If you’re setting up your personal work area at home or small office, a Multifunction Centre (MFC) is a convenient way to get the functionality of a printer, fax, scanner and answering machine (or a combination of those devices), all in the one device. You’ll save yourself a lot of space, and you won’t have to worry about lots of extra cables and conflicts between the devices.

MFCs roll different combinations of these devices and sometimes a few extra functions into the one unit, which needs only one phone line and one cable to connect to your computer. They are fast to set up and very easy to use, making them a common sight in many homes and offices.

Not all MFCs combine the same functions, so you should choose the device that suits your needs. You can pick one up for under $800, making them terrific value for money when you weigh up the cost of buying all those items separately.

Â

Why get an MFC?
Apart from saving a lot of space and money, you’ll also save time as most MFCs don’t need you to access your computer for simple tasks like faxing or photocopying. If you choose a colour MFC, you’ll have yourself a rather cheap colour photocopier.

Most MFCs these days incorporate a colour photocopier, printer and scanner, though the cheaper black and white models are also still available.

On the downside, if the unit breaks down, you could be faced with losing all the functions the MFC provides your office until the unit is repaired. The print quality and speed of MFCs are the same as their individual counterparts, as they use the same technologies.

 

Faxing from your computer
One of the great conveniences of MFCs is the ability to fax straight from your computer. Your modem or MFC acts as a fax machine to send the data, but you will need a special software program to do so. Everything that is received is stored digitally on your

computer, so you can even edit received faxes afterwards. This is a great way to filter your real faxes from the fax-spam, but it isn’t reliable as the plain old paper fax machine. Computers can become unstable and you could lose important information.

For this reason we recommend using a device like a MFC that can receive the fax, store it onboard and transfer to your computer or print it out. This way your fax is always online whether the computer crashes or not, and your data is less likely to be lost.