Are Managed Print Services Worth It?

Many print devices are acquired to satisfy a pressing need. More often than not the laser printer chosen is based on the initial cost, with no attention paid to the cost of replacing laser toner cartridges, even though they will quickly exceed the purchase price.

Once this problem is recognised staff are directed to adopt the time consuming task of telephoning a number of suppliers to negotiate better pricing each time a toner cartridge is required.

The cost to copy/print a page varies significantly depending on the type and age of the copier or printer. Toner & maintenance for equipment older than 4-years is much more expensive than for new laser printers; and ink devices cost even more.

The absence of a plan means most businesses have 3 to 4 different brands of equipment, with the following problems:

• Multiple service agents and consumable suppliers offering varying service levels
• High operating costs and a different cost per page for the output from each device
• Unlimited access by all staff to colour devices
• Higher costs of administration and poorer accountability
• Over and/or under-utilisation of devices causing more down-time
• Multiple toner cartridges, drums and other supplies for the different models.
• Warranties expiring at various dates, some of which are extended and others inadvertently overlooked
• Fielding annoying and time consuming telemarketing calls from toner supply companies
• Additional work maintaining plant registers
• Disclosure of finance commitments in financial statements

Benefits of Managed Print Services

Keep your printer up to date in technology

• We are authorized sales and service agents for Canon, Sharp and Epson multifunction photocopiers and printers. Our managed print service team is fully trained in each brand, which guarantees you will get the most up-to-date and cutting edge printer and photocopier technology that meets your exact needs.
• Our range of photocopier and printer manufacturers covers both laser printing and inkjet technology

Never run out of supplies

• Managed print services include remote tracking of toner and ink levels for all of your print equipment. By setting alerts at specific levels we send out more toner well before you require it. There is no need for you to manage consumable levels and put in orders, managed print services take care of this for you.

Cost savings

• Managed print services can help your business improve printing habits, control and track print costs, and ultimately reduce printing costs.
• We will help you establish rules to reduce the number of pages printed, particularly colour pages. For example print emails double sided and in black & white.
• We can also make reporting of print usage easy, allowing you to track or assign budgets to particular business departments e.g. marketing, accounts etc.

More efficient use of machines

• Through our managed print service, we will take inventory and analyse your current machines in our review process. Often multiple print devices in a business have different printing costs e.g. a desktop has a higher per page cost that a photocopier.
• Using software like Papercut or Uniflow, we can assign rules that makes sure certain print jobs are being allocated to the most cost efficient device.

Simplified and transparent billing

• Managed print services make it possible to track all your printing costs in one invoice. This assists budgeting and allows easy allocation of costs to the appropriate business unit plan.

Real-time analysis

• Managed print services can also include tracking software (UniFlow or Papercut) which allow you to conduct real-time analysis of photocopier and printer usage. Active directories can be set up with specific rules for example all emails are to be printed in b&w. This helps reduce overall colour usage and therefore cost.

Allow your IT department or your staff to focus on more important tasks

• Your staff no longer need to use their time on troubleshooting printing issues or machine breakdowns. Just give us a call and we will have the machine back up and running in under 2-4 hours.

Customised solution to fit your organisation

• Our managed print services in Sydney are not a one-size-fits all. We tailor each managed print plan according to your specific business requirements. One of our dedicated account managers will conduct a full review of your businesses printing requirements, current usage and costs before putting forward a tailored plan compared to your current arrangement.
• Because we are authorised sales and service agents for Canon, Sharp and Epson you can be assured you will get the best photocopiers and printers to meet your exact needs. Whereas manufacturers can offer their brand only, and we all know that no one manufacturer in any industry offers the best product in each segment of their industry.

Cutting edge security

• The brands we support are continually updating security features to keep business networks secure. A handful of the sorts of security features our brands offer are below:
• HCD-PP compliant
• TPM 2.0 chip protection
• User authentication
• Active directories
• Program whitelisting
• Firmware self recovery

Cost Savings with Managed Print Services

Cost Savings ranging from 10 to 40%

Our account managers have a combined industry knowledge of over 50 years and they’ve seen it all! This means that when they review most business current printing and photocopier equipment, usage and contracts they can often uncover huge cost reductions whilst also upgrading the hardware, improving the service and paying out any existing agreements.

No Capital Outlay

Our tailor photocopier leasing and rental plans mean your business does not have to pay a large upfront capital cost for your print equipment. This also means there are no capital outlays on any print equipment for 3 to 5 years.

Transparency

Our managed print plan offers an agreed cost for each black & white and colour page, inclusive of equipment, paying out existing contracts, toner, service and fleet management. The same cost per page across all print output devices will help budgeting, cost recovery and allocation of costs to the appropriate business unit

Set Printer Driver Defaults

Setting up the correct defaults within your office for machines and for users can have a huge impact on the amount of printing that gets done, and the costs to your office for that printing. Ie – Are Black & White prints set as the default to minimise more expensive colour page being printed?

Utilise ‘Print Release’ technologies where possible

Print release systems mean that when you print, the printer will not actually print those pages until you release the job at the actual printer. This can be done by using a swipe card, entering a pin number or selecting the job from a queue. Print Release reduces wastage, improves data security and improves office efficiency. This process alone has been shown to reduce printing volumes within offices by as much as 30%.

Using the right machine for the right job

Often we find that people are printing basic and high volume jobs to expensive and inefficient machines. This can cost large amounts in toners and wear and tear on machines, plus can be a waste of time if the machine is not capable of printing at the right speeds. Getting your office set up with the right types of machines, and channelling work to those machines correctly can have a large impact on your ongoing costs.

Managed Print Services in Sydney

Managed Print Plan

Managed print plans are highly flexible and customizable plans that are great for businesses looking to expand. The managed print plan is based on a monthly b&w and colour volume which is calculated by one of our account managers as part of their review of the business's print history. These volumes are tracked every month by the account manager and can be adjusted up or down if the print usage changes over time. It also has the following benefits over a typical rental style agreement:

• Transparency - a true b&w and colour cost per page inclusive of the cost of the equipment allows for easy tracking and ROI of all the companies printing.
• Highly flexible - Minimum volumes can be adjusted at any point if they are consistently exceeded or not achieved
• Easy Additions - More devices can be added any time if needed
• Term-reducing - Pages printed over the minimum monthly volume accelerate you towards the total volumes of agreement, thus concluding the term early,/li>

Unlimited Print Plan

This plan allows for peace of mind from a predictable monthly printing bill. No cost per page. No fixed volume - print as much as your like!

Most businesses are typically on a plan that bills b&w and colour page usage in arrears, so unless there is a meticulous staff member monitoring the usage throughout the month, businesses aren’t aware of exactly what they’ll be charged until they’ve already done the volume and it’s too late. This can often lead to unexpectedly high bills when staff do significantly more printing one month.

The unlimited print plan turns traditional print billing on its head. Based on the print usage history of the business, we set a monthly cost that gives the business unlimited black & white and colour prints.

10 Questions to Help You Find the Right Managed Print Partner

It’s not hard to believe that every Managed Print Services provider claims they can deliver exactly what you need.

Ask the following questions to select the provider best equipped to back up their commitment:

• Can the provider submit written testimonials from long term managed print clients?
• Do the service providers offer a choice of photocopier and laser printer brands?
• Are you confident the provider will accurately measure and report cost savings?
• Is the provider serious about helping you print less?
• Does the provider employ their own service team?
• Will the provider utilise existing cost effective print devices, regardless of manufacturer?
• Can the provider improve workflow automation and/or optimise business processes?
• Is the provider happy to supply details of all service calls, including time call logged, allocated to technician and completed, time taken to complete call, fault and rectification undertaken by service engineer?
• Does the provider offer direct access to Senior Management?
• Are you confident the service provider will constantly monitor your print platform?