Managed Print Services Transform Office Efficiency. Here’s Why.

There are many reasons why Managed Print is a service in such hot demand. Growing numbers of businesses of every size, from multinational corporations to work-from-home side hustles, are taking advantage of the efficiency and productivity boost offered by managed print services, not to mention the cost savings. But it’s not just businesses who are signing up for managed print services.

All kinds of organizations like schools, churches, charities, and non-governmental organizations are also seeing the value in managed print. In fact, any business or organization that relies on in-house printing at any scale, whether that’s to print invoices, information for clients, meeting notes, contracts, or even term reports, would likely benefit from taking a closer look at the advantages to be gained by upgrading to a managed print solution from an expert service provider. But what is managed print?

Managed Print Services vs. Self-Managed Fleets

A good definition of managed print is “a program that monitors, manages and provides the necessary hardware, supply, and services to satisfy all the requirements for your business’ print, copy, fax and scanning needs.”

Judging by the increasing numbers of businesses subscribing to managed print services, the cost of a monthly managed print program subscription clearly compares very favorably to the cost of the alternative, which is handling all your printing needs yourself.

That’s because the costs of self-managed print extend way beyond just money.

Printer Problems

As everyone who has ever had to manage a printer or fleet of printers can attest, you need to constantly ensure that your supplies of printer consumables like ink, toner, and paper don’t run out and that they’re compatible with your machines. Compatibility of consumables with your machines isn’t necessarily simple, cost-effective, or a given.

What is a given, however, is that you’ll have to deal with technical issues yourself, from paper jams and blank pages being printed, to a minefield of connectivity, driver, and other potential software issues. The question is not whether you’ll have to deal with these issues, but how soon, and how often.

Additionally, in a multi-user environment, you’ll need to track and manage usage and costs. And in today’s hybrid office, in addition to having to connect workers in networked offices in the same building to centralized printers, you also have workers who need to print from an evolving range of locations and devices. This has opened another Pandora’s Box of printing-related issues – cybersecurity. The last thing anyone needs is to have the company hacked via the printer, least of all the IT techie who has to explain how it happened to the boss.

But arguably the most disruptive and expensive disaster-in-waiting you’ll have to deal with sooner or later is a broken printer that needs repairs.

Printers – The Scourge of Techies

You may have noticed that printers of all shapes and sizes tend to break or start malfunctioning just as you urgently need to print something of vital importance. For example, the printer stops working as you’re frantically trying to print a ticket for a last-minute flight while the cab to the airport is waiting outside with the meter running.

In fact, judging by the vast amount of content about these malfunctioning machines on the internet, it would appear that the old saying needs to be revised: The only things that are inevitable in life are death, taxes, and your printer breaking.

As one IT techie with 40 years’ experience put it: “Rule of thumb – IT is generally interesting, rewarding work. Then there are printers.”

With that kind of prevailing sentiment towards in-house printers among the techies in IT departments, it’s easy to understand why so many companies have decided to outsource the hassle of printer maintenance and repair to managed print specialists. This enables them to re-deploy their IT techies to tasks that are probably higher priority, and that the techies would much rather be doing.

Why Printers Break

Printing is an incredible technology that has revolutionized the way we work and communicate. It continues to evolve, and as advances in software and processing power improve, there’s more control, efficiency, power, and capability to deal with your printing requirements than ever before.

But in most cases, the underlying cause of broken or malfunctioning printers is not the technology or any flaws in the machines themselves. Rather, the issues are usually caused by human error and/or inefficient usage and maintenance.

Because it’s complex, complicated, and sometimes finicky technology, printers that require maintenance and management are usually best placed in the hands of experts. That’s why so many companies are outsourcing their print requirements to trusted managed print service providers like Duplicator Sales & Service.

A Trusted Managed Print Service Provider

A qualified managed print service will combine the following elements in order to deliver the best in managed print:

Equipment IDs – Each machine that is leased to you is marked with a unique ID that makes accessing information about it quick and effortless.

FM Audit – FM Audit is a data collection and analysis tool that monitors the toner levels, service issues, and meters on your connected devices, making it easy to collect, analyze, and control your printing usage. FM Audit also enables automatic toner replacement shipments by alerting your print services company that your toner is running low.

In-House Leasing – A high-quality print service will own the equipment they lease, which ensures they have the flexibility and variety to accommodate your unique individual business requirements.

Local Service and Connectivity Help Desk – Whether it is onsite help or remote service for maintenance, support, or troubleshooting that you need, a quality print service will have local technicians standing by ready to assist.

PaperCut – In addition, hybrid offices that allow their employees to print from a variety of mobile and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) units may offer PaperCut, a web-based tool that allows clients to monitor and manage their entire print environment from a single convenient dashboard. PaperCut offers over 50 insightful reports on system activities, status updates, environmental impact metrics, and number of printed pages, and allows you to set rules to discourage print waste.

Free Printer Repairs – Last but certainly not least, a well-managed print program will offer free repairs to your leased printers for the duration of your subscription. Say goodbye to all the stress of trying to figure out why the printer isn’t working, or worrying about how much the technician call-out fee is going to be.

Request a Quote

Duplicator Sales & Services is a family-owned office technology and IT services provider that’s been operating in the Kentucky area since 1959. They’re a specialist managed print services provider, offering tailored services to companies big and small.

The goal of our managed print programs is to control costs and free up your companies’ IT resources for their critical technology concerns. If you’re in the Louisville, Lexington, Elizabethtown, London, and Paducah areas and are looking for a trusted, high-quality managed print service provider, contact Duplicator Sales & Services today to discuss your managed print and office technology needs,