Jul 1, 2025

Why Smart Businesses in Perth Still Rely on Faxing Machines—and How PrintCom Keeps Them Running Smoothly

Walk into almost any busy legal practice, medical clinic, or construction firm in Western Australia (WA) and you will still spot at least one trusty faxing machine whirring beside the newer multifunction devices. Despite email, cloud storage, and instant messaging platforms, many organisations in Perth continue to depend on the humble fax for secure, time-stamped document transmission. Industry surveys estimate that 80 % of healthcare providers and 60 % of government departments nationwide still fax daily because the method complies with privacy regulations and offers a verifiable audit trail.

This reliance, however, introduces a challenge: keeping ageing yet indispensable equipment functional while juggling modern printers, copiers, and scanners. Breakdowns stall patient referrals, contract approvals, and purchase orders—costing staff hours and eroding client trust. That’s where PrintCom, a Perth-based specialist with more than 35 years of hands-on experience across Brother, Kyocera, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Oki, Epson, Fuji Xerox, and Samsung devices, steps in. By combining certified technicians, rapid on-site repairs, flexible rentals, and extended warranties up to five years, PrintCom eliminates fax-related headaches and slashes overall print costs.

In the next few minutes, you will learn why faxing remains irreplaceable for many industries, what risks hide behind an outdated maintenance approach, and how PrintCom’s integrated service model keeps every page flowing—whether it is sent across town or across the globe. Ready to uncover the facts that might surprise even your tech-savvy colleagues?

The Enduring Value of a Faxing Machine in the Digital Age

At first glance, relying on a technology that debuted in the mid-1800s (Alexander Bain’s chemical telegraph) seems counterintuitive. Yet usage data reveals a different story: global fax traffic fell only 3 % annually between 2018 and 2024, far less than analysts predicted. Why the staying power? Three intertwined factors—compliance, certainty, and convenience—drive the trend.

• Compliance requirements. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Privacy Act 1988, and various banking standards still recognise fax as a secure transmission method because documents never reside on third-party servers.
• Legal admissibility. Courts accept faxed signatures automatically, whereas e-signatures sometimes demand additional verification steps.
• Universal accessibility. Every stakeholder, regardless of bandwidth or software limitations, can receive printed pages instantly—no login, passwords, or plug-ins required.

Moreover, real-time confirmation reports let administrators prove a file reached its destination, protecting them from claims of nondelivery. When the stakes involve multimillion-dollar tenders or patient prescriptions, that extra peace of mind outweighs the perceived inefficiency of analog technology. Consequently, rather than discarding fax altogether, progressive businesses streamline it alongside other channels—often via multifunction printers (MFPs) that scan, copy, and fax through a single interface.

The Hidden Costs of Neglecting Fax and Print Maintenance

Even one jammed paper feed or toner leak can bring operations to a standstill. A recent Deloitte operational audit of 150 Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) revealed that unplanned printer downtime costs an average of AUD 2,300 per hour in lost productivity and rush-order courier fees. Multiply that by recurring weekly incidents, and an enterprise burns over AUD 100,000 annually—often silently.

Many organisations attempt to contain expenses by delaying service calls or purchasing generic consumables. Unfortunately, these quick fixes backfire through higher failure rates, voided warranties, and premature hardware replacement. PrintCom technicians frequently encounter scenarios where a AUD 30 aftermarket cartridge calcified inside a faxing machine’s drum assembly, triggering a AUD 600 repair quote that could have been avoided with a genuine part.

When you factor in staff frustration and missed client deadlines, the intangible costs overshadow the ledger entries. Proactive servicing, therefore, is not a luxury but a financial safeguard—especially for fax-dependent sectors such as property management and freight logistics.

How PrintCom’s Integrated Service Model Drives Reliability

PrintCom differentiates itself through a cradle-to-grave approach that blends hardware choice, preventative maintenance, and flexible financing. Rather than simply selling a device, the company maps your document workflow end-to-end, pinpoints bottlenecks, and recommends the optimal mix of fax units, MFPs, and network printers.

Consider these core pillars:

1. Authorized brand portfolio. As an accredited dealer for Brother, Kyocera, HP, Epson, Oki, Fuji Xerox, and Samsung, PrintCom offers dozens of models certified for Australian Telstra and National Broadband Network (NBN) lines—essential for crystal-clear fax transmissions.
2. Qualified on-site technicians. Every engineer holds manufacturer-specific credentials, enabling fast diagnosis without voiding warranties. Many repairs finish within two hours of arrival.
3. Extended warranties up to five years. These cover parts, labour, and even loan machines, so your team never sits idle.
4. Maintenance contracts and consumables supply. Predictable monthly fees include scheduled servicing, firmware updates, and automatic toner restocking, slashing unexpected expenditure.
5. Rental and leasing options. Cash-flow-conscious startups can deploy top-tier equipment for a fraction of the purchase price while enjoying full service cover.
6. Cost-reduction analytics. PrintCom’s monitoring software tracks print volumes and energy usage, then suggests right-sizing strategies that often cut total cost of ownership (TCO) by 30 % within the first year.

By integrating these elements, PrintCom removes the traditional tug-of-war between finance and operations: capital expenditure turns into an operating expense, while uptime rises to enterprise-grade levels. For multinational customers with branch offices from Joondalup to Rockingham, centralised billing and uniform service-level agreements (SLAs) simplify compliance reporting.

Real-World Case Studies: Fax-Centric Workflows That Thrive

1. Perth Heart Specialists (PHS). The cardiology clinic faxes 500 patient referrals weekly to regional hospitals. Legacy machines failed bi-monthly, risking appointment delays. PrintCom deployed four Brother MFC-L6900DW units under a maintenance contract, bundled with high-yield toners and 24-hour loaner support. Outcome: referral turnaround cut by 18 %, and downtime dropped to near zero.

2. Swan Valley Construction Group (SVCG). Site managers fax signed delivery dockets to headquarters for payment release. Dust and temperature fluctuations caused roller wear. PrintCom’s rugged Kyocera ECOSYS line, paired with quarterly on-site servicing, kept workflows uninterrupted. Additionally, PrintCom’s analytics flagged underused printers, allowing SVCG to reduce device count by 20 % and save AUD 8,700 annually.

3. Western Legal Aid Society (WLAS). Court filings must arrive via fax before 4 p.m. daily. PrintCom installed redundant HP LaserJet Enterprise MFPs with dual fax modems and cloud-backed phone lines. Should the primary modem fail, the secondary route activates automatically. WLAS has not missed a submission deadline in 30 months, boosting its compliance rating.

Seven Best Practices to Keep Your Fax Fleet Future-Proof

While PrintCom handles the heavy lifting, following these actionable tips will stretch each machine’s lifespan and maintain pristine document quality:

• Schedule a preventive service every 100,000 pages or six months, whichever comes first.
• Store genuine toner and ink in a climate-controlled cabinet to prevent clumping.
• Enable automatic fax confirmation reports to create a digital archive for auditing.
• Upgrade firmware quarterly to fortify against emerging telephony security vulnerabilities.
• Install surge protectors or uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to shield delicate fax boards from power spikes.
• Label each printer with a unique asset tag and service hotline for rapid fault logging.
• Educate staff with a 15-minute training session on clearing minor jams safely, reducing unnecessary call-outs.

Implementing these habits, especially when combined with PrintCom’s maintenance plan, can extend the operational lifespan of a faxing machine by up to three additional years, according to internal service metrics compiled from over 5,000 Perth installations.

Faxing Machine Technology: What’s Next on the Horizon?

Manufacturers have not stood still. Modern units now convert analog phone signals into Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) packets, integrate Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for searchable PDFs, and feature Near Field Communication (NFC) authentication to prevent unauthorised use. PrintCom’s showroom in Osborne Park showcases Kyocera TASKalfa systems with Super G3 modems that transmit a page in under three seconds, reducing line charges by nearly 30 %.

Security is also advancing. End-to-end Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption tunnels fax data through secure gateways, meeting the stringent ISO 27001 information security management standard. For regulated industries exploring digital transformation, hybrid solutions such as Fax over IP with cloud storage provide the best of both worlds: paperless filing and backward compatibility with traditional machines.

PrintCom’s consultants continuously test emerging technology in partnership with Telstra and NBN Co to assure compatibility across Perth’s evolving fibre network. Their commitment ensures clients never invest in hardware soon to be obsolete.

Reliable pages at the press of a button—that’s the promise smart Perth businesses unlock when they pair modern faxing machines with PrintCom’s all-inclusive expertise.

Imagine workflows where every referral, contract, or delivery docket travels instantly without a single jam, while your finance team applauds shrinking operational costs and predictable budgets.

How much more could your organisation achieve if document transmission became the most effortless part of the day?