Often you hear about how the workplace will change forever and how all the tools and equipment your parents and grandparents used there will completely disappear, so you had better be ready. Well, it is true that when there are better ways to do things with new technology, most businesses will use it in place of the old technology. But that doesn't necessarily mean that all old technology is gone, and in fact, there is still older office equipment that's in use today because it gets the job done. Or in some cases, it may be new technology with old concepts, but which technology are we talking about?
These days you don't run across too many people in their daily routines using pagers and beepers, but in the healthcare community, you can still find them, just as you can find two-way radios in police departments. The reason is that they're convenient for hospital staff to use and administrators don't have to allocate funds for supplying mobile phones to their staff. On top of that, pagers don't need to rely on cell networks or even batteries that can get used up quickly, so where they're concerned, if something isn't broken, why fix it?
When you think about it, desktop computers are sometimes considered as soon to become obsolete because millennial workers and IT developers have steadily moved to the smaller mobile devices and tablet markets. But as this article explains, there are always functions for a full-sized desktop computer because, in some instances, it's necessary to have the hard drive space and computing power that current multi-core desktops have. It is possible though that certain tablets will become high powered enough to become like PCs, or that regular desktop PCs will continue to be used but in other capacities.
Fax machines have not gone away, and many reports have even stated that over in Japan, a country heavily invested in new technology, that fax machine sales were still booming. This may be partly due to the ease of use, but also because sending a document through fax can be more secure from hackers or the potential for it to be corrupted with viruses as an email attachment. But for companies who want to use modern technology as well as cloud software, efax is the contemporary face of faxing. Basically, this concept allows documents to transfer via the cloud without needing a physical fax machine, and it's safe and reliable.
Even though mobile ordering and cashless transactions are where most consumers are going now to make purchases, cash registers at the point of sale aren't likely to go out of style. As this article shows, cash registers are as inexpensive as ever, and no matter what kind of business you run, you should always be ready to handle cash payments. Modern technology can still be integrated with cash registers both to update invoices, and to make sure your financial reports are accurate.
In conclusion, while it isn't recommended that you roll back all your new technology to the ways of the past, there can still be equipment in the office that doesn't have to be thrown out just yet. It's often good to take a look at how efficient your current equipment is running, and if there is newer technology that is free of bugs that would be worth the investment for your company because it can improve your bottom line, then you can upgrade your company with it. Otherwise, consider finding new uses for your old equipment.
For as long as there’s business technology, there’s going to be a need for IT. Managing your own IT can be a hassle and take time away from building, expanding, and running your business. Have you considered co-managed IT services? We know how to make your tech run as efficiently as possible, and if problems arise, we will fix them so that you don’t have to worry about it. You can spend your time doing what you should be doing.