Fax Still Popular Among UK Small Firms

New research shows the fax machine is still popular among the UK's small business community, just like other traditional office staples such as printers and ink and toner cartridges.

Research by chip maker Intel found that the fax machine – which came to prominence in the early 1980s – is used on a daily basis by 40.5 per cent of IT users.

The study suggests while there are a plethora of technologies that allow firms to send documents quickly and electronically, many of them aren't being put in use by small firms.

Despite the perceived popularity of tablets, Intel's survey found they are currently used for work purposes by just 1.4 per cent of IT users. A laptop is used by 36.4 per cent and a smartphone by 16.2 per cent of IT users.

If it's easy to send a fax or print a document using ink cartridges, perhaps it's a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' for the UK's small businesses.

But Intel said small companies were put off adopting new technologies such as tablets and cloud computing because of a lack of financial and human resources.

Graham Palmer, managing director of Intel UK, said: "It's clear that as SMEs tighten their purse strings, buying new technologies falls to the bottom of the list of priorities.

"Yet, it's important that IT decision makers weigh the advantages, such as the increased efficiency and flexibility delivered by mobile devices, against the cost."

Posted by Johnny McMaster.