February 22, 2018
I'd argue that few industries are as hard-copy reliant as legal. Each client case requires an extensive amount of printed paperwork and documentation. Going to trial, for example, means providing physical documents to all parties involved - your client, the court, the defense, etc.
One way to maximize your billable time is to minimize time spent printing. Here's how managed print services make that possible:
#1: Keep Staff Productive & Focused On Their Priorities
From attorneys and IT to legal aids and administrative staff - your team's time is better spent moving through casework than replacing toner or troubleshooting a printer jam. Managed print services handles the printer supply replenishment and device maintenance for you.
Top-of-the-line equipment and cutting-edge settings are great, but they fall short without proper customer service. In a law firm where printing and copying is necessary for meeting deadlines, preparing trials and generating revenue, a broken or malfunctioning printer needs to be addressed quickly. You need a human being on the other end of the phone and a technician on-site immediately. By minimizing your downtime, you'll increase productivity.
#2: Efficiently Track Prints to Effectively Generate Revenue
The cost of printed documents per case can be part of your service fee, regardless of how you bill your clients. Within a managed print services program, you can easily and efficiently track print jobs, which you can then charge your client.
The management of these costs may seem daunting. But, with the right software in place, you can easily track all prints for each case individually, and bill accordingly.
#3: Streamline Your Workflow
Your print devices can be configured to talk directly with computer software to know exactly what type of document you are printing. This is done via macros. Put simply, a macro is a way for your computer software to communicate with a printer. Each macro only needs to be set and stored once, and then your printer will store the commands, control codes and/or data created in its memory. Each macro is individually customized with a series of data inputs, each spoken in the printer’s command language. The process varies by device.
The value though, is how much time is saved after setup. If you’re manually programming the same commands into your printer on even a semi-consistent basis, programming macros has the potential to save a significant amount of staff time and resources.
In law firms, like many other organizations, time is money. And because money drives business, optimizing your time is key to success. In the legal industry, printing is a large part of the business. Managed print services can offer enhancements to the time spent printing, as well managing the devices required to do so.
Most legal firms have some print management solution in place already. Whether you have a print provider managing your environment, or an in-house IT staff member assigned to these tasks, consider if your investment is efficiently meeting all the objectives above. Now is a good time to reassess and explore alternative solutions. Download our free eBook to learn more about the benefits managed print services can offer your law firm:
