The Web is a wacky place and as a designer, I work with literally hundreds of people over the course of a year, each with their own unique needs.
One of the more interesting requests I’ve received over the past few months was from a small business, a restaurant in fact, who wanted to have a web site with an online takeout menu, complete with credit cards but did not have a computer hand to receive orders.
This was an interesting situation and not nearly as isolated as some might think. I’ve known dozens of retail stores and even small manufacturing centers who simply didn’t have a computer system for their entry level employees, be that warehouse staff or kitchen staff.
To overcome this simple but daunting obstacle, we implemented an email-to-fax gateway. This is a straightforward and low cost solution provided by a wide range of carriers across the US (mine is provided by my local phone company) and it simple converts any incoming email messages directly to a predefined fax number, resulting in the order being printed right beside the hostess, within seconds of being processed online.
Now, clients are free to order directly from the Web site and their order is received immediately by the correct staff without the need for expensive (and often cumbersome) computers.