Church bulletins are an essential tool for welcoming first-time visitors and members to your church community. Even in the digital age, there is no disputing the church bulletin is an important component in how a church communicates. A study by Thom S. Rainer confirmed that most churches still use some form of a printed bulletin, and most guests expect to be handed something by a greeter when they enter the church.
Also called a worship folder, worship guide, or information guide, these printed pages are likely the one thing visitors and members will take home with them. The professionals at Copiers Plus can help you produce the ideal printed communication for your unique fellowship community. Just like that perfectly-placed tennis serve, they’ll help you to find the ‘sweet spot’ with customized managed print solutions.
In the era of the 24-hour news cycle and an ever-growing avalanche of social media, we all suffer from information overload. Limiting your church bulletin to the “basics” will help to avoid key frustrations of this medium:
According to an analysis by church management specialist Rich Birch, “The largest churches tended to have the smallest bulletins.” Birch recommends the following “essentials” be included:
While these standard components are critical, your church’s mission is both universal AND unique; to that end, it’s equally important to deploy language and design that reflects the unique culture and demographics of your congregation. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to shape an overall tone that is loving, welcoming, accepting, and inviting. You may include an Order of Service to guide new-comers, or mission opportunities that highlight your church’s involvement with the community and throughout the world.
Lots of free or low-cost templates for church bulletins are available:
Whether or not your church uses bulletins, Copiers Plus can help your church evaluate and innovate communication strategies for visitors and members. Request an appointment with our team to see how your church can benefit from a communication strategy that is clear and relevant.
Merriam Webster defines digerati as: persons well versed in computer use and technology. In today’s workplace, this also means you’re a champion of digital transformation—the integration of digital technology into every aspect of operation.
Simply put, digital transformation is about changing the way businesses interact with their customers, finding new ways to provide a consistent and positive experience, whenever and wherever they need it. Industry experts across diverse sectors see exceptional potential in cloud-based digital technologies. Are you ready to take the leap?
Bottom Line: Profitability
Though companies may balk at the initial investment for digital technologies, the payoff is often considerable. MIT reports: “the 25% of firms that excel both in digital intensity and transformation management capabilities are 26% more profitable, generate 9% more revenue from their physical assets, and achieve 12% higher market valuations than other large firms in their industries.”
The Plus Factor: Employee Satisfaction and Engagement
At Copiers Plus, our specialists advise a wide range of corporate and small-business customers on document management and managed print services—always with the goals of increasing revenues and efficiencies. Likewise, they understand digital transformation plays a key role in empowering employees. Nationally, in a recent survey of more than 1,000 employee respondents, 76% reported that having the digital tools they need at work makes them more productive. More than half, 53%, said it makes them more successful. A third said it makes them smarter, and 28% said it makes them happier.
Road Blocks to Change: The Fear Factor
Even so, implementing technological change in the workplace can present significant challenges. Seeing a potential threat to their jobs, it’s understandable that some workers might feel skeptical about the benefits of certain digital technologies. Others, may feel overwhelmed or skittish about the learning curve, especially if decision making and system deployments are conducted off-site, with little or no opportunity for their buy-in.
Plan
Organizations should plan carefully before rolling out new digital technology, building in realistic timelines for initial deployment, training, and trouble-shooting.
Assess
Mapping out a digital transformation plan should include a critical assessment of which digital tools employees need to get their jobs done more efficiently. Including employees in this planning phase can help IT specialists to pinpoint deficiencies and better understand where organizations should prioritize improvements.
Communicate Internally
Before implementing a new digital technology, always communicate to staff what is being deployed, why it is being deployed, and how it will affect each individual employee. While this may require tailoring the communication to different staff groups, these efforts are critical to engaging employees and—ultimately—creating the seamless digital transformation you’ve planned for. Further, rather than delivering just one general announcement, industry experts recommend multiple (shorter), intermittent announcements leading up to the technology roll-out.
Train
For a technology deployment to deliver the best possible return on investment, organizations need to ensure that staff are using that technology correctly and channeling its full potential. When workers understand the full range of functionality, the payoff doubles: employees feel higher satisfaction at work and employers assure cost-effectiveness of their investment—a win-win for all.
It’s a classic business 101 understanding: Operating costs dictate growth and ultimately success. More and more, today’s managers seek ways to optimize how teams utilize resources to communicate and do their jobs.
A line-item at the top of many budget spends revolves around demand on copiers, multi-functional printers, etc. It’s not uncommon for groups to drop significant chunks of total revenue on related printing expenses.
In this video, Drew Smith – our Director of Communications – offers a glimpse inside the numbers behind printing, exploring Copiers Plus process to help groups stop throwing away money with each click of the print button.
There are a plethora of technologies employed in every office environment, whether a one person operation at home or in a brick-and-morter location with dozens of employees. Copiers Plus Director of Communications Drew Smith shares insights into the role technology helps his company — and his customers — do business.
It used to be that equipment features and specifications drove the agenda. Now, dealers must incorporate digital solutions, cloud integration, document security and print management offerings into their strategies. Deploying successful programs requires specialized talent in both sales and service, not to mention constant training on new practices and updates. With these changes, many dealers have decided to sell to larger conglomerates rather than investing in their communities they serve and tapping into their talent pool. At Copiers Plus, we are large enough to meet our customer needs and small enough to care. We focus on adapting to meet the needs of our customers and ensuring they have an option of a local company that will treat them with the detail needed for a successful document workflow solution.
A key technology we are excited about is a comprehensive remote monitoring solution called KYOCERA Fleet Services (KFS). It is helping our customers save both time and money by allowing IT professionals to monitor devices in real-time, anticipate issues, and update firmware remotely during off-peak hours. In addition, it provides data that helps determine how machines are being utilized in terms of volume and color usage. Coupling this technology with our custom tiercolor billing offering, which allows our customers to pay only for the amount of color they print on a page rather than a standard rate, we have been able to optimize how are customers approach their printing procedures.
Many companies utilize a variety of software, equipment and applications throughout their day, but they are not incorporating them all into a relevant workflow. We look at how customers are accessing, storing and securing their documents and then work to leverage their existing investments to produce a workflow that is intuitive, efficient, and customized to each end user through secure access protocols.
We have been able to adapt to technological advances by offering remote support and problem solving either over the phone or through logging in remotely to clients’ systems to make changes. In addition, we have the capability of deploying equipment that is powered by the KFS remote monitoring solution, as previously mentioned, which allows permitted IT professionals real-time access to devices across their fleet. Organizationally, we utilize vehicle tracking on our service vehicles to maintain fast response times and aid our dispatchers in route management. By ensuring we adapt our processes and operate at peak efficiency, we are able to offer lower prices to our customers without sacrificing our service standards and offerings.
We work with great partners like Kyocera Document Solutions and OnBase by Hyland, that help us to provide cutting edge equipment and digital solutions. By having this technology on the partner level, we are able to rest assured that when we meet with a client, no matter what level of sophistication they may require, we have the tools to either deploy a specific solution or work with one of our partners to create a customized build-out. Our in-house ability to provide solutions is a game changer and provides our customers with unparalleled efficiency at a much lower cost than has ever been attainable.
Our customers will spend less time manually processing documents. We believe the upcoming wave will be even more of a shift to a workflowcentric model and automation. Presently, applications, security and document management have taken center stage. We have already started shifting the paradigm with our proprietary Discovery Process that encapsulates print fleets, document management and networking systems, in anticipation that this isn’t a trend that will die out. Rather, we believe it will spread into the varying verticals and sizes of organizations we serve. Today’s users want things done fast and are aware that their data is vulnerable. Seemingly every day there are new applications and software programs that enter the market that will aid us in providing custom workflow solutions that are efficient, secure and competitive in regards to investment.
We are constantly engaging new technologies as they are released, especially in relation to solutions and software. We continue to add on to our portfolio of offerings and partnering vendors. Staying nimble is a key component to ensure that we are adapting to the needs of our customers, and truly offering a customized approach that helps them to manage their documents in an efficient and secure manner.
Have you ever had that moment where you were listening to a song you had heard a hundred times and then for the first time realized what the lyrics were saying? Or maybe you are one of the people that mistook the lyrics of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, to say “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” instead of “tiny dancer”. Sometimes we get so caught up in the rhythm, catchy choruses and our perceptions that we miss the meaning of the song as a whole.
In the same way, today’s office equipment has generally been misinterpreted. Modern multi-function devices (MFPs) are oftentimes referred to as “copy machines” and are used over and over again for only the basic features they provide. It isn’t that the devices are lacking new features, they are filled with intuitive tools out of the box, but rather that the rhythms of life in the workplace have set a course where routine is associated with comfort and adapting to change is scary.
Why is changing how we view technology procedures scary? Usually, fear thrives when there is not a strategic plan in place for how the organization can benefit and execute new technologies. Change is hard, especially if there is no assurance from training on a personal level. Often times, people would rather keep their same process because they fear being left to figure out a new way on their own.
It is important to partner with vendors you trust and that will not only provide you with valuable insight on what technology is available but also provide the training and support at the individual employee level to make it a reality for your workplace.
Now that you know what to look for to ensure your workplace can adapt to new technologies, let's uncover some potential “hidden” features of your organization’s MFPs.
Access
Assigning pin codes or key card access for users of your devices allows a foundation for security, cost control, and collaborative productivity features. Organizations need to know that their vital documents are secure and that the users accessing them are credentialed. It is important for organizations to have an audit trail created through access protocols along with records of users’ print habits. Individual user activity insights can lead to valuable cost-cutting measures for managers in an organization of any size. Though, potentially the most important feature that access protocols create are the ability for individual users to access their customized workflows and applications such as shared folders, cloud platforms and other collaborative digital outlets. You can learn more about this topic in our blog on workflow integration.
Faxing
In the past, faxing consisted of sending your documents to a fax number, waiting on a confirmation page and hoping that the file size wasn’t too large to send. Or the frustrating result of a busy signal due to high traffic from the other end of the line. This way is still used commonly today even though a more secure, cost-effective, and convenient way exists. Now, you are able to ELIMINATE your additional phone line completely, cutting that monthly cost and in addition, you no longer need a fax board for your device, saving you even more money. We offer solutions that allow you to fax through your computer or MFP in a way that establishes an audit trail of outgoing and incoming documents along with an unlimited file size capability. In short, you can fax from your desk with a more secure procedure and save money!
Scanning to Email
Users that scan to email as their primary scanning procedure are often either using Gmail, Outlook or Office 365 as their mail platform. With Kyocera hardware, you are now able to incorporate both Google and Microsoft applications that allow you to access your individual email account from the device and have any emails you send show up in your sent folder. This provides an additional audit trail and the ability for recipients of the email to reply back to you in a thread.
Cloud Storage
Whether you use personal cloud storage applications like OneDrive, DropBox, or GoogleDrive or you use large scale enterprise cloud solutions, we can help your copier or MFP integrate with them. No longer will you have to scan to your email or desktop and then save to your cloud account. You now will have the capability to sign-in on the device using your credentials and access your personal account. Through this level of access, you will be able to save documents in folders and sub-folders and even retrieve PDFs for printing, all from your device.
Private Print
Have you ever had an instance where you picked up a print job you probably shouldn’t have seen? Or maybe you printed something and then ran to the copier to retrieve it before someone else could see it. These are all too common occurrences in workplaces of all varieties. What most don’t know is that there are private print features that are built into most devices. On all new Kyocera devices, a user can go into printer properties on the print driver and select “private print” from the choices. This feature will prompt for a four-digit code and then send the file to the device. At the device, the user can find the file in the job box located on the home screen under the title private print. After finding their file the user simply enters their four-digit code and then the print job is released.
Private Print Downloadable PDF
These five tips are just a few of the many features available to users of modern MFPs and serve as a simple guideline to unleashing the potential of your devices. Copiers Plus would love the opportunity to walk you through how to incorporate these subtle changes along with additional techniques relevant to your organizational workflows.
On the Saturday before Halloween, Impact Church’s youth group ventured into the streets of Wilmington in search of clues to thwart a full-on zombie apocalypse. Known as the annual “Pumpkin Hunt,” the ghoulish quest took participants all around the Port City, ultimately leading them to Copiers Plus for a final showdown with the living dead!
Drew Smith –Director of Communications for Copiers Plus – played the role of security guard. As the group fought off monsters and rummaged through our make-shift laboratory, Drew tried his best to regulate the chaos!
“We had hints and riddles stretching from Monkey Junction to downtown along with several volunteers dressed to the nines as doctors and zombies,” Drew said. “Everything pointed them back to our office, which housed the pumpkin infected with the zombie virus strand. It was pretty intense.”
The group stumbled upon many challenges during the three-hour hunt. However, few were more unique than that presented on a single sheet of paper.
“We used a private printed document to hide a crucial answering key for accessing the Copiers Plus lab,” Drew said. “The students had to use a black light to reveal the pin code on a sheet of paper above the printer and follow the secure printing protocols.”
Fortunately, one group of participants used their investigative prowess and survival skills to figure it out, isolate the correct serum, and dissolve the zombie bacteria within the cursed gourd.
“It was a great time and just shows some of the more creative uses for your modern multi-function printer,” Drew laughed.
If you’d like to join the secret message fun and have a Kyocera, check out these instructions on how to private print. Enjoy and make sure to share your stories with us!
The phrase “first do no harm” expresses the underlying ethical rules of modern medicine. As the healthcare industry moves from paper-driven, manual methods to increasingly sophisticated digital and cloud-based systems, network administrators face Brave New World challenges, like protecting sensitive patient data from hackers. Keeping this information safe and secure is mandatory for HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance. Innovations like Electronic Health Records (EHR) have revolutionized the practice of medicine but also raise the stakes of a breach. No matter the size of the practice, change is inevitable. “First do no harm” can serve as a guiding principle for incorporating new applications and devices with multi-function printers (MFP). Technology specialists at Copiers Plus stand ready to help you address security concerns raised here.
Workflow takes place everywhere and—simply put—includes a sequence of physical and mental tasks performed by various people within and between work environments. As in other sectors, healthcare workflows can be implemented organization-wide, in single departments, or just in your head. Workflows occur before, during, or after a patient visit.
Healthcare is especially rife with repetitive, predictable tasks. Administrators plot out these tasks as a series of conditional steps, or workflows—with increasing reliance on new technologies. Automated workflows, designed to reduce human error and increase efficiency, use process management tools. Consider the following applications for automation software:
Clinical Follow-up
Transfer test results into an EHR system over the cloud network to help medical practitioners understand a patient’s condition and offer accurate treatment.
Patient Admission and Discharge
In a traditional manual, paper-based workflow, discharge approvals are tedious. With an automated workflow, approval steps are done in real time. Similarly, the admission process can be automated to make the process quicker and more reliable. The process often goes through registration, billing, and insurance routes.
Managing the staff rotation and on-call roster
By linking your scheduling software with workflow management software, you can expedite approvals for schedules and notify staff immediately.
Staff onboarding
Implementing an automated system will eliminate redundancies so your new staff will fill out forms only once and all stakeholders are up to date.
Other opportunities for workflow integration include:
First Do No Harm
Simply stated by Drs. Jason Lee and Adele Shartzer:
For clinicians, the standards underlying the revamping of workflow should always be focused on improving patient safety, enhancing the quality of patient data collected, enriching workflow efficiency, and improving distribution of workflow tasks. 96
As you assess your healthcare workflow integration needs, ask Copiers Plus.
Kyocera recently introduced the process management software MyQ. This customizable, server-based solution provides network administrators with the ability to manage all devices in their fleet through a single web-based interface, one significant step toward streamlining and securing sensitive patient information.
I recently went on vacation with my family to Atlanta to see the Atlanta Braves play several games. Instead of each person individually buying their own tickets for every matchup, we decided to all just pick one game, then cover the cost for the rest of those attending. It would be an even bill across the board and much simpler.
So, we each logged into Ticketmaster, selected the seats, purchased them electronically and then received the confirmation email. On gameday, we opened the Ticketmaster app through our iPhones, transferred the other family members tickets to their phones, and then added our tickets to our iPhone Wallet App for convenient access. At the gate, we popped open the e-tickets – which were quickly scanned – and we were off to see our Braves in action.
So why do I mention my sporting event experience? Because modern ticketing is a great example of digital transformation and workflow integration.
While this instance was on the personal level, it parallels the way businesses strategically marry software applications and devices to produce collaboration, as well as precise communication, among team members.
Today we have thousands of applications at the tips of our fingers. Not only can we quickly access them to accomplish a task, we can also sync these applications with other applications to create a more efficient, streamlined workflow.
In a modern office, customers are no longer merely using their copiers or multi-function printers (MFPs) to copy, print, scan and fax. Users now are accessing custom and sophisticated workflows that allow them to accomplish more by doing less.
The best way to better understand workflow integration in your office equipment is to think about how you currently scan documents. When you walk up to the device, do you simply press go and scan documents to a folder or your email? If so, what happens next? Do you access it and rename it? Once you get back to your desk, do the documents get added to a cloud storage account like Google Docs or OneDrive? Answering these questions and diagramming the full journey of your scanning process will help you see your general workflow.
While this gives you a good start, documents seldom get handled the same way. In fact, they often pass through multiple hands, screens and departments within an organization. It is important to take into account all of the various checkpoints your documents go through. Knowing where your documents originate and where they need to end up will help you set the course for your software integration strategy.
Key Factors in Developing a Software Integration Strategy
Customization and security are key to the development of a successful software integration strategy. Start by examining how you access the devices within your workplace. You may already have an HID or proximity card to get you into your building or office. These cards also can be used with most MFPs to grant custom access to workflows. IT staff can even set specific permissions. If you don’t have this kind of technology in place, you can always revert to a pin code system, which often is standard protocol for MFPs.
Once logged in on a device, you will want to have access to your cloud accounts and other pertinent software platforms used on a daily basis. Much like the apps on the home screen of your phone or tablet, you automatically will be “signed in” upon accessing the device. Say you need to scan a proposal so your project team can review and make changes before it goes out to the prospect. You could click on the Google Drive integration on the MFP panel and save the document in a shared folder for the team to access.
Another common request we see from clients is the ability to browse subfolders, which is possible through cloud and network integrations. This ability allows you to name your file, save it in a subfolder, and email it to necessary recipients all in the same pass. Just think about how much time you can save if you rid those redundant scenarios from your current workflow! Imagine the freed-up hours over the course of the week.
When it comes down to it, there are nearly no limits on how you can integrate your MFPs with your work environment. It just comes down to understanding the workflows within your organization and prioritizing efficiency and security over fears of change. Though, it also helps if you have a technology partner that cares about helping you achieve those goals instead of just selling you a hefty piece of equipment.
At Copiers Plus, we have helped many clients step into the modern age through innovative integrations, providing them with benefits that far outweigh their investment. We would love to help do the same for you!
In virtually every workplace, printing remains a vital function of how business gets done. While advancements in technology have moved some paper-intensive workflows toward a more digitized process, printing in a modern office still warrants a plan.
Print management offers organizations a strategy on how to address their printing needs in a focused, efficient manner. This includes consideration of print volume, hardware, maintenance, consumables, security protocols, color usage, and how all these aspects tie in financially.
So, if you don’t implement a print management plan, what other routes are available to your business? There are a few options, but each has its downfalls.
Store Bought Devices
By utilizing store-bought devices, organizations take on the full responsibility of the investment life cycle. This begins with the purchase of the new device from a store or online retailer, going well past the set up and into daily maintenance. This task is usually turned over to the IT department. If the store-bought printers are ink based, the yields per cartridge will be lower than toner-based models. This will result in the need to change them out every few hundred prints – even more often when dealing with color copies. Additionally, organizations often replace store bought printers if mechanical issues occur. The general instinct is not to repair, but to buy new altogether. This itself may lead to communication chaos. Through a constantly changing print fleet comes a variety of issues: Multiple print drivers to manage, unused supplies, hardware replacement costs and over-utilization of devices.
Commercial Printers
The use of commercial printers comes with a hefty price tag,but does afford you the convenience of not having to manage or purchase any hardware for your organization. Still, relying on commercial printing for your documents can raise problems if turnaround is urgent. Commercial printers or “print shops, have to be notified of a job, process the order, complete it and either deliver it or have it picked up. This process can take several hours or potentially days, based on the job size and scope.
Print Management Explored
Taking a deeper dive into print management reveals ways to make it work for your situation. There are several factors to keep in mind when considering your approach.
Customization is Key
The key to an effective print management plan is customization. Office communication and protocols are different for every organization, so it only makes sense to tailor to those unique qualities and requirements. For instance, the demands presented by a medical office workflow will be much different than that of a large church workflow. Each has their need for efficient office technology and should be conscious of their budgets as well as output quality. However, their demand for security and instant access probably differs.
Understanding Your Printing Costs
For any print management plan to prove successful, you must first understand the workplace’s printing infrastructure, usage habits and costs. A big part of this is done through an analysis that shows the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the existing fleet. The TCO takes into account the direct and indirect costs that exist in the organization. This includes maintenance, consumables, supplies, and device utilization. Breaking down the cost of each device gives you a true look at what you are spending and the volume demands that currently exist among the end users. A key component in determining the TCO is an on-site walkthrough that investigates the usage of each device and the end users’ workflows. This is documented and compared to data collected during a second walkthrough several weeks later. The span of time between walkthroughs is designed to give a snapshot and provide a solid sample size from which to base projections. As this step is, it will not tell the whole story. End users should always review the findings and see if there are trends that may be seasonal or uncommon. These additional observations should be noted and adjusted for the TCO report.
Establishing a Plan
Now that a TCO has been established and the anomalies have been pointed out, it is time to receive recommendations for how to best execute a print management plan. The plan can consist of a combination of office technologies, such as printers, scanners, copiers or any other devices that help control and execute printing strategies.
One thing to look at is the utilization of the devices with the volumes being printed. Included in these volumes are both black and white (B/W) prints and color prints. Crucial to the plan is deciding organizationally whom shall receive color printing access. Identifying this will allow you to create a plan with financial safeguards and ensure users can effectively execute their responsibilities.
Organization: 20 employees and has a 50 page per minute color copier in office workroom. Want to cut costly printing expenses while not interfering with mission critical processes.
Marketing Manager Sarah: Prints about 2,000 pages per month on printer in her office. Each month she prints 500 color flyers to be sent to customers. The 1500 black and white pages are mostly printed in 3-5-page increments throughout each day.
Recommendation: Sarah would receive a B/W toner-based printer above 25 pages per minute and would be instructed to send her monthly color flyers job to the shared color copier. Her previous printer would be removed.
CFO Tom: Prints about 1000 pages per month on printer in his office. For his weekly leadership meetings, he prints out spreadsheets in color detailing confidential financial information for the organization. Most of his other prints are B/W and he constantly has to scan signed documents throughout the day.
Recommendation: Tom will receive a toner-based multi-function printer (MFP) above 25 pages per minute and would be instructed to print to his MFP unless he needed to print a large job that did not reveal any confidential information, then he was instructed to send it to the shared copier. His ink jet printer would be removed.
Sales Person Jimmy: Prints about 100 pages per month on printer in his office. Most of his prints are proposals for customers though they are not considered confidential. He is only in the office a few hours a week to get paperwork in order.
Recommendation: Jimmy will be instructed to print to the shared color copier and his color ink jet printer will be removed.
As you can see in the above examples, details on each employee’s role and their related job functions were important factors. This info helped us determine how these employees should print their pages and what devices should be installed to help lower operational costs. The reduction of ink jet printers from all three offices allowed the organizations to move toward higher yield, toner-based printers. At the same time, they put a policy in place to leverage their copiers lower cost per page. In the example of Tom, he was constantly scanning documents throughout the day and needed more functionality. By placing an MFP right at his desk, it would greatly reduce the amount of time spent sending documents. It also ensures confidentially, as only Tom can access the documents printed in his office. The time freed up for this key employee is a value to the company greater than the dollars saved having him use the shared copier several times a day.
Executing the Plan
Without proper execution, a plan is merely a concept. Once the recommendations have been approved for placement, it is important to discuss a timetable for delivery and installation. The necessary time needed to implement the plan depends on the number of employees, number of offices, and each location’s office hours. It is also important to discuss with your IT staff all details regarding your network and connectivity to the devices. This will help ensure they can assist with technical issues that may arise, such as permissions passwords and IP addresses. Once the devices are installed, it is important to communicate to employees your expectations of how they should follow printing procedures.
Monitor Continuously
Now that you have a solid print management plan in place, it is vital that you continue to readdress your needs at least every six months. You’ll also want to do this as you hire new employees or downsize. Anticipate some modifications to the plan as your organization evolves and employee printing habits change. The key is to monitor regularly!
Put the PLUS to Work for You
At Copiers Plus, our Managed Print Services program is based entirely on your organization’s needs and allows your team to focus on what they do best; their jobs. Let us handle your print and communication demands, bringing valuable time and money back to your workforce and bottom line!
In nearly every workplace, printing remains a crucial productivity tool, as well as a significant expense. So whether your employees rely primarily on mobile printing solutions that they access from the field, or your paper-intensive office is moving toward a more digitized process, printing in the modern office still warrants a plan.
With the ultimate goal of identifying the best value, Print Management provides organizations a strategy for achieving their printing needs, based upon industry standards and analysis. At Copiers Plus, our specialists assess print volume, hardware, maintenance, consumables, security protocols, and color usage before making a recommendation to clients.
In offices nationwide, we’ve seen a strong trend away from desktop devices to a consolidated, managed print environment. Even so, offices large and small still rely on ink-based multi-purpose (all-in-one) desktop printers that include scanning and fax options. At first glance, these might seem like a bargain. Yet, even when usage and volume is moderate, ink cartridges can be prohibitively expensive. Consider the ink cartridges market was valued at 10900 Million US$ in 2018.
Typically, it falls to the IT department to research and purchase devices from a store or online retailer. Aside from set-up and daily maintenance, they’ll also be charged with calculating the Cost per page (CPP) based on the ink cartridges your office purchases.
This job can be time-consuming and thankless. Remember: different printers use different cartridges, and different cartridges offer varying page yields. Many people buy a printer based on the upfront cost of owning one without considering the cost of consumables.
Fortunately, industry regulations do provide some guidelines. The page yield of a cartridge is based upon the ISO standard for measuring ink cartridge yields by printing out pages with 5% page coverage* until the cartridge runs empty.
On the flipside, to get a true page yield and not just an estimate, you (or your IT professional) will need to take into account the following variables:
Remanufactured Cartridges are one alternative to brand name ink cartridges; industry experts claim some can save customers upwards of 70%. But, Buyer Beware: make sure the distributor you buy from adheres to industry standards by testing their products.
If this sounds like a lot to keep track of, that’s because it is. What’s more, because desktop printers are so inexpensive, many consumers replace them when they break rather than repair them. Then, you’ll need to start all over again!
Want to stop the vicious cycle of managing your printers? Put Copiers Plus and their Managed Print Services program to work for you!
