Gone are the days when the office photocopier was treated with awe, occupied a department of it's own and was the size of a bus! The introduction of microchip technology has greatly reduced the size of photocopier machines and laser technology, combined with improved toner units, now provides excellent quality reproductive imaging. Speeds, efficiency and reliability are all enhanced by huge improvements to the feed mechanisms. During this same period of evolution for office copiers, the facsimile machine became commonplace, PC and office networks became integral tools of managing most businesses and desktop publishing has been adopted as an in-house practice.

Office copiers have evolved alongside most other office equipment to keep pace with modern business's technical requirements. The traditional photocopiers have been redesigned by their manufacturers to respond to today's business needs, creating a business hub capable of far more than the traditional black and white photocopier. As offices replace their photocopying equipment, companies are seeking to introduce more advanced technology to keep pace with their everyday needs. Separate, and costly, pieces of equipment providing photocopies, fax, inkjet printers, small laser printers and scanners are being replaced by one piece of office equipment which encompasses all of these functions in a far more efficient manner. The modern and efficient office now utilises a Business Hub unit, incorporating all of the required functions and networked into the office computer server.

Rents and overheads on office accommodation continue to rise, making each square metre of floor space valuable and accountable. Accommodating individual photocopiers, desk top printers, scanners, fax machines, etc., is not only wasteful on space, it is also wasteful on cost, time and facilities. The dilemma of space, individually allocated equipment and efficient use of time is solved by the introduction of a central 'Biz-Hub' unit. The single multi-function unit reduces the needs for trailing cables to supply power, telephone connections, PC cabling and gives efficient use of printing, copying, faxing and scanning facilities throughout the whole office. The multifunction BizHub technology is environmentally friendly and created in a design that will aesthetically compliment the vast majority of office furnishings and decoration.

BizHub equipment is at the forefront of office facilities and technological development. Printing and copy quality on both black and white and colour is excellent, with finite colour balancing, density where it is needed, combined with crisp sharp lines and type. A BizHub operates as the central networked printing facility for all of the workstations, removing the need for individual (and costly) inkjets and small printers being scattered around each office area. Excellent quality in-built scanners provide the facility for loading documents and pictures into the networked computer system and can be utilised to upload to the internet via HTTP language, or scan directly to email or fax. The BizHub inbuilt fax facility enables documents to be transmitted direct from file, removing the need to produce printed copies prior to fax transmission, or provides the facility for scanned documents to be retrieved and directly transmitted by fax, or can be accessed via the computer network to allow users to create and send fax transmissions directly from their individual workstation. Print speeds of up to 65 colour pages per minute are standard on some models, whilst document duplexing (double sided printing) and a wide range of finishing and binding facilities can be incorporated into the equipment. All of this wide range of facilities can be accessed and controlled from any network workstation or directly at the BizHub's easily operated touch-screen control panel.

Most BizHub models are supplied with an in-build 60GB hard drive as standard, which gives the opportunity for documents and images to be stored at the equipment, ready for recall for standard jobs which can be printed 'on demand'. If coupled with commercially available software, the Bizhub system will be easily integrated into a document storage and retrieval system for any size of business, giving the opportunity of a truly paperless office.

Servicing and maintenance of the BizHub equipment has been finely honed to provide the most efficient and cost-effective facilities ever available on office equipment. Suppliers and dealers are able to incorporate a 'remote care' equipment monitoring facility which automatically advises requirements for machine toner, consumable parts, fault diagnosis (on most occasions before the user is aware of the fault) and monitors copy speeds and quality to adjust or advise deterioration. All of this equipment diagnosis is advised directly to the dealer's service centre, giving a more efficient response time and very little down time at the location. With this excellent facility, which is completely separate from any other data in the machine, the BizHub equipment experiences minimal interruption to it's day-to-day operation due to failure or lack of any consumable parts, meaning that service engineer's calls are conveniently scheduled to provide preventative maintenance.

Each BizHub digital printer, copier, fax and scanner is capable of providing for all of the office documentation needs at one central point, networked into the office computer system. The BizHubs prove to be economical in all aspects of their operation and have become an essential piece of equipment in the efficient office environment of today, and tomorrow.