By: Dan Larkin
August 24, 2015

The 1999 film Office Space became an instant classic for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the disdain the employees had for the office multifunction printer (MFP). The printer is an important piece of equipment in many offices, but often the most overlooked. When it is functioning properly, nobody notices it. When it is malfunctioning, it seems like Armageddon is just around the corner.

If printer problems become so commonplace that business owners routinely overhear employees complaining about the issue or receive complaints directly from the IT department head, the time to make a change has come. Printer problems don't have to be commonplace, and can be made a thing of the past with managed print services.

Taking Printers for Granted

Every department within a company uses printers for a different reason. While most employees print out memos from an email or make copies of meeting notes to hand out prior to big meetings, the marketing department might use the same machine to produce thousands of ad flyers and brochures. MFPs are asked to tackle a lot of possible projects in one day, with different workloads, various types of paper stock and sustained usage times.

When everything runs smoothly, employees keep sending print projects to the MFP and walk down the hall to collect their printouts or make more copies without giving the printer a second thought.

But, when something goes wrong...

Printergeddon

OK, that's not a real word, but most people have seen the chaos or frustration that ensues when the printer is down. IT staff receive countless complaints and have to drop what they're doing to get the MFP back up and running. The more frequently this occurs, the more frustrated employees become and the more overburdened the IT department is trying to solve these small, but important printer issues.

Make Printer Issues a Thing of the Past

Printer problems and time-stressed IT staff don't have to be the norm. With the help of managed print services, any company can enjoy having reliable, efficient MFPs in the workplace that get the job done without constantly breaking down and grinding productivity to a halt. Here are some of the features and benefits of managed print:

Assessment of Your Current Environment

Quality managed print providers start their service by conducting an assessment of the current print environment in an office. This assessment can determine if too many devices are being used, not enough of the right types of MFPs are in use, improvement opportunities and whether or not maintenance schedules are adequate to sustain proper function.

Enhance Efficiency and Improve Productivity

Even if the office has the right number of printers, that doesn't mean it has the right equipment to get the job done. Matching the operations of the company with the right MFPs make printing more efficient, and can even boost the productivity of employees.

Predictable Printing and Costs

Rather than entrusting the purchasing of supplies and maintenance schedules to each department, a centralized process is created to oversee all of the office printers. This makes printer efficiency more predictable, but also helps control costs associated with supplies.

Green Printing

Most managed print service providers find that companies are using too much paper, ink and toner than required because of inefficient workflows. Managed print services not only help streamline workflows, but also reduce the amount of paper, ink and toner used each day. The result can have an impact on improving the environment.

Relieve the IT Department

The in-house IT department shouldn't spend the day addressing small user issues and printer malfunctions. Let a managed print provider track maintenance and repair schedules, and free up the IT department to focus on long-term, strategic initiatives that keep the company at the forefront of its industry.

Learn More About Managed Print Services

So, do you remember the last time you had printer problems? If the answer is yes, it's probably time to read some case studies about how MPS has helped other businesses, just like yours. Download our free MPS Case Study Collection:

Topics: Managed Print Services

Do You Remember the Last Time You Had Printer Problems?