12-19-2014, 03:49 PM
Jardster,
You need to reevaluate your assessment of all-in-one machines. While some are mediocre to crappytacular at best - the HP J4580 comes to mind - others are very good. None will replace a great high quality dedicated scanner, photocopier or a full-featured fax machine. That is to be expected. They aren't trying to replace equipment of that level. Despite that, the better all-in-ones do a solid job as scanners, fax machines, copiers and printeers.
An efax setup such as one from Ringcentral - will be solid for certain applications. My office has a subscription and uses the service daily. One caveat is info sent to and from an efax system is insecure. So, I wouldn't use it for secure information such as financial data, medical data, etc. For those kinds of documents, an actual fax machine of some kind is key.
Something else that comes to mind is convenience. I've used the scanner to fax software/modem in the past and the processes was inconvenient in comparison to dropping a page or several pages onto a auto document feeder, typing in a phone number and pressing fax. Or, dropping a page onto a flatbed, typing in a number and hitting fax. I wouldn't go back to the scanner/fax modem method again unless I didn't have an option. I'd take a cheap all-in-one over the scanner/fax software/modem method without a second thought.
How much faxing is going to be necessary? Even the crappytacular J4580 is sufficient for a small number of faxes. It also does the job for basic scanning, too. I've got one on my desk whose output paper tray broke and has dried out ink tanks and use it as a scanner and a secondary fax machine for outbound faxes. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done. It also doubles as a backup fax machine and will kick into gear in the event our main all-in-one has issues.
Robert
You need to reevaluate your assessment of all-in-one machines. While some are mediocre to crappytacular at best - the HP J4580 comes to mind - others are very good. None will replace a great high quality dedicated scanner, photocopier or a full-featured fax machine. That is to be expected. They aren't trying to replace equipment of that level. Despite that, the better all-in-ones do a solid job as scanners, fax machines, copiers and printeers.
An efax setup such as one from Ringcentral -
Something else that comes to mind is convenience. I've used the scanner to fax software/modem in the past and the processes was inconvenient in comparison to dropping a page or several pages onto a auto document feeder, typing in a phone number and pressing fax. Or, dropping a page onto a flatbed, typing in a number and hitting fax. I wouldn't go back to the scanner/fax modem method again unless I didn't have an option. I'd take a cheap all-in-one over the scanner/fax software/modem method without a second thought.
How much faxing is going to be necessary? Even the crappytacular J4580 is sufficient for a small number of faxes. It also does the job for basic scanning, too. I've got one on my desk whose output paper tray broke and has dried out ink tanks and use it as a scanner and a secondary fax machine for outbound faxes. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done. It also doubles as a backup fax machine and will kick into gear in the event our main all-in-one has issues.
Robert