Do you ever wonder how a printer imprints your digitised documents to the desired paper? Well the answer lies in the type of printer that you are using! There are various types of printers available in the market from dot matrix, daisy wheel and impact printers to photo printers, ink-jet and laser printers.

The most common ones are probably the ink-jet and laser printers. Each of them uses a different technology. Let’s discuss how these two really do the job for you:

We’ll start with ink-jet printers. Ink-jet printers use a technology in which tiny balls of ink are sprayed directly onto the paper. As the ink is coming in direct contact with the paper, they don’t need any form of cartridge or toner to be attached. The key benefit of this type of printer is that its cost is much less as compared to even a low end laser printer. It takes less space, but prints may not be of high quality.

While laser printers are expensive compared to conventional ink-jet printers, the technology used by these printers is far more advanced than ink-jet printers. This printer works on similar lines to a photocopier where the computer creates the image and etches it by using a laser beam rather than using a mirror and the magic moving bar of light you see whenever you try to photocopy your face;  the result is far better print quality and cost effective in the long run. These printers are beneficial for those who have a large printing need on a day to day basis. Their printing capacity in comparison to ink-Jet printers is far more and they also require fewer re-fills.

A fax machine is usually used to send/receive documents. Before you actually buy a fax machine, determine your need first. For example, work out as to many faxes would you receive/send in a day, and whether most of your fax messages would be incoming or outgoing. For incoming faxes only, you could have a cheaper end fax machine but if you need to send plenty of outgoing faxes, then you will probably be better off with a high end fax machine.

There are various additional features that you should check while selecting a fax machine.  Some of them are below:-

Paper handling capacity- Check whether your machine can handle automatic faxes once the destination is entered. This will help in sending multiple faxes because you won’t have to wait until the last one has gone through before sending another.

Delayed transmission- Try and look for a machine wherein you have an option of delayed transmission. Call rates vary during day and night time, so you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of this feature and sending faxes when the call rates are at their lowest.

Memory- Fax machines today can store faxes in their internal memory. This can be very useful when you need to send the same fax to many recipients or store the same when you run out of paper.

In Built Handset- A conventional telephone that is built in a fax machine helps in using the fax machine as a main telephone, and distinguishes voice calls from fax ones.

Answering Machine- Check to see whether your fax machine has an in built answering machine.

Computer compatibility- Check to see whether the fax machine is compatible with your computer system and operating software so that you can print outgoing and incoming faxes directly from the computer

We are sure that you will be able to buy the ideal fax machine of your choice by keeping the above pointers in mind.

Ever wondered how much electricity we waste on office equipment even on standby mode, which we have become so used to! We don’t even notice how much equipment there is, with the advent of modern day electrical equipment, some of which we don’t even use on a regular basis, but is always turned on like fax machines, printers, photocopiers, scanners, etc.

It is usually seen in offices that even if these machines are not in use they constantly remain switched on and add a significant amount to your office’s electricity bill. For example, a typical desktop usually consumes 100- 145 watts/hr and even more with add on peripherals such as a printer (12watts) or a modem (6 watts). What we don’t realise is even if these equipments are on standby mode, they still consume a lot of power, so to save electricity and move towards a greener future along with savings on your electricity bill we suggest some of the tips below:-

•    Try and keep additional office devices, such as fax machines, printers, scanners and photocopiers turned off while not in use.
•    Put computers on low power mode or switch them off while not in use.
•    Use a power strip to bind and easily access all computer devices at one so that it becomes easy to switch on/ off a specific one.
•    When buying any electronic item look at the power consumption chart and check it is low and efficient on power.

We suggest that you keep some of these pointers in mind and you will reap the monetary benefits for the years to come  and also reduce your carbon footprint

The process of photocopying was invented by Chester Carlson, who worked at the patent office in New York. It is a fairly recent invention as Carlson, after conducting numerous experiments with photoconductivity, developed “electro photography” (or xerography) in 1938 and got it patented in 1942. Although dry electrostatic processes were in existence since the 1770s, Carlson’s technique is known to combine electrostatic printing with photography.

At that time multiple copies could be produced by the help of carbon paper or duplicating machines and more significantly because of the underdeveloped state of Carlson’s invention, he was practically turned down by a number of companies in his efforts to sell it.

A non-profit organisation, the Battelle Memorial Institute took upon itself to improve Carlson’s process in 1944. After a five-year period of rigorous experimentation, Haloid Corporation (manufacturer and seller of photographic paper in New York) offered to obtain a license to upgrade and promote a copying machine using the same technology.

The process got its new name,”Xerography”(derived from Greek words meaning “dry writing”) and the new copier machines were named as “Xerox machines”. In 1948, Haloid Corporation changed its name to Xerox Corporation.

A series of developments followed after the Radio Corporation of America came up with a variation on the process called “Electro fax” where the image is supposed to form directly on the surface of the paper as against “Xerography” where the image gets formed first on a drum and then gets transmitted on the paper. This technique remained in vogue for nearly thirty years before the Savin Corporation in the 1960s developed and marketed a line of liquid-toner copiers.

The first Xerographic copier was launched in 1949, which was named as the Model A. And as Xerox grew successful, photocopying in America came to be generally referred to as “Xeroxing”.

With the advent of new technology photocopiers today have acquired a multipurpose format offering not only copying but also scanning and printing features are offered in a single unit.

With the advent of technology, the printer are no longer limited to just working with computers but can interface with many storage devices like memory cards, pen drives, external hard disks, image capturing devices such as digital cameras and various other storage devices to produce text as well as picture documents for both personal and business needs.

When planning to buy a printer for business purposes, you should consider several features and check the specification as this is a device that could cater for all your workstations at your office via networking. Here are some points to help you select the right printer:

1.    Your day to day printing demands: Try to estimate your daily printing demand
2.    The budget you are willing to spend on your printer
3.    Pinpoint your major requirement: Would it be colour prints or would black & white do?
4.    Assess the quality of prints required. For example, if you need presentation slides, they need more colour and clarity.

While keeping in mind some of the points mentioned above, also check the warranty available. We recommend that you keep the printer switched off while not in use but there are various printers available in the market, which automatically goes on a low power standby when not in use.

In today’s world, multi-purpose printers are helping businesses all around the globe in reducing cost on their printing and scanning services. Nowadays, a printer is supposed to be more than simply a device that produces paper copies of digitised documents. They can now perform scanning and copying of pictures, slides and various other types of data, in this technological age, they are multi purposes devices.

The new age multipurpose printer of today is certainly the need of the hour. It has many advantages such as:

•    Cost saving: You don’t have to buy a different printer, scanner and copier
•    Space savings as one machine does all the work
•    Saves on time as it has ready interface with your computer
•    Low on power consumption as it is multipurpose; you don’t need different machines for different jobs
•    Hassle free working due to less wires and plug-ins

Before buying a printer also look for its feasibility in terms of networking to your entire set of computer systems in the office as just one printer may well take care of all the printing needs of the entire office.

Opting for a multipurpose printer is certainly an intelligent decision for your business. The information mentioned above would come in handy in your printer selection.

A fax machine is an important piece of equipment for your office and it helps in scanning, receiving and sending documents and sharing the same at different locations almost an instantaneous task, thereby facilitating your business in a big way.

So while choosing the right fax machine you should determine how many faxes would you send/receive in a day along with what kind of print quality you desire as a film cartridge based fax machine would provide you with mediocre quality, while an ink jet fax machine provides you with better quality but at a higher price and a laser fax machine providing you with superior print quality but being the most expensive one.

Some key points while selecting the right fax machines are:
•    The price of the fax machine in comparison to its completion
•    Power consumption of the machine as, normally it would always be turned on
•    Cost incurred per page by dividing the cost of cartridges by the number of prints it can make
•    Add- on functions such as delayed transmission, copy enlargement & shrinking, reduction and option of choosing various copy sizes
•    Availability and cost of cartridges, ink and paper
•    After sales support & Warranty attached.

You should also check if the fax machine includes a phone and an answering machine and can distinguish between fax and voice calls as you normally don’t need a dedicated phone line for a fax machine until you are sending a lot of faxes.

Try and incorporate as many points mentioned above in your decision for the right fax machine and we are sure you would be able to get the perfect one for all your business needs.

A fax machine can prove to be an important accessory for your office. Today’s modern business strives for paperless offices, wouldn’t it be great to have digitalised documents with their fast retrieval at your fingertips.

Today, fax machines are used for digitising office documents e.g. files, invoices, financial accounts etc, photographs, slides, drawings, text, and even 3D objects, creating digital images on your computer that you can adjust, and e-mail to business associates or post on your website.

The advantages of fax machines so include space saving by way of digitising your office files in CD’S OR DVD’S, The convenience of sharing all your office documents through email or a multimedia slide with business associates and partners, random access to your personal files irrespective of your location and cost effective data entry for your office to name a few.

So buying a fax machine is a wise decision for your business and using it to its full capacity can even prove cost effective.

We do suggest while choosing a fax machine you compare various models, normally each new fax machine carries a warranty along with it but it is preferable to check what the warranty covers as it is a delicate machine.

We are professionals in office equipment supplies and offer fax machines from various manufacturers so that you get the best fax machine that fits all your needs.

When choosing a printer for your office, it’s important to determine your needs and look beyond specifications, here are some factors that you can keep in mind while choosing the right printer for your office.

• How many prints do you imagine using in a day?
• How easy is it to use the printer?
• How fast does it actually print?
• How much power does it use?
• Does it cover all your business needs?
• Is the model and manufacturer long lasting and reliable?

Another thing to keep in mind while choosing the right printer is to check the ease of availability and prices of the ink cartridges used for re-filling, whether alternate option are available for re-filling or not.

All these questions help you in choosing the right printer for your business, which in turn is easy to use and increases productivity.

We can help you pin point the right printer as we know it is always a tough task selecting the right printer, We offer you an entire range of printers from top of the line manufacturers like HP, EPSON, SAMSUNG AND CANON to name a few, keeping in mind your need and budget, because we understand how important it is towards your business.

The first impression that a client gets when he visits your office is through the interiors and furniture that is present there. The furniture at your office speaks a lot about your work ethics, style of working, benchmark and quality standards followed by your organisation, so the choice and style of the same is very critical to your organisation, the right kind of desks and filing cabinets can solve the problem of storage of documents for a long time to come while the right kind of ergonomic chairs can give relief to employees during their long hours of work.

Effective desk arrangement and partitions cater to smooth flow of day to day activities of your office, So while selecting your office furniture there are various factors that you need to keep in mind, some of them are as follows :-

• The furniture should be durable.
• The cost of furniture should be reasonable.
• It should ease office activities.
• Employees should feel comfort while using it.
• It should be suitable to different weather conditions too.

By keeping some of the pointers mentioned above in mind you would be able to select furniture that is not only a visual delight but also durable and long lasting.