There are many more similarities than there are differences with the various brands and models of copy machines that are available today. Most every system whether a new copy machine or a used copy machine offers the same basic staples. They can all copy, print and scan. They can virtually all provide two sided copying and printing, enlargement and reduction and the ability to scan to email, folder or USB device. It’s the optional accessories that can make the difference and in this article I’ve outlined 5 optional accessories that you might choose to consider when you look to buy or lease a copy machine.
Additional paper drawers – Most copy machines come standard with either 1 or 2 paper drawers in addition to a paper bypass tray. Many offices can benefit from having the additional paper drawers added to the standard configuration. These additional paper sources when added to your copy machine allow companies to save time but eliminating the need to change paper in and out each time they print on checks, letterhead, card stock etc. Most machines have the option to have at least 4 paper drawers plus a paper bypass allowing companies to dedicate drawers to checks, letterhead etc. and to use special settings to ensure that other users don’t accidentally print or copy from these designated drawers.
Dual scanning document feeders – Most copy machines today are also used as network scanners. In most cases a copier/scanner will be configured with an automatic document feeder (ADF) that scans each side of a two sided original in a separate pass. In other words the document feeder will first scan one side of the document and then will turn the paper over in a paper inverter and scan the second side. There is an optional Dual Scan Document Feeder available on most machines which allows copy machines to scan both sides of a double sided original in one pass. Dual scan document feeders double the scan speed and enhance reliability. If your company copies or scans 2 sided documents it will benefit you to consider a Dual Scan Document Feeder.
OCR Kit (Optical Character Recognition) – Most copy machines scan documents into a standard PDF format which does not allow word searches of the word content on the individual pages. There is an option available on most copy machines that will “OCR” your PDF documents as they are being scanned. By using the OCR feature during scanning you will have the ability to search and locate any scanned document by searching for any word or string of characters contained in the body of any scanned document. If your company is scanning and archiving a large number of documents it will likely be very helpful and offer tremendous time savings to be able to locate documents by nature of word recognition.
Finisher with Automatic Stapling and 2/3 Hole Punch Kits and Folding Kits – Very few copy machines offer stapling, hole punching or folding as a standard feature. Most copy machines do have the option to add the Finisher as an accessory. On most copy machines the basic Finisher will provide automatic stapling. Once you’ve added the basic finisher you will generally have the option to add a 2 and 3 hole punch kit. Many finishers also have the option to add a folding unit which can allow half folding with 2 point saddle staple to automatically create booklets in addition to tri-folding which is will fold up to three pages so they are ready to place in envelopes for mailing.
Fax Kit – Most copy machines come standard with copy, print and scan functionality however very few systems come standard with the ability to send and receive faxes. You can add the Fax Kit accessory that will allow you to send and receive faxes. Some benefits of these fax kits is that you can either have incoming faxes print out, or you can have incoming faxes automatically converted to a PDF and routed to a shared computer folder or an email address. You also have the ability to have incoming faxes printed AND converted to PDF and routed to a folder or email address. This can be a helpful feature to save paper and to provide the ability to check for incoming faxes remotely via email. Many customers will have faxes both print and forward to a folder in order to have incoming faxes archived just in case there is a future need to locate a fax that was received.
I encourage your company to look into whether any of the optional accessories outlined above will help your office to be more productive and efficient. I would also suggest that if you consider used copy machine many of these features might already be included without the need to pay added costs. Ask your copier sales representative what options are available and at what cost.
