There are core types of office equipment available for the small business - each type is intended to make your job easier.

This short article is intended to introduce you to some of the main types of office equipment, so that you can make a purchasing decision on them:

Paper Shredders

Paper shredders are used to destroy paper documents, usually using one of two major methods of shredding.

The main reason for shredding paper is to prevent confidential information being retrieved and stolen, such as business operations information. This has made paper shredders relatively common in business use.

Fax Machines

A fax machine is specialist piece of office equipment that can scan and print a document, and send a copy over a telephone connection to another fax machine.

While most people can send text documents much more easily via e-mail, the one big advantage of fax machines is where documents require a human signature.

For that reason, fax machines still remain common in the workplace, and ironically are becoming more common in the home.

Photocopiers

Photocopiers are one of those machines most synonymous with the office and workplace. Even in the age of computing, a photocopier is one of the simplest ways to create copies of paper documents.

Photocopiers essentially scan a sheet of paper, create an electrostatic image, and then use either laser or inkjet methods to print out the result as many times as required.

Photocopiers themselves tend to be bulky items, taking up a lot of space in the room. However, for less heavy-duty work, desktop copiers are available for the small office.

Multifunction machines

There are a variety of multifunction machines available for the workplace and home office.

One of the main advantages of a multifunction machine is their space-saving ability. The downside is that when one function goes wrong, it can render all functions unworkable.

Although multifunction machines are often aimed at small business use, the range can run into huge industrial units that integrate various common features.

Scanners

Scanners are copier devices, used to create digital copies of objects.

Scanners are more often used for making copies of documents, graphics, and even three-dimensional objects placed on the scanner surface.

For most intents and purposes, scanners are little more than clever little colour photocopiers. However, in the office place, scanners often provide a simple - and cheaper - alternative to colour photocopying.

Conclusion

Obviously, this is only a brief summary of office equipment for the small business - but hopefully you're already weighing up such points as whether a multifunction machine is going to be more useful for you at first then separate printer/fax machine.

Alternatively, you may find that a scanner is going to server your needs better than a photocopier.

Either way, best of luck with your search for the right office equipment.

Brian Turner is a business consultant with Britecorp Marketing, and provides consultancy services for small businesses, such as A2B Office Equipment.