| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Do I need a land line and a fax machine? Thread poster: Rachel E
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:22
Spanish to English
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| No landline or fax | Sep 2, 2012 |
I don't have a landline and I get by fine. I live in a rural area of Spain and my internet connection is wifi - it's enough for my purposes and about as reliable as landline internet AFAIK. We get occasional outages but not usually for long. And as for fax - isn't that a bit 20th century? If a client ever insists on sending/receiving something by fax I just nip out to the nearest cyber cafe or other premises where they have one.
| | | | inkweaver 
Germany
Local time: 08:22
French to German
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| Internet connection is enough | Sep 2, 2012 |
I have been running my business for almost five years now, solely by email.
I think faxes are completely outdated and as far as telephones are concerned, I'm just no telephone person and both my landline and my mobile number are private and that's the way it's going to stay. 
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 08:22
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Giles Watson wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
What would the added advantage of a landline be over a cellphone, do you think? Well, you don't have to recharge a landline every couple of days 
Well, if you keep your cellphone in one location in all day long like you keep your landline phone in one location in all day long, then you don't need to recharge your cellphone either.
Nicole Schnell wrote:
I highly recommend a land line because they run on a separate grid. Technically you can hook up your laptop to your phone outlet and you can deliver your job, slowly but reliable.
My house has a old style grid landline connection, but isn't connected to anything. Instead, my landline phone is plugged into my router, which in turn is plugged into a unit that is plugged into the electricity outlet in the wall. Into the router is also plugged my internet connections and my television. Is this a common scenario in developed countries these days?
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:22
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Texte Style wrote:
......It's useful to be able to call your client
I'm glad someone mentioned cost. I use a landline because here in UK using a mobile would cost me at least twice as much per month.
Unless anyone can point me in the direction of a good plan?
But I hate mobile phones. (See below).
[Edited at 2012-09-02 22:03 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:22
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
Is this a common scenario in developed countries these days?
I have no idea whether it's common or not, but a splitter is plugged into my landline phone socket. Into the splitter are plugged my router and my ordinary phone. My router is connected by an Ethernet cable to my MacBook Pro, into which is plugged a nice big Apple 20" Cinema Display, into which is plugged a full-size Italian Apple keyboard, into which is plugged an Apple Mighty Mouse.
That's how this message got to you. I'm happy with this set-up. It works well. I hate mobile phones and although I have one I never use it. I am NOT always available.
Another reason why I hate mobile phones is that I hate carrying stuff around. Another is that I can't see them so I also have to look for my glasses. All of which is a royal PITA.
I think I last used fax about 10 years ago. I wouldn't think it's necessary.
[Edited at 2012-09-02 22:03 GMT]
| | | | finnword1
United States
Local time: 02:22
English to Finnish
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| fax is obsolete | Sep 2, 2012 |
I do have a fax machine somewhere, but it's been gathering dust for years. I would not accept faxed documents anyway.
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 23:22
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Similar here. | Sep 3, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
Is this a common scenario in developed countries these days?
I have no idea whether it's common or not, but a splitter is plugged into my landline phone socket. Into the splitter are plugged my router and my ordinary phone. My router is connected by an Ethernet cable to my MacBook Pro, into which is plugged a nice big Apple 20" Cinema Display, into which is plugged a full-size Italian Apple keyboard, into which is plugged an Apple Mighty Mouse.
Poor cable company had to dig up the street to meet my obnoxious demands. Other than that, the set-up is similar: cable from the street, splitter and amplifier in the wall, we drilled a hole through the wall, for whatever reason three cable boxes and routers have been installed, the office phones (same cable company) are wired, computers and printers use a WLAN.
I hate mobile phones and although I have one I never use it. I am NOT always available.
Another reason why I hate mobile phones is that I hate carrying stuff around. Another is that I can't see them so I also have to look for my glasses. All of which is a royal PITA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_throwing
I think I last used fax about 10 years ago. I wouldn't think it's necessary.
I use my fax machine quite a lot because it also serves as a color copier. I also comes handy when communicating with the tax accountant, to send all those annual tax forms to US companies, to send signed contracts and NDAs within a minute (especially when the original was sent as a non-editable form, sigh. Signing those things and sending them as a fax is much faster than converting files, slapping my signature on them, saving them again, filing them, making an extra print-out for bookkeeping, etc.)
Edited for typo.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 01:33 GMT]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 23:22
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
Texte Style wrote:
I have my landline bundled in with the internet service and I can call for free anywhere in Europe, the US, Canada and some other places. It's useful to be able to call your client without having to worry about the cost, if a misunderstanding has cropped up or if you have thorny questions about your translation. Not to mention calling our many family members abroad!
When I am on the phone with my friends, folks and clients overseas, I don't want to count the minutes. Those phone calls can last up to two hours. Mobile phone? I am not insane.
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 23:22
English to German
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In memoriam | An anecdote / recent and true story | Sep 3, 2012 |
As savvy as they may seem in terms of mobile phones, tablets and whatnot gadgets, young people can turn out to be extremely stupid when it comes to basic technology.
A dialog on the phone between a young PM and me. I had just faxed a signed contract.
PM: "Hi Nicole, there must be something wrong with your fax machine. I can't read it. Can you send it again?"
Nicole: "No problem, sorry for that. I will resend it right away."
PM (seemingl... See more As savvy as they may seem in terms of mobile phones, tablets and whatnot gadgets, young people can turn out to be extremely stupid when it comes to basic technology.
A dialog on the phone between a young PM and me. I had just faxed a signed contract.
PM: "Hi Nicole, there must be something wrong with your fax machine. I can't read it. Can you send it again?"
Nicole: "No problem, sorry for that. I will resend it right away."
PM (seemingly frustrated): "Nicole, I can still not read that fax. I received all pages, but they are not legible. Can you try again, please?"
Nicole: "Why are the pages illegible?"
PM: "They are all much too pale and the lines are too thin. Can you adjust the contrast on your fax machine, please?"
Nicole: "When was the last time you replaced the toner on your fax machine?"
PM: "Ooops, you are right, there's a light flashing, and it says 'ink'." ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Live with the times and see what you need when you need it | Sep 3, 2012 |
Just to throw in my two cents' worth, I must say that a fax machine has never been required of me since I have been translating, except by -- wait for it -- the French administration. Luckily a trip to my local tourist board to receive a fax has saved me on those occassions.
I have only been translating since this century -- translators with more years under their belts have their own ways of handling business -- but I certainly don't think a new translator should be investing what ... See more Just to throw in my two cents' worth, I must say that a fax machine has never been required of me since I have been translating, except by -- wait for it -- the French administration. Luckily a trip to my local tourist board to receive a fax has saved me on those occassions.
I have only been translating since this century -- translators with more years under their belts have their own ways of handling business -- but I certainly don't think a new translator should be investing what little capital is available for such obsolete equipment. Besides, there are enough necessary expenditures to be made when starting out, such as various forms of marketing and paying your bills as you wait for your first invoices to become payable, as you'll realize soon enough.
The best thing to do is keep your money and spend it when your needs become concrete, i.e. when you find yourself really wishing that you had that extra something to help you carry out your work more easily. Various computer equipment and programs come to mind, but just which ones you should choose will reveal themselves to you in time.
Best wishes! ▲ Collapse
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After 16 years in business, I would definitely go for the land line with a cable/DSL connection for your work, since more and more customers offer online work which you might be interested in. Also, many customers will send you very large reference materials or work files for your jobs. In the middle run, a mobile Internet would thus probably cost you a lot more than a cable/DSL connection, and would not be as fast or reliable.
A land line will also give a more professional impressi... See more After 16 years in business, I would definitely go for the land line with a cable/DSL connection for your work, since more and more customers offer online work which you might be interested in. Also, many customers will send you very large reference materials or work files for your jobs. In the middle run, a mobile Internet would thus probably cost you a lot more than a cable/DSL connection, and would not be as fast or reliable.
A land line will also give a more professional impression. This is just a very personal opinion though. However, it would be kind of drawback if you plan to move to different residences every now and then.
As for a physical fax line and machine... no need for that. We have had a fax machine in the office for 16 years and nowadays send/receive about 2/3 faxes a year. The fax machine has its uses as the last resource and it makes (some) sense here for our busy team of 4 people, but in your case it would be a waste of money, if you ask me.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Is it a public WiFi? | Sep 3, 2012 |
neilmac wrote:
I don't have a landline and I get by fine. I live in a rural area of Spain and my internet connection is wifi - it's enough for my purposes and about as reliable as landline internet AFAIK. We get occasional outages but not usually for long.
This is sheer curiosity: do you mean that you use a public, free WiFi? How does that relate to safety of your connection in general?
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 23:22
English to German
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In memoriam | Never call any technologies obsolete simply because you don't use them | Sep 3, 2012 |
verslanglais wrote:
Live with the times and see what you need when you need it
I have only been translating since this century -- translators with more years under their belts have their own ways of handling business -- but I certainly don't think a new translator should be investing what little capital is available for such obsolete equipment. Besides, there are enough necessary expenditures to be made when starting out, such as various forms of marketing and paying your bills as you wait for your first invoices to become payable, as you'll realize soon enough.
The very moment when you have to outsource serious DTP to Graphic Designers or while proofing DTP-"masterpieces" that have been sent by your client and have been committed by some person who doesn't speak the language of the target text, doesn't know what he is doing, has never learned proper typography, is most certainly paid minimum wage and secretly hates this stupid job and apparently is a blind person working in a darkroom, you will curse your own comment. Do you really prefer to write half a novel regarding your description, e.g. "the 'O' in the middle needs to be of such size that its outline to the left will be aligned with the first 'L' on the left of the 'A' in the previous line, whereas its outline to the right must not exceed the right edge of the 'G' in the previous line, and the base must align with the lower tips of the quotation marks over simply taking your pen, draw two lines and send it through the fax?
| | | | | Everyone finds their own way of working | Sep 3, 2012 |
Nicole Schnell wrote: The very moment when you have to outsource serious DTP to Graphic Designers or while proofing DTP-"masterpieces" that have been sent by your client and have been committed by some person who doesn't speak the language of the target text, doesn't know what he is doing, has never learned proper typography, is most certainly paid minimum wage and secretly hates this stupid job and apparently is a blind person working in a darkroom, you will curse your own comment. Do you really prefer to write half a novel regarding your description, e.g. "the 'O' in the middle needs to be of such size that its outline to the left will be aligned with the first 'L' on the left of the 'A' in the previous line, whereas its outline to the right must not exceed the right edge of the 'G' in the previous line, and the base must align with the lower tips of the quotation marks over simply taking your pen, draw two lines and send it through the fax?
I do understand your point, Nicole, but personally I find that scanning is much quicker. I have never needed a fax, in spite of recognizing this type of situation.
For someone new to the trade, I'm afraid a fax might not be among the first investments that need to be made, but it's true that this implies having a scanner.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 09:35 GMT]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 23:22
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam | Then I would have to buy a scanner | Sep 3, 2012 |
verslanglais wrote: I do understand your point, Nicole, but personally I find that scanning is much quicker. I have never needed a fax, in spite of recognizing this type of situation. For someone new to the trade, I'm afraid a fax might not be among the first investments that need to be made, but it's true that this implies having a scanner.
Why would a translator need a scanner? I see:
- Instead of printing a page, draw a line or an arrow and simply stuff the page into the fax (receipt automatically)
- you would rather print a page, draw a line or an arrow, scan it again, file it in some file folder, send it via email, and to make sure that the file has arrived OK you send a copy to yourself.
Ahhh, modern times.
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