Common Conventional Faxing Frustrations - Image Quality | Paper Jams | Communication

Fax Machine Breaking with Frustration
Source: mlive.com

Often times, sending a fax can be a complicated process. Fax machines are labyrinth-like machines, involving intricate and delicate elements that are, many times, difficult to figure out. A fax machine that is running well, properly calibrated, and operating within open lines can be a smooth piece of equipment that does exactly what you want. Otherwise, it can be a frustrating apparatus that causes more headache than help. Fax machines can pose several problems for users looking to send documents quickly and easily.

Image quality

Many times, transmitting documents via fax can lead to poor image quality. In these cases, received pages will not appear the same as the original, negating the entire purpose of sending the fax in the first place. Pages with text may become unreadable and images may appear blotchy, too light or too dark. This is frequently due to leaking/spilled toner or ink within the receiving fax machine or even an improper density setting that can be adjusted on the receiving machine. The problem may also lie in the scanning mechanisms within the sender’s fax machine.

Paper Jams

There is hardly a more frustrating problem involving the use of a fax machine than jammed paper in the document feeder or printing area. Beware though: attempting to pull jammed paper out of the machine in the direction opposite of the way the paper is supposed to naturally travel can damage some of the small parts inside your fax machine. To remedy the jam, gently pull the paper in the direction that it would normally run, while trying not to yank it out at an angle.

Communication

Frequently enough, you may come across problems while sending or receiving faxes that involve communication issues between your machine and the other at the remote location. Many times this involves phone connection issues, since faxed documents are being transmitted through a modem line, and just like a telephone, there may be interference or problems with the wall jack (which acts as a junction in the system). If you don’t hear the dial tone, it is likely that either your machine is unplugged or no signal exists.

If the receiving fax machine is using a dual-use fax/phone line, you may be greeted by a voice on the other end from someone who is answering what appears to be nothing more than a phone call. A user may lose the connection during the transmission of the fax, and unless that machine indicates its fax status by way of printing a receipt or otherwise, you may be left wondering whether your document was successfully sent and received.

Maintenance

To say the least, cleaning out your fax machine can be a headache. The quality of the fax can rely substantially on a machine that is clean and without any buildup that could create mechanical problems. Other than using canned/compressed gas-dusting air to blow out some of the dust and loose gunk stuck inside the fax machine, it can be quite a hassle to clean the internal components to ensure that it runs smoothly. If you choose to take on the task of wiping down the ink cartridges and purchasing scanner head cleaning sheets, refer to your fax machine’s owner’s manual to get it done.

This article was written by Amit Gangrade, article writer at FindAFax. Amit Gangrade is from Orlando, Florida. He is a recent alumn from the University of Florida, where he studied anthropology and Spanish.

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What Are The Biggest Obstacles Preventing People From Using An Efax?

                With so much going against traditional faxing it’s odd that eFax has not gained more traction, what exactly is preventing people from using such a simple service anyways? Hasn’t the thought of using a typical fax machine become a chore to many Americans? Living in such a digital age had provided us with shortcuts for most every service and so why not faxes? After all when people think about sending a fax the image of a phone cord and a large bulky machine sitting on an office table almost always pops up. Sure they sell units at almost every major retailer but these small home office AIO units (all-in-one units) are prone to failure, consistent and costly ink cartridge replacement, and generally difficult to operate. It’s with this in mind that I started to write this article. What exactly is it that is holding eFax services back?

What Exactly is the Problem?

                Everything that I have skimmed through online has shown me that eFax has major issues with its customer service department. This is only made worse by the fact that they are missing some basic web features for account management that are frustrating customers in the first place. Features such as the ability to view your past bills online or download a collection of past statements are truly substandard in this digital age. The customer service department is apparently fond of using company policy as a shield from the most basic and simple questions. When a customer finds themselves forced to deal with such disrespectful service the fact is that a negative reputation is going to build. This is really disappointing because many of the reviews I read online were quick to point out that they enjoyed the service but were baffled by how incompetent many other areas of the business felt. Lastly they tend to charge for their free trial according to many reviewers. This is a big time business taboo if you want to be respected legitimately.

What are the Benefits and Solutions?

                While eFax has some hurdles in its way its outlook is not at all gloomy. With some fine tuning the company could easily reclaim the market growth they used to experience in their heyday. In fact a service like eFax really has no reason to fail as long as the service works and the people behind it are respectful. I would wager that most would find eFax’s service is very simple to operate and works as intended. If they were to bring customer support back over to America as well as improve customer service in general then perhaps the reviews on sites such as Yelp would be glowingly positive as opposed to overwhelmingly negative.

Conclusion

                So it’s relatively clear to those that read at least 2/4th of the article what the major issue is. From everything else I read online eFax suffers no other major issues. While the situation is a shame which shouldnt have occured in the first place and I cannot recomend them until this is corrected, it’s also good that it’s such an isolated problem. With some restructuring and refocus the customer service department of eFax could be just as efficient and pleasant to deal with as many of the other service providers. 

About the Author:

Eduardo Dieguez is a content creator for FindAFax which is a service that helps to link consumers with the appropriate fax service for their needs. 

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5 Steps To Expand Your Business Overseas | Take Your Website Global

Business
Source: thetaxhaven, cc-by-3.0, flickr

Not too long ago, the only businesses that could go "global" were the big -players. Now, thanks to the age of the internet, every business has the opportunity to reach out across the oceans and expand their customer base into all corners of the globe. The question then becomes, are you doing all you can to expand your business overseas? Consider these helpful steps to take your company global.

Step 1: Pack Your Bags

Before setting up your expansion, you need to identify those markets where your products will do the best business. While there are plenty of online resources to tap into, nothing beats hopping on a plane to see these markets for yourself. This doesn't mean you need to take off six months to tour the world. Instead, start with a focused trip to those specific emerging markets where you think you'll have the greatest success. As you reach out and build personal networks from those other countries, you'll find many more opportunities opening up for your company. An international trade show in your field is a terrific place to start. 

Step 2: Hire A Logistics Agent

When it comes to shipping your products overseas, there are a lot of moving parts. Every country has their own import regulations to follow. While you're working on contracts and product development, you don't want to get caught up in the minutia of customs, port labour, and changes in transportation costs. A qualified logistics agent will be on top of all of those items. That will free you up to concentrate on the rest of your business. Essentially, you'll land the contract and then turn them over to this indispensable partner. A good place to start the hiring process is getting to know the UK Border Agency. They set the standard for logistics agents in this area. 

Step 3: Take Your Website Global

Those trips you're taking in "step 1" should provide you with crash course of cultural differences. Those concepts need to be applied to your website. The basic option is to offer translations of your site for various regions. Beyond the translations, you'll also want to adapt your pages to fit in with those cultures. This holds true for your Twitter and Facebook accounts as well. Set up each language region with its own account. It might help to hire a local contractor to maintain your social media outlets. 

Step 4: Make Sure You Get Paid

All this hard work of taking your company global won't matter if you can't get paid for your services. You need to find a payment system that allows you to utilise multiple payment options. Going through a bank might take time. However, a website like PayPal is already up and open for business all around the world.

There you go. Take the time to do your research into emerging markets abroad and how they can benefit your company. Then personally check it out, make sure you're going in with your eyes open. Then go for it and start your company's international success!

Abi is a financial advisor and stresses the importance of carefully monitoring finances and taxes for your business, especially when expanding. Abi uses Francis Clark Tax Consultancy and recommends them for their tax expertise and helping businesses expand overseas They can offer you step by step support on what's involved in this process. 

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Hyper Terminal - A Terminal Emulator - Advanced Features

Users of out dated technology have always found terminal emulators as their only rescue option. Had terminal emulators not existed, all these users would be stranded with no choice but to leave all the data and records behind and migrate on to the newer technology set. Such a migration would definitely bring disastrous results for everyone. As most of the legacy programs (legacy programs are those which are meant for optimal functioning on outdated technology) would be incompatible with the new technology platform, all of the user data, customer records and other indispensible data would be lost. But thankfully, there are terminal emulators in existence. In this article we will discuss in brief, Hyper terminal, a terminal emulator from Microsoft. Hyper terminal has won many industry standard awards for its outstanding reliability and features. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Purpose of Hyper Terminal:

It is a terminal emulator that is used for facilitating communication with older computers. Older generation computer systems, especially those of the likes of character based computer systems are biased from the current technological standards. From today’s advanced computing point of view they are completely incomputable with any existing program. It does means that they cannot be used according to today’s standards but they are still indispensible as a lot of information produced in 80s and 90s is stored on these computer systems. Hyper terminal is one such terminal emulator that allows the user to communicate with them. Telnet sites and BBSs (an acronym for Bulletin Board Systems) have faded away but with the help of hyper terminal a user can still connect to them and retrieve information.

Advanced Features:

Even though the primary function of hyper terminal is to facilitate communication, still it encompasses a many other capabilities. For example it can be used to exchange large files from older computers, much like today’s peer to peer system functioning but since older generation computer do not support peer to peer protocol, hyper terminal can be used to achieve the same effect. Another versatile feature that it supports is the capability to transfer data without the establishing a network. While most of the modern computers would not transfer data on another computer system unless they are connected by a network, with the help of telnet data communication can be achieved without a network by using serial ports.

Data Logging:

Hyper terminal has the capability to record the incoming as well as outgoing data to and from the computer system respectively. While most of the terminal emulators of its class allow for the logging of incoming data only, hyper terminal goes a step ahead and records the outgoing parameters too. This recording feature may not strike out to be very useful to general users but it is an indispensible feature for a technician as with the help of data logging it becomes very easy to troubleshoot the computer system and find out the source of the problem. The emulating window of hyper terminal is scrollable, a feature absent in most of the terminal emulators. This scrollable window allows easy access to older messages and data.

Daniel D is an expert of older generation computer systems. He has written many articles on terminal emulators and has even provided his valuable suggestions for the development of hyper terminal.

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When Did The Modern Era Of Technology Begin? Motor Technology to Biotechnology

Advanced Technology
Source: QuotesEverlasting, cc-by-3.0, flickr

Technology has completely revolutionised the way we live our lives, changing everything from how we gather news to how we know when the cookies are ready to come out the oven. Nothing has been left untouched by this powerful and omnipresent influence.

But when exactly did the era of modern technology begin? Let’s take a quick look at some forms of modern technology and the history behind them, so that we can determine when everything began to change.

Motor Technology

Travelling is a necessity in life, and has been made so much easier with the creation of the motor engine. The days of horse-drawn carriages are a thing of the past, even though it’s a rather charming image.

We can thank a shamefully unknown Swiss called François Isaac de Rivaz for bringing forth the era of the motor engine. His invention in 1806, the hydrogen powered engine, was the world’s first internal combustion engine, which of course features in most vehicles today. Without this early stroke of genius, the ICE may not have been invented for years to come, if not at all.

Instant Communication

How amazing is it that we are able to instantly and rapidly communicate with someone on the other side of the planet? It truly boggles the mind, but fortunately its simple beginning is much easier to get your head around.

The advanced electrical signals which makes instant communication possible is considered to be a development of Alexander Graham Bell’s first transcontinental telephone call in 1915, using the audion.  This one simple call led to much effort being put into setting up a transatlantic cable network (1956), and then to the 1964 invention of fibre optics. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow...

Electronic Data Processing

A computer’s ability to process vast amounts of complicated data should be at the top of the list for reasons to love technology. No longer do we have to face such a monumental task, our face distorted with confusion whilst clawing for the paracetamol.

The first example of electronic data processing begins in Blighty in 1951, with the J. Lyons and Co. catering company developing a computer to process all their commercial data. Marked the Lyons Electronic Office, it became widespread throughout the 1960s and 70s, until software began to rear its wonderful head and took over the task.

Electronic Data Storage

Of course before you can process any amount of data, you have to have some way of storing it. Today, unimaginable amounts of data can be stored on a memory card the size of a pea. Minimalism at its absolute best. Looking back on the older, much larger forms of electronic data storage though, it’s easy to see why we wanted to go smaller.  

As computers began to emerge during the 1940s, so did the first form of computerised data storage. Called the Selectron tube, this 1946 invention could store very little indeed, and so they were quickly scrapped. But seeing as we were using hole-punched cards to store data before the Selectron tube, it should definitely be considered what sparked the progress within this form of modern technology.

Biotechnology

Without the development of medicinal drugs, food production or even genetic engineering, through the use of biotechnology, it’s safe to say that humans would be in the history books alongside the Dodo.

Biotechnology began in 1919 with a Hungarian called Károly Ereky, who developed slaughterhouse technology to convert raw materials. Albeit distasteful, this radically improved the production of food.

Similarly, during the 1970s, the notion of “food from oil” (growing single-cell proteins on oil to be used as food) was birthed to tackle food shortages. The biotechnology involved then led to the field of genetic engineering, which blew the roof off of how we now develop proteins and therapeutic drugs.

Looking to the past like we have, it would appear modern technology can find its roots within the first half of the 20th century. Although the history of communication technology can be traced as far back as the 1840s, it is the 20th century which witnessed the biggest surge in technological advancements.

Overall it is safe to say, it is during this century that the era of modern technology dawned, and we can only hope that we continue to prosper from it for many years to come.

Are you wise to the history of modern technology, and can you think of anything else to add? Share your comments below.  

Ben Kettlety is  a writer and gadget-lover who is enthralled by the history of modern technology, and can’t wait to see how it will develop in the future.

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