What is Managed Print Services and How Does It Help Your Business?
Most businesses don’t give too much thought to their printers and photocopiers unless:
- Print quality is poor, paper jams and breakdowns become more regular causing frustration for all users
- Cost and usage increase significantly
- Extra devices are required
- Consumables run out disrupting the office
But what if you didn’t have to think about this? Welcome to the world of managed print services, where you get to use the latest, award-winning printers and photocopiers, completely managed for you.
In this blog, you’ll learn what a managed print service does and how it can help your business allowing you and your team to concentrate on your core business and at the same time reduce costs.
What are managed print services?
Managed print services, also known as print management, is a service offered by an external print provider, such as Axia Office, to manage your organisation’s document output.
Through our managed print services, we help you manage all aspects of your company’s printing, including all photocopiers and printers, remote tracking of consumables, routine services, document routing and management and network security.
We show you how to reduce pages printed, with emphasis on colour pages.
Our print plans are tailored to each business’s specific requirements, to ensure that they get the exact solution that fits their needs. The aim is always to provide increased productivity through more efficient machines and processes whilst reducing costs to the business.
Managed print service vs. competing print solutions
NOTE: this whole section I got rid of it’s not relevant to what we do. I’ve instead changed it to types of managed print services.
Types of managed print services
There are a range of plans available which deliver managed print services. These are all leasing, renting and equipment hiring type arrangements.
All plans include Axia’s efficient management of toner supply by remote toner level tracking, preventative servicing and fast breakdown maintenance. Each have certain features that may be of more benefit for one business over another.
Managed Print Services: The only plan that offers true transparency on your actual print costs as well as the flexibility to add equipment on a term reducing plan.
Who’s it for?
- Growing businesses uncertain of future equipment needs and usage
- Businesses who want to track true print costs of departments or users to report on ROI
- Businesses wanting ongoing improvements and management from a dedicated account manager
Unlimited Print Plan: Axia’s industry first initiative to offer unlimited b&w and colour printing for one set monthly price.
Who’s it for?
- Businesses who experience erratic print usage throughout the year, resulting in peaks and troughs.
- Business with several locations, multiple brands of print devices and contracts with different end dates. One set cost can be implemented for everything, so you know what each bill will be
Rental Plan / Lease: The most common type of plan in the industry, it separates an ongoing cost for the equipment with a separate cost per page for servicing and consumable supply.
Who’s it for?
- Small businesses with no growth plans
Month-to-month plans: an arrangement where there is only a lock in contract for say 3 months and then payments are made on a month-to-month basis thereafter.
Who’s it for?
-
Business new to managed print services, who would like to see what it’s like before committing to longer terms
- Businesses who only need equipment for a short amount of time.
Benefits of managed print services
Your business has a lot to gain by using managed print services. To help you understand why you should switch over, here is a quick list of benefits.
Ten benefits of managed print services:
- Improved costs
- Ongoing preventative servicing
- Fast (under 4 hour) breakdown servicing
- Supply refills are automatically tracked and delivered
- Payout of existing contracts
- It is easy to track printing costs
- You benefit from professional advice on what printer to use
- Your company gets to use the latest award-winning devices
- Ability to improve document routing and storage
- Printing becomes more reliable in your business
Using managed print services, you save yourself the valuable time and effort you could be using to focus on your business. You’ll see a significant increase in productivity from reduced equipment downtime and you’ll always have the best equipment for the job on hand.
How much do managed print services cost?
The cost of using a managed print service depends on the demands of your business and the plan that is chosen. To give you a better understanding of what you can expect to pay, here are four factors that will affect your cost per page.
Keep in mind though that it is always Axia’s goal to reduce overall costs and we can show you how with our free print health check.
1. Volume
The higher the usage, especially in colour, the higher the cost. Axia’s managed print services aim to reduce this as much as possible, setting b&w defaults and preset rules e.g. emails can only ever be printed in b&w.
2. Equipment
It’s best practice to go with the newest equipment whenever possible. Typically, more modern technology is cheaper to run because manufacturers have improve the efficiency of devices and life of toners and inks. We also make sure the most cost-effective equipment is being used for higher volumes e.g. a 60ppm photocopier will print a higher volume more cheaply than a desktop device.
3. Type of managed print service and length of term
The type of plan that is chosen will also have a significant effect on monthly costs. A month-to-month plan is higher risk for the vendor and will therefore have the highest cost. A unlimited volume plan or a rental plan financed over 36 months will have a higher cost per month than one financed over 60 months.
Axia Office — Managed print service in Sydney, Australia
Are you ready to say goodbye to printing headaches? Axia Office offers affordable managed print services in Sydney metropolitan area, providing high-quality printers from the top names in the industry, and quick, reliable service when you need it. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for you and your business.
