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THE RIGHT COMMUNICATIONS

You need to buy a fast modem; choose the faster feasible modem on general supply (say ?150 – ?200). A modem – either installed internally within your computer or attached externally – lets you communicate with others direct from your computer screen using your phone line. You can send and receive e-mail and faxes, which can be read on screen, printed out, saved wherever you choose on your system and even dropped into other files you are working on, such as a database or a word-processed report. E-mail, in particular, is very flexible, allowing you to send and receive whole files, not just simple messages. A modem can also open up the world of the Internet to you, giving you the ability to explore external databases, gather information from governments, libraries, universities, companies and others. it is now possible to get on to the Internet for the cost of a local call from virtually anywhere in the UK, so ‘surfing the Net’ need not be costly.

You will not need a modem if you opt for a digital phone line – either ISDN or ADSL (broadband). These are fast, high quality communication links that are appropriate if your internet usage is high or you frequently need to download or upload very large amounts of data. ADSL is not available in all parts of the UK.

Phone systems are also important. Even if you are working in the home, and there is only one of you, install a separate business line. For using a fax, e-mail and the internet, you should have a second line, but you could use that line for all three purposes unless you are expecting a lot of traffic.

On your phone system if you are working from home, you want all the services such as call diversion, call waiting and voice mail. These allow you to present a more professional image to the outside world. Once your business is beyond the one-person stage, spend some time researching to find a telephone system which meets your requirements, as an inadequate system leads to inefficient working.

For your fax machine, select a plain paper fax which can double as a photocopier if your only need is for the odd one or two pages to be copied (if you’ll need to copy a lot, get a dedicated photocopier). A plain paper fax is much more convenient than the old-fashioned paper roll type and well worth the extra money. If you regularly need large amounts of copying, consider buying your own photocopier. Alternatively, you can set up your computer to send and receive faxes. This will not suit everyone. On some systems, your work session on the computer is interrupted if a very large fax is coming in. And sending handwritten comments on a document can be more cumbersome because you’ll need to scan in the document first.

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