Imaging Devices – What Do I Need To Do The Job?        

 Imaging devices are a necessary tool in the everyday business operation. When planning an operating budget they can be a drain on the cash flow of your business if you make the wrong decision. The following questions are commonly asked. Here are some helpful hints.

 Question: I have seen these all-in-one machines (copier, fax, scanner, printer) and they seem to be priced very cheap when you consider all that they do. Are they right for me?

 Answer: For the small 1-man business that doesn’t do much printing or imaging… maybe. There are many different machines out there that say they can do everything. You buy them at a reasonable price but don’t do the calculations as to what the actual cost per printed page is. This is the most important thing to figure out because once you purchase the machine you have to pay for the supplies needed to keep it running such as ink jet or toner cartridges. Many companies sell you the machine cheap and really stick it to you on the supplies. This usually equates to about $.05 per page. With a good “full maintenance contract” on a stand alone copier or laser printer the price per printed page is usually less than $.025 per page. So as you can see it is much cheaper to operate.

 Question: What are some of the other negatives when buying an all-in-one machines (copier, fax, scanner, printer) ?

 Answer: When you have an all-in-one machines (copier, fax, scanner, printer) if you have one component go down then nothing works and you’re out of business. In a busy office it can be very devastating. Unless you are a very small 1-man office then it makes much more sense to have separate components.

This FYI is brought to you courtesy of CityBizDirectory.