Just The Fax? Purchasing a fax machine is just the beginning of its cost to you.
You own a fax machine and probably thought carefully about howmuch you spent when you bought it, but do you ever think about howmuch each transmission costs? The price tag on the machine itselfis only about 14 percent of what you'll spend to operate it,says Deborah Sauer, vice president of marketing with Pitney BowesOffice Systems in Trumbull, Connecticut. Here's how to keepother costs down:
Understand your fax traffic. How heavy is your volume? Isit incoming or outgoing? Local or long distance?
Consider your modem speed. The faster the modem, thefaster the transmissions, meaning lower telephone costs.
Look at your printing system. Tony Rogerson, facsimilesales manager with Les Olson Co., a Salt Lake City office equipmentdealer, says laser printing has the lowest per-copy cost, ink jetis next, and thermal transfer (film) is the most expensive.
Consider designating a key operator. Labor is the biggestfax operating cost you pay, says Sauer. It doesn't make sensefor senior managers to be spending their time hovering over the faxmachine. Assign the task of sending outgoing faxes and distributingincoming ones to a single person.
Demand training-and train your employees. Thecompany that sold you the machine should provide training on allits time- and money-saving features. You, in turn, should remindemployees to use those features. Get a free poster with efficiencytips from Pitney Bowes by faxing your company name and address to(800) 446-0760.
