Machines and equipment are a significant part to the successful running of any office. We require different types of machines in an office that are essential to perform office tasks quickly and accurately. With rapid technological advancements, there is an increase in the efficiency of office work due to the transfer of high equipped machinery. The use of the office has the following purposes:
• Increase in accuracy: One of the purposes of using machines is the accuracy of work especially in every department like attendance monitoring, accounting, sale, purchase, etc.
• Time-saving: Machines do more work than they do by hand. They work faster, so there's more time savings.
• Employee Savings: few workers can handle large amount of labor and therefore there is a saving of labor.
• Improving the quality of work: Work done by machines is usually clean and neat.
• Ensure better management: The functioning of the office empowers managers to manage tasks effectively. For example, a biometric thumb impression machine can help manage the attendance of employees.
• Improving goodwill: Use of equipment results in better service to customers and the public. This enhances the reputation of the organization.
• Mitigation of fraud opportunities: Equipment such as cash register, etc imposes a check on fraud and misuse.
Types of office equipment
Learners must have seen various modern offices. Have you noticed that the offices have turned to automation? Computers can read, store, analyse and interpret information quickly. In the mail room, letters can be opened, sealed, sealed, picked up, weighted and automatically checked with the help of shipping machines. Messages can be sent from one location to another in no time via tele-printer, fax, telephone or internet. Some of the important equipment can be defined as:
• Computer: These days, computer is the most commonly used equipment in office. A computer is a machine that can perform various tasks such as calculation, data comparisons, information storage, data analysis and preparation of diagrams and charts.
• Photocopier Machine: Photocopier is a machine that makes copies of the paper and other images. It is quick and cheap. Nowadays, photocopiers can print very fast. They even have memory chip which can store the data.
• Biometric Thumb Impression machine: In large organizations, arrival and departure of employees is electronically recorded. Thumb impression or swipe card can be used for the same purposes. Employees are given a card with a magnetic strip on it; by swiping them using time recording equipment, arrival and departure times are recorded.
• Phone/ Intercom: Nowadays, it's impossible to imagine an office without a phone. It's an easy way to communicate orally widely used in internal and external communications. Cell phones are also very popular nowadays. Compared to fixed phones, mobiles are easier to communicate with at any time. It's also easy to send SMS over the phone. For inter-department communication, an automated communication system i.e., Intercom can be used.
• Currency counting machine: This machine is very helpful for departments managing cash. Manual counting of cash may result in mismatch with the cash of balance sheet. It increases accuracy and efficiency.
• Calculator: We need concentration during the calculations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, percentages, etc. So, calculator can help us for the same and errors can be reduced.
• Fax: FAX service enables instant transmission of the facsimile of an entire document. It can send handwritten and printed with pictures, charts and diagrams to different locations within or outside the country. As a result, both the time and labor both is reduced.
• Projector: It is a good medium of communication. Through projection, one can communicate the planning and policies between the audiences.
• Printer and Scanner: Printer and scanner are essential for office management. We have a variety of printer and scanner like dot matrix printer, inkjet printer, 3D printer, etc. Even now one machine can be used for multiple purposes like 3-in-1 printer i.e. printer, scanner and photocopier.
• Paper Shredder: In offices, there are two types of documents. One, those are related to office policies and second, those of no use after some time i.e. the document with validity. After some time, there is no use to keep such records. So, we can remove such documents. But, if we remove documents as it is, it may disclose the confidentiality of office. So, we should crush the documents first by using the paper shredder machine. This machine cuts the paper in small-small pieces. No one can read the text written over the document.