Search This Site

 
Equipment Decisions
By Len Segal, Segal Computer Consulting

Making the right decisions on what equipment to buy or lease is very important in determining how efficiently your office will run, or how frustrating each business day might be. A wise investment would be to hire a consultant to evaluate your needs in advance of making purchase decisions . . . a small investment up-front can save you from spending a lot of money unnecessarily or the frustration of dealing with equipment that won't do what you need to do to run your business efficiently a year or so down the road.

There are no "magic lists" that fit all situations, although some items are fairly standard to almost all businesses, other items may be important or unnecessary, depending on the type of business you are running.

Power Protection Equipment:

  • Smart Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) - Used to smooth over any voltage fluctuations so that computer equipment will work reliably and not be damaged. A good UPS with AVR will boost or lower voltage as required for a given condition, as well as automatically shutdown applications and power the computer off if a power condition (outage or voltage reduction) is not resolved within a few minutes. Typical cost, depending on size (which must be determined by what you plan on protecting with this device), runs $150.00 to $500.00.
  • Surge Protectors - Used to protect equipment from surges ONLY! Not suitable to protect computers, however laser printers and copiers can not be used with a UPS, so surge protectors are appropriate for that application. All phone lines should be protected by surge protectors to prevent any surges from reaching electronic equipment and destroying it. Typical cost for effective protection is $40.00 to $75.00.
  • Extension Cord Surge Suppressors - If they cost less than $40.00, save your money and buy a plain extension cord. The cheap devices have only 1 to 3 cheap "one shot" devices (cost ~50¢ each) that will protect against the first surge only. The next surge hits your equipment, which is no longer protected! Typical cost is $3.00 to 10.00.

Computers:

  • Computers are looked upon as a "commodity" with price driving decisions in the marketplace. However, when using computers to run a business, the business person must evaluate their needs first and buy a machine that will do the job for him/her! This includes looking outward 1-2 years at any potential for expansion.
  • Retail computers are designed to be used "as is" with no additional peripherals added, such as network cards, tape backup units, internal Zip/Jaz/LS120 drives, changes to internal components, etc. These machines are designed in a proprietary manner and adding additional components may not work properly and/or cause massive frustration for the user.
  • Having a custom designed system for your business needs can ensure that you have an upgradeable system and is likely to cost no more than $100 more than a Retail computer of similar specifications. The business person will now have full flexibility to deal with changes in needs during the lifetime of the computer, such as availability of broadband Internet service, creating a network to share printers and/or files, adding/changing components to update the system, etc.

Printers:

  • Every business should have one good laser printer. Just like computers, there are printers that are designed for business use (and will last nearly forever) and those designed cheaply as a commodity product for occasional use only. Cost differences between them is not very significant when judged by the much longer lifespan (and reparability) of a good business printer.
  • Inkjet printers are not suitable for business correspondence! No matter how good the quality, the slightest moisture on the reader's fingers will result in smudged and unreadable text! They are good for putting color presentations together, when the need is occasional.
    o The cost is low for the inkjet printer but the consumables (ink cartridges) are very expensive per page and the cartridges dry out from non-use if you only use them occasionally.
  • Color laser printers have dropped in price significantly in the past year or so (currently starting at $1000.00) and are definitely worth looking at if you will be using color on a regular basis.
  • Consider getting a multifunction Fax/Copy/Scanner/Printer laser machine to meet some/all of your printing needs as well as Faxing, Copying and Scanning documents. See further information below under FAX.

FAX:

  • You need a good quality Fax machine. It is best to use a multi-function Fax/Copy/Scanner/Printer laser machine for this job. It is initially more costly than the ink-jet Fax machines, but provides a much higher quality output, cleaner to operate, and cheaper in the long run (ink jet cartridges are much more expensive per page than laser toner).
  • If it has a flatbed scanner/copier on it, you won't need to buy an additional scanner and/or copier to run your business.
  • In evaluating machines, make sure that you factor in the cost of consumable supplies in your decision-making process. The operating cost/page is always much lower for laser devices, although the up-front cost of the machine is higher.
  • Laser cartridges usually will print many thousands of pages, whereas inkjet cartridges only print 100s of pages. When you are out of the office on travel or vacation, if the inkjet cartridge runs dry, you may lose some incoming Faxes. It is a lot easier to predict that a laser cartridge won't run out prior to your return.

Scanner:

  • A good scanner is a wise investment, preferably a flatbed that will allow you to scan pages from a book if you need to do so.
  • See my comments above under FAX for a way to save significant money and space requirements by using a multi-function machine for this task.

Copier:

  • Every business needs a good quality copier, and again the cheap consumer printers will not last very long in an office environment.
  • See my comments above under FAX for a way to save significant money and space requirements by using a multi-function machine for this task.

Internet Access:

  • If some sort of broadband access is available, this is a wise expenditure. It will save you from needing a second phone line (or tying up the house line) to send/receive Email and/or doing research on the Internet, and increase your access speed by as much as 35x the speed of a modem.
  • You will need a Hardware Firewall if you are connected to the Internet via broadband. This is to protect you from potential break-ins. Since broadband access gives you a permanent IP address (like a street address, whereas a dial-up assigns a random IP address each time you dial-up), it gives hackers the leisurely capability of attempting to break-in to your system until they succeed. If you have confidential client information, this may expose you to lawsuits if an unauthorized person gains access due to inadequate security on your part. Also, they can steal, delete or destroy the data on your machine, potentially damaging your business, but definitely causing you to waste days of time recovering from the problem.

Essential Software:

  • A good Anti-Virus Software - and keep it updated at least a few times/week, preferably daily! You do NOT want to be the first person on your block to be caught by the latest computer virus! Not all Anti-Virus Software is created equal, there are some that offer excellent protection and others that offer only poor to mediocre protection!
  • You need a good way to back up your data. The method chosen will depend on what type and amount of data needs backing up. Some alternatives are tape, a removable disk (can be Zip, Jaz, LS120, portable hard drive, etc.), copying to a CD or DVD, etc.
  • This needs to be done often and religiously.
  • You need to keep a recent copy AWAY from your office, if at all possible. If your office is in your home, you might consider putting a copy in a fireproof safe. If you have an office away from your home, you should keep a backup at the office and another one at your home.
  • Fax Software - The best in the business is still Symantec's WinFax!
  • Firewall Software - It's not as effective as Firewall Hardware, but when used together, it makes your system protection much stronger than using just one of them.

Some Things to Think About:
The following are things that with proper advice from a consultant, you might be able to setup on your system so that you are more automated and efficient in your business operations.

  • Scan Business Cards into the one central database that you use for Email, Faxing, and carry around on your PDA.
  • Scan and Fax Documents (can save up to 50% in Fax telephone time/charges) vs. just Faxing from a separate Fax machine.
  • Scan and Convert Documents into an editable word processing template that you use to create forms for use in your business.
  • Digital Cameras and Scanners - Where Pictures will help your business, you can use them on your Website or attach them to an Email message, add them to your word processing documents, or add them to your slide presentations. (e.g. Insurance Claims, Real Estate, Appraisals, etc.)
  • Receive Faxes on Computer while phoning your clients/prospects at same time (from your database, without physically dialing a phone number) and without holding a phone to your ear.
  • NOTE: This way, while your computer is powered on, you can choose to either print or delete any incoming Faxes, saving paper and ink. This is NOT a substitute for a "hardcopy Fax" machine, since few people want to leave their computers powered up 24x7 for 365 days/year.
  • Calling from your database also can allow you to automatically keep a log of your calls, which is important in some types of business.
  • Fax or Email Documents Directly from Your Word Processor.


Author: Len Segal, Segal Computer Consulting
lens@ieee.org, http://lsegal.hypermart.net, 781-784-2599

© Copyright 2002, Segal Computer Consulting, All Rights Reserved
Note: Permission Granted to NVCC for use, as long as attribution and copyright statement is maintained.

190 Vanderbilt Ave.
Suite 1
Norwood, MA 02062
(781) 769-1126
Fax: (781) 769-0808
Doug@nvcc.com