Down with downtime.

• Author: Blake, Pat
• Position: Tips for preventing office-machine-related problems - Office Design and Products

Some tips for preventing office-machine glitches

Anyone who relies on business machines can imagine all kinds of paralyzing glitches that can derail an urgent project. Fortunately, there are many steps even novice users can take to avoid electronic gridlock.

"The most common mistake users make is they don't know their machine. They don't look in their manual and read it, I mean really read it," says Jon Hickey, technical support manager for South Bend's Business Communication Center.

It's part of the 42-year-old company's routine to help customers learn about machines when they are purchased. A technician walks each client through a checklist of operating instructions after the machine has been installed. It's a simple step, but a big time saver for both the technicians and the customers.

"We can solve a lot of service calls over the phone if people know about their machines and how they work," Hickey adds.

Facsimile machines require relatively little maintenance. Still, a cautionary ear for static over the telephone line used for faxing can help detect problems. Noisy interference such as crackling can affect the clarity of fax calls, so that only a portion of a fax is received, or what is received is blurred.

"Before you call the telephone company to remove the static on the line, see if you can isolate the problem," Hickey suggests. "For example, if you are having trouble receiving a fax from XYZ Co., how do you know if it's their fax machine, your machine, their phone line or your phone line?" The answer, he says, is to call someone else who can send you a fax and receive a transmission from your machine. That will determine whether the problem is on your end.

Such harmful noise can insidiously seep into faxes and other office machines through the electrical system. And while it may be difficult for the average user to detect, noise and other interference is easily eliminated with surge-suppression systems.

Just a few dollars will purchase a basic surge strip, which looks like an upscale extension cord and halts surges of power that can harm a computer system and even delete documents. Higher-end models also combine noise suppressers, voltage regulators and even a battery backup to ensure an uninterrupted supply of power.

"We have found that we can significantly reduce downtime and eliminate quirky problems on the machine by installing surge suppression," says Duane Sellers of Smith Office Equipment in Lafayette.

But perhaps the most...