Copier Fax Machines

In our age of multitasking we have machines now that are capable of carrying out many tasks that were once delegated to individual pieces of office equipment. The word “multitasking” itself originates from the first computer operating system that was able to run more than one program at once. In business offices of just a few years ago there would be a piece of equipment for each task. Now there are single machines that can do so many things that office workers have a hard time making the transition to utilizing all of the features of the multipurpose multitasking capable equipment.

An office used to have a copy machine and a fax machine along with a host of other pieces of equipment of obvious and sometimes dubious worth. Then came along the combined fax copier machines. The features of both pieces of equipment were combined into one unit, and as technology advanced, the machines got smaller. Copy machines still remain relatively large when comparing them to other equipment that has reduced in size, but copy machines retain complex moving parts to manipulate the paper that is run through them.

Some high-end copy machines can accept documents with many pages up to and including book length documents. Those types of machines are at the leading edge of technology. They can actually format a manuscript retrieved from a computer file at one end of the machine, and spit out a bound paperback at the other end which includes a full-color printed paperback cover. Of course most offices don’t need a machine with that much capability.

The combination units of copier fax machines are prevalent in business and home offices everywhere. There are units intended for home use that are not going to be burdened with high volume copying or faxing, and those units are available at consumer prices that are far below the cost of a business class machine. A business class fax copier machine is typically designed with internal parts and features intended for higher volume production.

Still, in offices all over the world there are office workers who will make copies at the copier fax machine only to go ahead and take those copies and fax them from the old stand-alone fax machine that is still tucked away somewhere in the office. Old habits are hard to break, but having a good trainer who is an employee of the business can usually get others to use the abundant features found on the new combination units.

New copier fax machines can copy both sides, staple together the output of a several page document, copy in full vivid color, fax the document to a single fax destination point or multiple destinations, and even email the document to email lists. Not only are the new machines capable of doing all of this, they can do it automatically without extended operator involvement. Using a stand-alone unit to fax a document that is several pages long, and that was printed on both sides, requires extra work and time from the sender that is not necessary with the new machines.

If there is one of those new fax copier machines in the office, get training on its use or read the manual. They save time and have features that will allow the most complicated document to be copied or faxed with ease after the features of the machine are made known to the user.