Faster and Better

Technology Innovations Making Office Equipment, Phone Systems More Efficient

 by Dave Brumbaugh

 

We’ve come a long way from manual typewriters and adding machines.

Just as technological improvements made computers smaller, faster and better for about the same cost or less, a similar trend is taking place among office equipment and phone systems for businesses.

Product improvements, such as those in printer/copiers, enable businesses to reduce their current expenses if they’re using an older machine, according to Del VandeKerk, president of Office Systems Northwest in Bellingham. With such good news to offer clients, he says “2001 was a banner year for us” despite the economic slowdown and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Jim Olson of Blackburn Office Equipment says his business also has benefited from the needs of others to increase their efficiency and productivity.

“Business has been really good,” he notes.

VandeKerk says the current trend in printer/copiers is the increasingly affordability of color, as well as the demand for color in various documents. Many machines now can produce 15-25 color copies per minute at a cost per page of less than half the cost associated with inkjet color printers. Numerous manufacturers are competing for market share in the color copier/printer sector, which also bodes well for customers.

“The cost is coming down and features are coming up,” VandeKerk remarks.

Today’s copier/printers also are meant to be linked to computer networks. They can scan images and create TIF, PDF and, if text only, Word files. They also can transmit by e-mail and fax. Olson say a Sharp machine stores 500 preset accounts that can be divided into various groups. For example, a flier can be e-mailed to all clients who prefer to prefer to receive information in that manner and at the same time faxed to other customers.

The computer compatability also enables a printer/copier to notify an office manager by e-mail when it needs toner or signal the retailer when a service problem arises.

An example of the increasing versatility of printer/copiers is their use in printing invoice forms as needed. Businesses then don’t have to order a large number of pre-printed forms with the danger that changes may make many of the forms outdated.

 

Not paperless yet

Despite the growth of computer usage and e-mails, fax machines and other products with fax capability are still in demand.

“Fax is firmly integrated into our business processes,” says Virginia Renz Higgins, a consultant with the market research firm of CAP Ventures. “While e-mail has replaced fax in some instances, the lack of security and confirmation with e-mail has kept fax alive in many applications.”

VandeKerk agrees that demand for fax machines remains high. “There’s still a lot of hard copy that needs to be scanned and sent,” he states.

“It’s going to be a lot of years before faxing goes away,” adds Olson.

 

Computer telephony

A trend in the last several years has been the increasing popularity of computer telephony systems. These PC-based systems allow an information technology (IT) manager to control and adjust a phone system without having to go through a provider of traditional digital-key telephone systems. Voice-mail boxes, recorded messages and other functions can be handled by the business itself.

Jim Wagner, owner of Aerocorp Comtel in Bellingham, says computer telephony allows businesses ranging from home offices to call centers to use the power of computers to meet their telecommunication needs. For example, a person who travels much can use caller ID and forward a call or prompt a page when calls from specific phone numbers are received at the office. Also using caller ID, a salesperson can have information about a client pop up on a computer screen just a moment before actually answering a call from that client. Businesses also can easily produce a daily log of all phone calls made. A telephone message can be recorded and then send as an e-mail attachment.

Computer telephony has attracted the attention of major providers of traditional telecommunication systems. Toshiba systems, carried locally by Baron Telecommunications of Bellingham, introduced its first PC-based telephone system in August 2000 to complement its line of traditional digital-key telephone systems. However, it isn’t discarding the latter.

“There are a lot of companies who want a tried-and-true traditional phone system with years of proven reliability behind it,” says Paul Wexler, executive vice president of Toshiba American Information Systems. “A PC-based phone system isn’t for everybody.”

 

Listening and educating

While most people know what type and size of car they want when they go into a dealership, far fewer are familiar with the array of office equipment available. Both VandeKerk and Olson say it’s important for people in office equipment sales to learn what a customer’s business needs are before offering products.

“The better you know the customer and the customer knows you, the better the relationship works,” relates Olson.

Once the needs are known, it then takes a knowledgeable salesperson to educate clients about the features available in the rapidly changing world of office equipment.

“We’re still teaching what these products can do,” VandeKerk says.