand 

 by the machine to feed in sheets. 



Automatic paper cutter. Most fax 

 machines use thermal paper that 

 comes in rolls, so the automatic paper 

 cutter is neater and faster than scis- 

 sors. Cutters slice after the con- 

 firmation sheet (which tells you who 

 is sending to whom) and between 

 sheets. 



Automatic dialing and redialing. 



The former is the familiar one or two- 

 diget code you can punch into your 

 phone to save having to dial the 

 whole number. Redialing lets you try 



and try again to reach a fax machine 

 — useful when you don't have the 

 time to stand around waiting to get 

 through. 



Fax/tel switch. With such a feature 

 your machine will automatically rec- 

 ognize whether an incoming call is 

 from another person or a fax ma- 

 chine. If the call is from a fax, the 

 machine goes into action; if it's from 

 an ordinary human being, it lets your 

 phone ring. 



Delayed send. This handy feature 

 allows you to place a document in 

 the fax machine, but program it to 

 sent the document later. The logic 

 behind this is that you can cut down 

 on phone costs by sending at night 

 when the rates are low. 



Two resources useful for comparing 

 brands,modelsfeaturesandcostsare: 



1. The Fax Guide, put out by What to 

 Buy for Business, 350 Theodore 

 Fremd Avenue, Rye, NY, 10580- 

 9982 (May 1990) 



2. Home and Office Fax Buyer's 

 Guide, put out in magazine form in 

 1990 by Harris Publication, Inc., 

 1115 Broadway, New Your, NY, 

 10010. 



The former I found in a public li- 

 brary, the latter on a newsstand. 



One last point: once you have your 

 fax number, guard it carefully. If you 

 don't, you will be subject to lots of 

 junk fax. Don't put your fax number 

 on your stationary or business cards, 

 and don't give your number to one of 

 the gi'owing number of fax director- 

 ies which list thousands of compa- 

 nies. If you do, you will be the victim 

 of public relations firms, ad cam- 

 paigns and restaurants advertising 

 take-out menus. And every time your 

 fax answers, you pay for the paper to 

 take the call. 



Margaret J. Pratt is Extension 

 Educator, Agriculture, for 

 Hillsborough County Extension. 

 For further information, call 

 Margaret at (603) 673-2510. » 



February/March 1991 15 



