I was recently asked by a client to help research and ultimately set up a new fax machine that could simultaneously print and email received faxes to one or more email addresses. With it being 2009, I thought this would be an easy task. Unfortunately, it seems that having the ability to both create a hard copy of a fax and email it simultaneously is actually quite the ordeal – at least when trying to configure Xerox’s Faxcentre 2121.

The back story: I picked this machine because it was about the same price as subscribing to an online fax delivery service which would offer comparable features (although ultimately at a higher cost after about a year and half of service once the fax line costs are factored in along with the long distance forwarding charges and monthly subscription fees as the client receives 50 – 100 pages of faxes on a given day). Any other machine that allowed faxes to be emailed was in a much, much higher cost bracket.

I don’t want this post to be a total bitch fest so here’s what the Faxcentre 2121 does well:
- It scans quick
- Prints really quick
- Copies in a flash
- Can send SMS texts (Yes, really. But is it useful? Not sure.)
- It’s quiet

Now, here’s what this machine doesn’t do so well:
- Use language in the manual that actually relates to configuring the feature request at hand… What does “WITH, WITHOUT, and F@X” mean?!
- Convert a fax to a PDF file and send as an email attachment upon receipt
- Provide a functional, usable web based interface for the administrator (the login screen tells me that “this website is designed to work properly with Internet Explorer version 4 or greater. If you’re using another browser or a previous version, some pages might not appear correctly) that lets the machine get updated through a remote desktop or from somewhere else in the office.
- Provide any kind of feedback if the administrator has entered invalid feature configuration settings

Getting the simultaneous email/fax option has been a rather large time burglar as of late. My biggest complaint and ultimate reason I haven’t been able to make any progress getting the fax to email option up and running is that there’s no error message returned to me when I’ve made some changes to the machine. Sure, setting up the basic functionality was easy enough, giving the machine a dedicated IP address, name and turning on shared printing. However, the Faxcentre 2121 started to severely misbehave when I actually wanted to use the client’s ultimate power feature: the creation of a PDF copy of a received fax which is then emailed to the client’s primary email address.

To try to understand my frustration with this machine, look at the screenshot below. What do any of these options actually mean? To me, nothing.

Adding to this pain, all the configuration for this machine is done on an exceptionally long scrolling page that when stitched together is over 8000 pixels long. There’s no separation of major features, no encouraging language that will help someone configuring the machine move in the right direction and no way to test updated settings other than to send a fax to the machine and hope the updates to the machine’s settings have worked (ah, so much wasted paper has gone through this machine).

Fellow reader, why don’t you scroll along with me in 1/8th scale:

Wasn’t that fun?

Anyway, back to why I’ve written this post. Xerox, I like your products. I’ve always been impressed with the Phaser and Docutech products and very soon I’ll be investing in new Phaser for the office. But, what I don’t like about you right now is your reliance on stone aged configuration interfaces and abstract use of the English language that make configuring your machines about as fun as visiting the proctologist. To correct these problems, I don’t think it would take an incredible amount of capital on your part to pretty up the web based interfaces for products like the Phaser or Faxcentre. You don’t even have to go all out with your support for HTML. Just mimic the web based interface for say a Linksys router or the web based interfaces the HP’s printer products are using to allow them to be configured. They’re clean, easy to use and although not crystal clear in the language department let me set up new devices or my network relatively easily.

On top of a new web based interface, it would be nice to have a help/tips section that would highlight some of the power uses that a product like the Faxcentre 2121 may have and how easy it is to set these features up and use them. It would be very helpful to have a page that asks the user what she’d like to do with the machine. For instance, a feature highlight could be something along the lines of: “I’d like to send a copy of the faxes my machine receives to an email account of my choice. How do I do this?” If I were to click on that link I’d be greeted with some friendly language that would walk me through the configuration settings that would need to be enabled to allow the feature to be activated on the device.

Finally, it would be great to have a way to test configurations to ensure that the feature that the user want to use is indeed active and configured properly. In the case of sending an email when a fax is received on the Faxcentre 2121 it would be amazing to click a “TEST” button to make sure that my network settings, DNS servers, SMTP server and email account are all configured properly to allow the machine do accomplish the task at hand. If something is incorrectly configured it would be great to know which setting needs to be changed or reset so that I can work towards getting my new device working properly with a minimum amount of fuss.

Somewhere down the road, a firmware update could create a web interface that is welcoming, usable and actually an aid in setting up a product like the Faxcentre 2121. Ultimately, though, to invest the time and money needed to create a better configuration experience I think Xerox needs to take a step back, take a good, hard look at the products the company offers and focus on making the customer’s interaction with the products, specifically during the set up process, as pain free and pleasureable as possible. It seems that setting up a device like the Faxcentre 2121 to take advantage of its advanced features is merely an afterthought to Xerox.

Until Xerox changes (if they ever do), I’ll have to wait for Level 2 Tech Support to help me with this machine and hopefully send a registered Xerox rep out to the client’s place of business to get this machine working. I just hope the Xerox rep has more luck than I have thus far.

A few feature requests…

1. A half can size… Sometimes you only need a taste…

2. More drink flavours based on the green formula…

3. More frequent stocking of Assault. A few droughts last year… Can’t handle that shit.

4. Monster candies. Def gotta have a variety pack.

5. Caffeine free? I love the taste… Tired of feeling like a crusty custy…

Thank you

My Blackberry has become an indispensable tool I use on a daily basis. It lets me know if one of my servers is having uptime issues or, even worse, has crashed, enter new contacts when I’m out and about, find where I need to go through Google Maps, and even send and receive the “occasional” email.

However, I’ve stumble upon a couple of feature requests I’d love to see in the next revision of the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) software.

1. The ability to support two or more paired Blackberries on a single Exchange account

Yes, believe it or not, I ran into this problem last month. A client of mine has a general email account that three in office employees are using simultaneously through Outlook. The account was paired with a Blackberry 8700 in case one of the office employees has to leave the office to run errands.

After an employee left the company, my client realised they had an extra Blackberry 8700 laying around the office. After resetting the Blackberry, I told my client that it might be a good idea to pair the Blackberry with the general email account so that two employees could continue to monitor messages coming into the account while outside of the office.

I thought that it would be an easy process to pair this Blackberry to the general email account, seeing as adding Blackberries to Exchange accounts has become second nature to me. Unfortunately, as I found out, it’s impossible to pair multiple Blackberries to a single Exchange account due to BES software and security limitations.

Now, I can see why BES would only allow one Blackberry to be used with an Exchange account. Sure, there’s a big security issue with having multiple portable devices paired with an Exchange account. But at the same time, such a set up is no more insecure than an office where 3 or 4 work stations are using a common Exchange account. So, frazzled after a couple of hours of mucking around and a call or two to some technicians I gave up. As I was told on the phone, “What you’re looking to do is impossible.”

2. Allow Blackberry devices to open and use shared contacts from Exchange accounts

Again, we’re going back to the office of the same client. Their general Exchange account, “generalmail@company.com,” is also the shared contacts account that the rest of the company uses. Opening the shared contacts from the account “generalmail@company.com” works great for all users accessing their Exchange accounts through Outlook. Users can access the latest contacts and email, phone or fax with ease and also add to the contact list as needed. Unfortunately, on the Blackberry, easily accessing these shared contacts becomes an impossible task.

One obvious solution to accessing the shared contacts on a Blackberry device would be to start using the Global Address Book. A recent software update to BES allows users to access their Global Address Book from their Blackberry. The biggest issue with the Global Address Book is that it’s limited to 500 entered contacts. But since the company has about 1000 shared contacts in the general Exchange account, using the Global Address Book to access and manage contacts through their Blackberries isn’t an option.

In the mean time, the company’s president has to copy the contacts from the general account’s shared contacts to his personal contact list when he wants to add any new contacts to his Blackberry. It’s not an arduous task, but it’s 10 minutes of copying and pasting time that’s spent every week making sure that the latest contacts are available on his Blackberry. And over the course of the year, 10 minutes a week adds up to a lot of time.

So, Research In Motion, perhaps you’re already working on these enhancements. I don’t think these issues are ones that will prevent an organisation from deploying a fleet of Blackberries for their employees, but I think they are features that can definitely be taken advantage of by companies who have customised email environments. Off the top of my head, I can think of 2 organisations I deal with in addition to my own office that could benefit from the ability to pair multiple Blackberries with a common Exchange account and open shared contact lists on the Blackberry.

Perhaps other Internerds have some other suggestions that can stoke the code fires of the RIM Blackberry Enterprise Server development team?