Many strive toward the paperless office, and for some it is a utopian ideal.

But documents still drive many of our document processes.

According to the Garner Group office printing represents 1-3% of a company’s annual revenue, which means that a $10 million company will spend between $100,000 to $300,000 on document printing.

If you don’t know:-

What is print costing you?

Who are the biggest users of print?

Then you need to have a print management strategy.

Although figures suggest that office printing volumes are declining it doesn’t take into account the increasing trend in BYOD.

With increasing demands for mobile print solutions and employees working where they want, why should that not include printing what they want?

Office culture is one of the primary reasons companies don’t change their print and paper practices.

The exponential growth in mobile devices and their prevalence in meetings could make you believe that the use of paper is almost archaic and yet office practices result in many of us printing off that report or information for a meeting ‘just in case’ technology or the lack of internet connection fails us.

Not surprisingly many companies don’t know what they spend on print, hardware/software and support. Given that documents drive paper processes it makes sense to know what your annual print spend is.

Not knowing how many printers are in use across the office building, how they are being used and their associated running costs makes understanding the print spend almost impossible but it also means that the organisation may not be delivering what departments really need in the way of document output.

Organisations, Universities, Councils all like print solutions because it enables them to show how much they have saved on print and paper usage.

What is produced is done so wisely and not at the expense of the taxpayer.

Outsourcing print to cut costs whether in the form of print management or managed print services ensures transparency of print costs, an increase in management control over printing, a complete audit review of what is being printed when and on what device.

A managed print strategy means:-

1. You don’t need to buy new equipment

2. You need to understand what you have and how it is used – what volumes are printed and by whom?

3. Only then consider outsourcing the management of your devices using a print management or MPS (managed print service)

4. With your office devices being managed by a print management provider quarterly reviews of print volumes will ensure that recommendations will be put in place to optimise your printing.

Your company has a business plan right?

It also has a marketing plan that determines when and what you are going to ‘sell’ to your target audience?

You probably have an HR strategy if you are more than 5 people so why would you not have a print management strategy?

Even if it forms part of the marketing budget, you need to understand the cost of print and what that means to your bottom line.

If you don’t know what you are spending on print then how can you manage what and where you print effectively?

The post Why you need a print management strategy appeared first on Digital Print Management.

My response includes the following:-

• What aspects of print are you looking to cut back on?
• How many printers do you have in the building?
• What documents does the business generate?
• How often do your order ‘print’?

Now you start to get the picture. It’s not that easy to simplify the answer as there are many variables.

The printing of transactional business documents is a fundamental business process for many organisations and in spite of the drive toward paperless offices, companies in every industry generate reams of paper on a daily basis for record keeping, customer facing letters, direct mail and internal correspondence.

Unsurprisingly most companies I talk to are unaware of their printing costs. They have no idea what they are spending on print because it is unknown and not a monitored business expense.

When I ask them what their annual costs are I’m usually met with a blank stare.

A business cannot implement a print cost cutting strategy if the costs are unknown.

One of the main reasons, is that it is perceived as a necessary business process and therefore an ongoing cost to the business which doesn’t require to have a budget attributed to it.

How do I reduce my print costs – keeping it simple?

1/ Digital emails are uniformly used for communicating but do they really need to be printed and filed? By categorising (outlook) or labelling (Gmail) is a great way of indexing those all important emails for reference at a later date.

2/ Review before printing – Really do you need to print that document. It’s something I’ve had to work hard at myself as I hover over the ‘print’ button. Why am I printing this, what am I going to do with it and does anyone else need to read it? Therefore ask yourself do I really need to print it? Use the ‘preview’ before printing especially when it comes to spreadsheets they never fit onto an A4 unless you specify fit to one page or you make sure the orientation is correct. Otherwise ten pages of unwanted and unuseable print streams out and then gets binned.

3/ Recycle – that discarded bit of paper that you printed off one side only can be used for scrap notes and for doodling yes I know it sounds boring but how many times when printing something out do we notice a glaringly obvious mistake and then print the whole document again? When we only need to print the relevant page. I use these bits of paper like a montage and then sketch or doodle over the top of the print using a bright colour pen.

4/ Do you really need to print that document in colour? If it’s a draft document then print it out mono, check it and then print in colour.

5/ Switch off –  rather than letting devices go into standby mode switch off before leaving the office. It’s all part of keeping costs down.

How do I reduce my print costs using print management software solutions?

1/ How many personal printers do you have spread across your organisation? Whilst the cost of personal printers has reduced considerably the cost of toner cartridges remains pricey. Opting for a MFPD (multi-functional print devices) using a managed print services option is a sure fire way of saving time and money.

2/ Optimise biometrics for printing using fingerprint or key card technology.  If a document is sent to a local printer by mistake or staff print the wrong document or change their mind and want to cancel the print job this is easily done using secure print tracking software.

3/ Cut back on waste using print management solutions this allows staff to print only what they need on the right printer suitable for the document. Print software routes the document to a mono printer if it is black and white, colour to a colour printer.

4/ Manage your paperflow by having an effective document management system . This is an important step in ensuring a workflow pattern in the company. Document scanning software captures, indexes, archives and retrieves all your documents by creating a secure digital file cabinet.

5/ Track print costs by using print management software that enforces internal rules for staff reducing print volume and redirecting print jobs to the most cost effective device. Print tracking software shows where costs are being incurred and what is being printed and by whom. Costs are tracked across an entire company calculating the cost on the volume of print per person and by department.

There you have ten ways to reduce your print costs. There are others of course but as each organisation is unique I’ve covered the ones that I think are of the most use.

The post Print management. How do you save money on your print appeared first on Digital Print Management.

How do you choose the right printing company?

Confronted with so many potential suppliers how do you decide which printing company to choose for your print requirements or how do you outsource your payslip printing?

How do you find the right service provider when there are so many to choose from?

Which one do you select and what selection criteria do you employ?

Until recently, companies did not pay much attention to the way they reviewed their print strategies and requirements. Little or no consideration for cost was given to the various print devices, paper, supplies, general print and consumables being ordered on a daily basis.

All that changed with the onset of the financial crisis.

Companies are more aware of the need to review their print requirements.

The biggest problem is that company executives or department heads have no idea how much it is really costing them to process, print and mail out a plethora of items each week.

They have no idea of the overall cost of their print bill, the quantity of supplies they get through in a week, the number of suppliers they are using and the time spent resolving hardware problems.

Money is wasted by the continued use of unnecessary devices, obsolete hardware, staff spending time on print and I.T issues resulting in hours being lost to dealing with different vendors and suppliers.

Many companies are now appreciating the benefit of an outsourced print service reducing the complexity of managing various suppliers and spiralling in-house costs and managing print and distribution in-house.

Outsourcing print whether to a print management services company see here or by adopting a managed print service here requires knowledge and understanding of what your organisation is trying to achieve.

Too often buyers focus on one thing only and that is PRICE.

Unfortunately choosing on price alone results in the customer being dissatisfied with the quality, service or the end product.

Price should not be the only consideration when evaluating suppliers and/or vendors.

“We are buying on price only” or “we want the cheapest solution” are typical of the current climate.

The buyer can not expect a great quality product or service if he/she is buying on price alone.

To then add value to a service or product so the customer benefits becomes an impossible task.

Most companies don’t want the hassle of sourcing suppliers to manage their print, payroll or billing few know where to start looking or what considerations need to be taken into account when outsourcing.

Print is the end product – from printed payslips and invoices, cheques, direct mail to the use of MFPD’s multi-functional print devices managed in-house, all deliver paper in some shape or format and not many companies are equipped to research and employ print services that will save them money.

What is happening in the market place?

It is a print buyers haven, assuming they have the knowledge to purchase print or skills to outsource the required business function.

Print management companies, print suppliers/consumables, vendors and manufacturers are desperate to win work at any cost and the buyer can get what they want at a price they are prepared to pay.

Companies seeking these services are going to market lacking the skills required to source the right partner to work with.

20 point checklist of tips to think about before choosing your print supplier

Before you even consider the following list you need to think about the services you require?

Have an approval criteria or list of what you are looking for notably:-

Are you wanting to outsource all your corporate print from letter-headings to billing and payslip printing? (Print Management)

Are you looking to reduce the number of print devices and print in-house (Managed Print Services)

Are you looking to reduce the cost of one specific area of print such as your billing or cheque and payment processing?

Once you know what it is you are trying to achieve then the following list will provide a useful guideline, it is by no means complete or exhaustive.

1. Choose a company that can offer innovative solutions capable of adapting to your business environment.

2. That can/will provide ongoing support, consultation and recommendations that take into account your evolving business needs.

3. That has a complete solution for your requirements i.e if you are outsourcing your payslip printing you might want to adopt multi-channel distribution that includes printing and sending them electronically.

4. Offers best in class service and delivery, experienced personnel, good operational processes and protocols particularly if you are outsourcing cheque printing. 

5. Check the quality of the work – what do they do, what is their niche and how will they deliver the service to you.

6. Technically competent – will the incumbent supplier be able to deliver what they say they can?

7. Is the proposed supplier financially stable?

8. Is the supplier reliable – will they fulfil/deliver the product/service in a timely manner?

9. Are they enthusiastic – can they demonstrate the extent of their knowledge of the product or service they are proposing?

10. Does the structure of the company indicate reliability and longevity in other words they aren’t going to disappear in 6 months time.

11. Do they have experienced personnel capable of advising beyond printing for example print management companies do more than just manage your print they are multi-channel partners they can provide expertise on direct marketing, SMS, data management, social media and promotional gift items.

12. Do ask for case studies and testimonials from current customers to authenticate the suppliers statements.

13. Don’t make your decision solely on price – cheap prices mean inferior quality and service.

14. Ask as many questions as possible no matter how trivial to ensure you are confident in the future service.

15. Establish what other services the supplier can provide this is useful for any future business/company developments you might have. For example they might provide direct marketing print and design capability or can advise you on your social media marketing strategy.

16. Visit the site or manufacturing premises – is it secure if printing cheques and payslips? If it’s a managed print solution ask to visit a managed site to establish how it works or request a reference site to discuss how the company are benefiting from MPS (managed print service)

17. Check the reputation of the supplier – ask for a client list and check the website what do they talk about, what services are they advertising?

18. Ask for a trial run for example can the print company offer to print some basic items free of charge? If it’s an outsource service such as payslip printing ask the supplier if they are able to take a data file and provide a print out for a minimum fee so you experience the service first hand.

19. Use social media to see how your supplier engages with its audience. Do they offer expert advice and help in the form of great content, are they on all the social media networks?

20. Be loyal to your print provider or outsource partner. Once you have found the right printing company or partner keep them. Having a good relationship will ensure you can look to them for all manner of printed or outsourced information and advice and in turn they are more likely to offer you discounts, give you a first class service and provide additional services.

Are there any criteria you would use in addition to the above?

How did you find your print partner and how successful has the relationship been?

The post Top tips for choosing the right printing company appeared first on Digital Print Management.

Integrated print management software ensures printed documents are secure and remain confidential.

Secure printing for any organisation is vitally important where sensitive information is concerned. Using secure print tracking software is essential in maintaining an organisations credibility.

Any breaches of the Data Protection Act of 1998 can lead to fines issued by the ICO (Information Commissioners Office).

Professional services companies and local government organisations are particularly susceptible where client data is concerned.

The days when reams of paper were left discarded at the printer should be long gone; leaving confidential information for anyone to pick up and read is careless in today’s office environment.

Sensitivity of data is paramount particularly in departments of local government such as childrens’ services who deal with sensitive data on a day to day basis.

Implementing a secure print management solution and secure network printing ensures that only the person who prints the information can collect and view it using user authentication.

Case study

For one City Council this proved to have a serious effect on the department and yet the situation could easily have been avoided. Two case workers who work with vulnerable children, printed reports to a shared network printer with no secure print software in place.

The first case worker was trying to print a report on child A but the device failed to print, the case worker left with the print job still in the print queue.

The second case worker then went to print a report on child B from the same device by which time the first case workers report had actually printed.

Both prints outs were collected by the second case worker who mistakenly and unknowingly picked up papers relating to child A.

As a consequence of this, the mother of child B was sent personal details of both child A and child B. This was reported to the ICO and the city council.

The mother of child A was also contacted by mother of child B and advised of this breach in confidentiality.

This incident happened because of human error; it wasn’t done intentionally but in this instance it caused embarrassment to the council. The incident was further compounded by the lack of secure print management software. The printing and despatch of sensitive data to clients did not include adequate checks.

Steps taken

As a direct result of the mis-management of information the council installed a new printing procedure requiring staff to enter an ID at the device before their documents can be printed and released.

Any documents which are not printed within twelve hours are auto-deleted from the print queue. This removes any unwanted print jobs from the system.

“Integrated print management software ensures printed documents are secure and remain confidential” 

Setting up print management software that networks printers and MFPs (multi-functional printers) is the the most effective way for safe guarding against print mis-management which can potentially lead to data protection breaches.

Print tracking software saves time and money and is the easiest way of avoiding data protection breaches.

Benefits of print management software

1. User authentication before the print job starts means that only authorised people can collect their finished print jobs
2. By enforcing print rules, print jobs can be allocated to the most economical and efficient printer
3. There is a potential print saving of up to 30% on print costs
4. With an effective print management tracking solution in place, printed jobs are only printed when authorised reducing paper wastage and complementing a greener office policy

If you require more information on how setting up a secure print management solution or print tracking software can help your organisation save money, enhance confidentiality and reduce print costs then contact Digital Print Management on: 01234-271156.

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This blog comes with a health warning…

WARNING: THIS BLOG COMES WITH A HEALTH WARNING… IT’S A TAD LONG. BUT YOU’LL SEE WHY AT THE END.

Here we are the last day of 2012 and what a year its been. It only seemed like yesterday that I sat at this very desk and typed my epilogue for 2011.

The beginning of the year heralded great expectations and even the economy looked like it was digging its way out of the hole it had dug itself into.

Sadly it didn’t happen and the UK along with the rest of Europe continues to stay in the quagmire.

The onset of New Years Eve can be a time of reflection as we consider the year that has gone before.

With all the ups and downs of the year you could excuse yourself for feeling a little disillusioned at the prospect of 2013.

New Year’s Resolutions?

If you are reading this then I’ve succeeded in holding my audiences’ interest? More importantly we survived the end of the world which was suppose to have occurred on 21st December.

As I stepped on to the plane with my family to travel back from Hamburg on the late afternoon of the 21st, I would be lying if I didn’t experience a little trepidation although its only an hour’s flight back to Luton.

I held my breath as we came into land and the passenger sitting next to me actually “prayed”as he muttered something in german under his breath I couldn’t help but think he knew something we didn’t?

The maya civilisation predicted the end of the world? They didn’t of course. It is the western interpretation of an apocalyptic ending. The maya civilisation predicted that December 21st this year simply marked the start of a new calendar.

“Mayan refers to the indigenous peoples of South-East Mexico, Central America notably Guatelmala. Mayan was actually spoken by the maya people and the maya calendar was used by the mayan civilisation”.

For the Mayan people 21st December represents a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one.

Are we facing another seismic shift both economically and personally? Isn’t the start of any new year synonymous with change?

Isn’t that indicative of a New Year – new year’s resolutions, a new chapter, new beginnings, changes, planning and a time to be reflective on what we’ve learn’t from the year just past.

Lets reflect on what a great year 2012 has been.

We had the 2012 London Olympic Games to look forward to. The country was at last unified in one common goal and that was achieving olympic success and putting London and the UK firmly on the map. It was sixteen days of amazing sporting finesse and talent exhibited at the greatest show on earth.

Who can forget that one weekend in August! I still get goose bumps thinking about it even now!

Digital Print Management advises and guides companies on the importance of how to go about outsourcing… just about anything so we’ve taken the best of the year’s blogs and stuck them here as a reminder of what were the best and most useful to you our audience and customer and we thank you for reading and contributing.

Round up of the year’s best blogs.

In January we talked about the differences between what is print management and managed print services a simple guide to understanding the differences.

With p60 time looming in April there was a helpful guide on how to go about having hassle free p60 printing

February provided top tips on how to benefit from outsourcing, automate your AR function and how to implement paperless billing in your company.

March saw the launch of our print-2-mail service and how easy it is for companies to manage printing and posting out invoices, statements and practically any customer letter without moving from your desk.

April saw a brief guide on RTI (Real Time Information) and the impact it’s likely to have on businesses in 2013. This is particularly important for payroll managers and business owners.

Paper chasing and outsourcing business processes dominated May’s round up.

June saw us delve into the murky waters of invoice processing and how to automate and streamline the process.

July concentrated on how to save money using hybrid mail and how to reduce print costs in your organisation.

Document Management Systems and strategies, controlling print costs and Invoice Management were the order of the month of August.

September discussed the importance of Accounts Receivable and how to automate payment allocations.

We then provided a guide on how to outsource your debt collection letters and a really important blog about making sure printed information is kept secure.

November – really exciting month firstly because its getting close to Christmas so we in the office start to feel a tad christmassy but we spent some time on payroll outsourcing and my favourite data cleansing and what this means if you do it right.

Wow we are in December, how quickly the year has gone! It is the month of why invoice scanning is so important to the AP process, then there was print management solutions for professional services companies.

Finally if you really wanted something completely different from what you’ve come to expect, we threw caution to the wind.

Working from home use to be such a big deal and now companies actively encourage it what do you think?

Mobile working and how it’s changed our lives.

With so much social media or anti-social media we talked about how great it feels to tune out once in a while and actually read a book. Are you switching off from digital media?

With the business landscape having changed so radically over the last 20+ years I found researching this blog particularly relevant what’s in a business relationship?  Do you feel the same way?

Next to my family I love Formula 1 Motor Racing so I knocked this one out after Sebastian Vettel won his third consecutive world championship. The importance of teamwork and why its integral to any business.

If you’ve got to the bottom of this blog without faltering then a big T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U for reading, for liking us, following us and connecting with us in 2012.

My final note for the year:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” (Winston Churchill)

Happy New Year from all of us at Digital Print Management.

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Happy New Year.

The post The best of 2012. All you need to know about outsourcing in one place. appeared first on Digital Print Management.

Print Management Solutions for Professional Services Companies helps track billable expenses, saves time and reduces paper waste.

Recover costs, reduce waste by implementing a print management solution.

Using an effective print management solution tailored specifically for professional services companies provides more than just cost recovery.

Recovering client billable expenses using the appropriate print management software provides an audit trail of all your printing – capture, allocate, and accurately bill for every applicable client-related expense. Giving professional services the ability to:-

• Track client expenses automatically
• Record client’s information for every service
• Enforce internal rules that reduce total print volume
• Redirect jobs to the most cost-effective output device
• Identify and relocate overworked or underused systems
• Manage from a central location which helps to reduce the burden on your I.T. department

Using Print tracking to recover costs and reduce expenditures

How often does this happen?

A dash to the printer to keep private information safe from prying eyes wasted paper, resources, and money from documents left unclaimed. Lost time and productivity because of queues at the printer waiting to collect your documents.

How can the print flow be improved? 

Implementing a recognised print management solution will save professional services companies time, money, and human resources.

Implementing a recognised print management solution, Equitrac Professional which supports multi-function printers (MFPs) and is widely deployed in law firms, architecture firms, marketing, and PR agencies, and other professional services firms. Seamlessly integrated within the MFP, the software features provide the ability to:-

1. Utilise the machine’s own control panel or touchscreen
2. Provide full print tracking and cost recovery capabilities right at the MFP
3. Automatically capture, allocate and bill for every client expense generated anywhere within your organization
4. Gain mobility and convenience of secure document printing to your terminal of choice via Follow-You Printing®
5. Convert scanned documents to searchable and editable format for improved archiving, document discovery, and productivity
6. Redirect print jobs to the most cost-effective machines
7. Make scanned documents compatible with court-filing requirements with PDF/A output and file-size control

This means you don’t have to choose between security and economy as the print management system only releases documents when users are at the printer. Wasted paper is reduced by adding accountability to encourage users to print only the documents they actually need.

Card-based ID systems simplify authentication and integration into a multi-vendor environment is straight-forward.

Follow-You Printing® with secure document release makes it easy to keep confidential materials out of the wrong hands by accounting for and reporting all document output activity.

Employee productivity and mobility are improved because users are no longer tied to one printer and users can output documents when and where they are needed thus avoiding the inconvenience of printers that are busy or out of service.

By centralising your print flow and eliminating the need for single desktop printers print management software brings the security of personal printers to every shared device.

Follow-You printing® works with output devices from any manufacturer and provides one convenient administrative user interface for managing a company’s entire fleet of printer devices.

Available as device embedded and terminal based software. Compatible with IPSec encryption and supports alpha-numeric login, PIN entry and magnetic strip or proximity card authentication.

Contact Digital Print Management for independent advice on 01234-271156.

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A digital mailroom captures or converts into digital format all incoming business documents – paper, emails, faxes, indexes them and stores them securely.

Organisations receive thousands of documents every day in multiple formats – paper, fax, emails, PDF, XML (Extensible Markup Language) and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) resulting in disparate systems using manual processes with often high invisible costs.

To first understand how a digital mailroom might benefit an organisation we need to know what it is or does?

“A digital mailroom is the automation of incoming mail processes using document scanning and document capture technology. Companies can digitise incoming mail and automate the classification and distribution of mail within the organisation. Paper and electronic mail can be managed through the same process allowing companies to standardise their internal mail distribution procedures and adhere to company compliance policies”. (Wikipedia)

Why implement a digital mailroom?

Accuracy, faster and cost-effective which helps organisations remain competitive and regain focus in the current global economic climate.

With mail volumes growing at an exponential rate and I include ALL types of correspondence, not just paper-based and with companies having mobile workforces and various regional offices it makes sense to convert all incoming correspondence and communication into a digital format for distribution.

Instant communication accurate information and distribution of this information is vital coupled with the compliance and accountability that companies invest in back up systems, document scanning and storage and compliance solutions all of which are time and money.

A digital mailroom automates the process of distributing incoming documents into a document management system.

How does it work?

Information is captured or converted into digital format with each item classified using intelligent capture. It is then indexed and placed in the document management system

A workflow process notifies the user or group of the existence of the document so that they are able to control the processing of this document to its completion.

An additional workflow process is then created to let the sender of the document know that it is being dealt with.

Once allocated the document is then moved into the correct folder within the document management system which contains all other relevant information and documents.

Management information from incoming documents and their current status within the business is available.

What benefits can be derived from implementing a digital mailroom?

• Turning all incoming paper mail, faxes, electronic mail into images reduces operational costs, reduces manual processes and provides instant access to documents by employees irrespective of where they are located.
• Decision-making processes are quicker because the information is accessible faster.
• Reduced paper storage and archiving costs by encouraging employees to do without paper for example reducing printing and copying of documents.
• Minimal distribution of paper-based mail.
• Creating digital images of incoming mail and establishing a workflow process ensures the document can be tracked through its life cycle.
• A scanned document is accessible by authorised users and can be referenced to other relevant documents in the document management system.
• The security of the process guarantees the authenticity and integrity of the document which aligns with the records management policy of the company.

Finally

What next?

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Managed Print Services – reduce print costs, remove unwanted printing and enforce print rules such as colour or simplex/duplex printing.

Most organisations these days have people working remotely from the office and constantly on the move.

The one thing they have in common is the ability to print documents at anytime and anywhere.

How do you keep print sensitive information safe from prying eyes? 

Using a secure document release application makes it easy to keep confidential information viewable for the user only. Accounting and reporting features for document output activity helps organisations comply with privacy requirements.

How do you prevent wasted paper?

How do you keep printer consumable costs down?

What happens when documents are left unclaimed?

What about the loss of productivity in time waiting for documents to be printed at the most convenient printer, not always the nearest one?

Do you call I.T. to ask for more print drivers to be installed or a request to purchase new printers?

Networked printers are not always located for easy access by workers who spend increasing amounts of time away from their desks and documents left unattended can divulge company information such as plans that have yet to be announced or organisational re-structuring. Jams, malfunctions and queues make printers unavailable when people need them. Server based printing with document authentication increases mobility, security and reduces cost for the company.

Not having to rely on a single printer, users can output documents when and where they are needed and avoid the inconvenience of printers out of service or busy. Managing any number of personal printers in an organisation is costly and employees often insist on having their own printers because of wanting their own privacy. By managing your print devices properly ensures security is prevalent at every shared device.

Implementing a managed print services solution ensures that only those documents that are required to be printed use the most appropriate printer for the job i.e. colour printer or to print simplex/duplex. Using a secure document release application encourages user mobility and helps to minimise waste and protect personal information or customer confidentiality.

Print management solutions and ‘Follow-You’ Printing® holds documents in a secure print server until users authenticate themselves at the networked printer of their choice anywhere on the print network, across servers, departments and even geographic locations.

What are the benefits of managed print services?

• Security is increased by only releasing documents when users are physically at the printer
• Mobility is enhanced by allowing users to release documents at any convenient printer, anywhere in the organisation
• Reduces waste by eliminating unclaimed print items and encourages users to print only the documents they actually need
• Simple authentication implemented using card based ID systems
• Integrates into multi-vendor environments

Users swipe their ID card enter a PIN or both to authenticate themselves and release their print jobs.

Education – end wasteful and unclaimed printing only allowing print jobs to be output when users are ready to authenticate them at the printer. One University reduced their printing by 41% in one term using Follow-You Printing integrating it with existing campus card systems and on line accounts, students, faculty and staff were able to use the same machines.

Legal – Protect work and client confidentiality by preventing documents from sitting in output trays at unattended printers. Follow-You Printing safeguards clients trust and compliance with corporate accountability and privacy laws.

Office – Give employees the convenience of swiping their I.D. cards to release their documents and the flexibility to bypass printers that are busy or out of service. Follow-You printing operates geographically and users can output queued documents at network printers in your company’s branch offices to avoid the risk of losing or exposing them while travelling.

As an authorised channel partner of ProcessFlows, Digital Print Management provide intelligent print and cost management software solutions for the corporate, legal, education, health care and financial services. Designed to create more effective printing environments, reduce printing costs, increase security and lessen environmental impact.

For more information and a discussion on how we can show up to a 30% saving on your overall print costs by using our Print Management Solutions fill the form in below and one of our advisors will call you:

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One of the biggest challenges facing many companies today is the management of paper, print and print devices.

Implementing a Managed Print Service (MPS) is one of the quickest and measurable way of managing costs because it enables the organisation to consolidate its many devices. 

Organisations often have an excessive number of devices such as desk top printers, old PC’s and redundant equipment that can either be eliminated or replaced entirely with modern technology.

The ratio of 3:1 reduction in devices is achievable and cost savings on consumables is evident when you consider how expensive desktop printers are to operate, manage and maintain on a standalone basis.

In fact if the cost savings are so transparent you’d think organisations would jump at  implementing an effective print management strategy.

But when considering an MPS there can be resistance from your employees’ and their concerns can be:

• You cant take away my printer I will be less productive
• I need this printer because I need to print off confidential information
• Its not an I.T. issue or expense
• I print small jobs so it can’t really cost that much can it?

There are ways to overcome user resistance by being able to communicate to the employee the costs of running their printers and the impact on the bottom line; which the employee may not be aware of.

Making a case to implement a printer consolidation strategy starts with communicating the benefits of consolidating printers such as access to better and more up to date technology and the benefits to the environment by printing on efficient devices.

Modern print hardware provides a better quality printed page gives the user faster printing capability for large jobs and colour printing can be offered to the departments who really need it at an affordable price and there are further cost savings by using duplex printing (double-sided printing).

User secure print technology like “Follow-You Printing” can alleviate confidentiality printing since no print job is printed or released until the user authenticates it at the device. Intelligent print rules and routing software takes the burden off the user to decide which printer is best for each job when hitting print a pop up window gives the user options of where to print the job and the associated costs.

A modern print infrastructure will assist employees to be more productive, documents made more secure, and IT can focus on core strategic activities by not having to provide printer support.

After six months, let your employees know that the company has saved thousands thanks to the implementation of a printer consolidation strategy and their changed print behaviour.

Consolidating your devices will save up to 30% of your overall print costs and create a “greener office” by using one of our Print Management Solutions.

Equitrac Office – For the Enterprise

Equitrac Office print management software helps companies gain control and management of their printing to reduce costs, increase document security and enable sustainability programs. Through measurement, monitoring and ongoing management of print activity.

Equitrac Office measures a company’s printing needs and then deploys the proper equipment to meet those needs. It helps employees become more aware of their printing habits and provides the tools to enforce print policies where necessary, such as routing print jobs to the most cost-effective devices or limiting the amount of color printing.

Benefits:

• Reduce print/copy costs across the whole enterprise
• Improve document security on the network
• Eliminate waste and support environmental sustainability

A large US based Bank saved $2 million in 18 months – Eliminated 88 million print impressions, cut colour printing by more than 50%, saved the equivalent of 70 acres of mature trees and paid for the initial investment within the first 60 days of implementation.

Equitrac Express – For Education

Equitrac Express software brings accountability and control of printed output to any campus, school and Higher Education establishment by providing increased awareness of print habits and their associated costs through user-level reporting, print management helps change print behaviour.

Compatible with leading campus card systems and any printer/MFP, Equitrac Express is used in over 1,000 education institutions throughout helping schools enforce student print quotas, charge for printed output, reduce wasteful unclaimed printing, and make printing more convenient, manageable and secure.

Benefits

• Reduce print waste and increase cost savings
• Recover costs via “Pay-for-Print” – Authenticate with Student ID Card or PIN
• Track and manage print/copy jobs across the site
• Convenient for users – Documents held in a virtual queue, for printing anywhere to any device (depending on user’s print rights)

A large metropolitan University (24,000 students, over 3,100 staff, 3 separate campuses, 26 buildings) realised £310k savings over three years, eliminating over 4.5 million pages of wasteful printing.

Digital Print Management provides mission critical solutions to enterprises that are looking to effectively manage printing environments, reduce print costs, increase security and and lessen environmental impact.

Call us for more information on: 01234-271156 or fill in our contact form and one of our advisors will get in touch.

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Emailing has become the staple method of communication, CRM systems allow us to manage our communications and how we interface with customers, the rise of social media another way of promoting yourself and your company’s brand.

These technological developments have impacted our working lives radically changing the way we work, how we interact with customers and as a result the way we use and interact with paper has also changed.

Or has it?

The lifecycle of a document use to be very simple.

A document would be created as a form or letter, it would be saved, printed and posted.

The letter would then be stored in a drawer or in an appropriately labelled file dependent on how often it would be accessed or, filed into obscurity until such times when you had a spare few minutes to go through your filing cabinets or drawers.

When information from the document was needed we’d hunt around for it, not always an easy task to remember where you filed it and which drawer you relegated that letter.

Once retrieved from storage it was copied if needed but this bit of paper involved a human interaction.

Finally, when the document was finished with, it was filed and returned to storage. A process repeated many times up and down organisations in the UK.

The problem with this filing method is it is very slow, prone to errors resulting in many documents being misappropriated or misfiled.

In the last ten years electronic document management has exponentially changed our working life’s. It has changed the way we interact and use paper. No longer perceived as a long term medium, human interaction with paper has changed from being a permanent record to a transient or short term interaction.

Paper storage hasn’t completely been relegated to the annals of history. It is still required in regulated industries and government but this is fast changing too as many of the permanent records of information are now being stored electronically!

You’d expect that with such a major shift to electronic document management paper work flows would be drastically reduced.

Statistics indicate paper usage is on the decline. The evolution of paper from a permanent record to a short-term bit of information has only changed how paper is used – not how much!

The shift has swung to documents being printed far more times from its electronic master when compared to antiquated filing systems.

Why is this happening?

Because there is still a preference for human beings to interact with paper or to interact with the information that is on the paper.

Think about how we use paper daily. We print the document, use it and then toss it in the bin when finished and then the next time you need it, you guessed it, you print it again repeating the process.

I don’t believe anyone can wholeheartedly put their hand up in the air and say they’ve never done it, we all do it daily unconsciously almost. It is a repeatable process.

The evolution of smartphones, tablets and the need to reference information sometimes makes it easier to work with paper!

Let me quickly illustrate, I’m writing this blog and am working from material and articles that I’ve researched and annotated. If I have two screens easy but its actually quite difficult to switch between what I am writing and what I am reading. Yes, I know I can minimise but its still not that easy.

Even with advent of great mobile apps like Goodreader, webnotes all of which are useful note annotators, it is just not the same as working from the printed article!

Where you can scribble, hi-light and make notes using a pen!

Which validates the statement I made above, people like interacting with the information on paper. The only difference is the way in which we interact with paper, it is very different than we did say twenty years ago!

With most business processes still reliant on paper output for records, transactions, reference or simply for better readability the best solution is to print smarter with print management and apply print policies to ensure that when a document is printed it is printed securely and on the most cost effective device.

Employing managed print services (MPS) will track print usage enable, duplex printing rather than simplex printing when needed, print mono rather than colour, encourage users to be made aware of what they are printing and why they are printing it, how many times they’ve printed the same document and how much its costing the organisation.

MPS will also give users the relevant tools to ensure they make the right printing decisions such as pop up alerts that recommend a different printer for the job they are printing.

Paper as a permanent record held in storage is declining, paper as a substrate isn’t going anywhere.

The use of paper can be better managed with achievable cost, security and improved workflow results.

What do you think?

Do you have a paperless office? If so how have you achieved it?
Is your office under siege with paper?
Would you like to implement a reduced print policy?
What about employees? Do you have a no print policy but find it difficult for staff to employ your no print policy?
Share your thoughts please or post a comment.
We’d love to hear what you think!

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