Employees Frustrated to the Point of Destruction with Office Printers?

Although it is often considered a cult classic, you may not have seen the movie “Office Space.” The humorous film follows the seemingly miserable lives of a group of friends employed by the same IT firm. While there are numerous, small story lines to the film, the most relatable side story in the film is the frustration that all parties feel with the office printer.

This story within the plot culminates with the group of friends stealing the office printer, taking it into a field and destroying it. Obviously this is an exaggerated characterization of employees releasing their frustrations with the office printing equipment. From load errors to low ink, the copier/printer can be a source of great frustration in your office.

Fortunately, there is a solution. Read on to find out how managed print services can reduce, and sometimes even eliminate, your print fleet issues.

Purchase & Setup

Managed print services can uncover and solve a wide variety of problems, thanks to print assessments . This four-step process will help your business assess its operations and plan the right equipment configuration by measuring and managing printer output in the office. Your managed print services provider will work with you to answer the following questions when assessing your company’s unique printing requirements:

•  Assess: How are printers, fax machines, scanners, and copiers currently used in your office? How many devices do you use? Who repairs, maintains and keeps devices supplied?
• Plan: Can the process be improved? Can efficiency and workflow receive a boost with a new machine or relocation?
• Measure: Monitor monthly volumes and supply usage to define what constitutes success from printers and copiers in your office.

Once this process is complete, you aren’t left to manage your fleet alone. In addition to ongoing support, which we will discuss shortly, business reviews will be conducted on a biannual basis to monitor the impact of managed print services has on meeting your print improvement goals. This business review includes an analysis of service call history, supply orders and monthly print volumes.

For smaller businesses with limited or no on-site IT capability, managed print services can take the lead installing new devices and connecting them to your network. This removes the headache for your business and gets your system up and running faster.

Software Issues & Support

A top notch managed print service provider will offer help desk and remote support. Whether your copy machine needs a software update, system upgrades or repair or replacement, the professional techs at your managed print services firm are ready to help. They can log in remotely and update software, provide telephone support to walk you through upgrades or troubleshoot a problem, and even make on-site visits to ensure you get the highest level of support possible.

Supply and Productivity

Perhaps the single, most frustrating characteristic of office copy machines involve supplies. The copier gets jammed, produces poor quality prints or goes through toner faster than your family goes through a gallon of milk. These complaints are common in offices everywhere, but managed print services can help mitigate these issues and save your company money.

The business review mentioned above is just one part of a broader plan that involves monitoring and reporting on supply usage in your office. Smart technology allows your managed print services firm to not just schedule automatic supply shipment, but actually track usage and send more toner when you NEED it, not simply because a set amount of time has passed.

This provides your business with reliable flexibility, so when you are printing more in one month you’ll receive the supplies when you need them. Likewise, if you go through an extended lull in activity, you won’t be shipped (and charged for) excess supplies.

Best of all, you’ll have access to all the reports your managed print services provider sees. You can view your service call history report, supply order reports, utilization reports and overall performance reports that allow you to monitor the utilization of your print environment. Your company doesn’t have to struggle with managing copy machines and printers anymore.

Eradicate the frustration your employees may feel towards these sometimes troubling machines by entrusting the oversight of your print environment to a professional managed print services firm. These services are designed to address all issues experienced by those who use the equipment; so, your employees will not only be less frustrated, but more productive, too. Request a free Print Technology Assessment to determine how Managed Print Services can solve your office’s print frustrations.