New Boards Link Desktop Computers, Faxes
The proliferation of facsimile machines has truly revolutionized the workplace but technology gurus say that up to now there has been a missing link in the automated office environment: software enabling operators of desktop computers to compose, send and receive faxes without ever leaving their desks.
The gap has proven difficult to fill mainly because it involves creating an interchangeability of the two very different kinds of data languages used in data processing and fax transmission. But the payoff could be enormous for a successful manufacturer since, in many instances, it would eliminate the need to physically feed documents into fax machines.
This link has already been addressed by more than a dozen manufacturers, including big electronics companies such as Intel and Brother, who have introduced “add-on” circuit boards. The “fax boards,” as they are called, are inserted into the guts of computers and perform the task of blending the two data languages.
But Ed Michelson, a part owner of the Computerland of San Diego computer retail franchises, said that the fax boards he has seen are generally too complicated for him to use, much less for the average clerical employee. Michelson said his firm has looked at 11 different “fax boards” but declined to carry any in inventory because none were user-friendly.
But that was before Michelson saw the Faxpro, a board manufactured by Fax Group of San Diego. Now, the San Diego Computerlands and others in Hawaii carry the Fax Group boards, and Michelson is trying to persuade Computerland’s nationwide system to stock the product.
What does the Faxpro, which ranges in price from $400 to $2,800, have that others do not? Fax Group Chairman John Hartog, said his is the first that is able to convert a computer data file into fax language without losing desktop publishing details, including fonts and formatted design touches such as boldface and underlining. Hartog is a 41-year-old former Philips and ITT executive who spent six years developing the board.
Faxpro is also easy to use, he said, and compatible with IBM-, Apple- or Unix-based computer systems.
The Faxpro has been on the market since June, but the company expects sales to take off next year when the company’s direct sales force of 12 and its first-ever national marketing campaign get into high gear. Total employees are 35. The company manufactures all of its products in Vista.
The formation of Fax Group in 1988 was financed by $2 million put up by corporate officers and eight private investors. The company is looking for another $3 million with which to finance its marketing.
Hartog said he avoided soliciting venture capital firms for seed money because they would have wanted to own too big a slice of Fax Group’s equity.
Just what Faxpro’s share of the add-on fax board market will be is difficult to say. International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass.-based market research firm, said total shipments of fax boards this year will total 120,000 units, or twice last year’s number. Shipments next year will double again, IDC said.
Fax Group and companies like it are trying to ride the enormous wave of consumer interest in facsimile machines. According to Ruth Gardner, industry analyst with Dataquest market research firm in San Jose, fax machine sales this year will exceed 1.4 million units, up from 1 million units last year.
Hartog said the fax phenomenon is unusual in that it has been driven by consumer demand, not by manufacturers’ marketing campaigns. As a result, the boom in fax machines has caught manufacturers off guard.
Gardner said the demand has been fueled by the steady drop in price of fax machines, with units suitable for businesses selling for under $2,000 and smaller personal units at $700.
