Key Takeaways
- Managed Print Services (MPS) can give businesses greater visibility into their printers, copiers, supplies, usage, and service needs.
- An MPS strategy typically begins with evaluating the existing print environment and identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Remote monitoring can help streamline meter collection, supply management, and equipment maintenance.
- Usage reporting can help businesses better understand how their print environment is being used.
- MPS can support organizations with one device or an entire fleet, depending on their needs.
Printers and copiers are essential to many workplaces, but managing them can become more complicated as a business grows.
Supplies need to be monitored. Equipment requires maintenance. Employees need reliable access to devices. Organizations with multiple printers or locations may also struggle to understand how much they’re printing and where their resources are going.
That’s where Managed Print Services (MPS) can help.
Managed Print Services provide a structured approach to monitoring, maintaining, and managing an organization’s print environment. Instead of treating each printer or copier as an individual piece of equipment, MPS looks at the broader print environment and how it supports the business.
Here are some of the biggest benefits of Managed Print Services.
1. Better Visibility Into Your Print Environment
It’s difficult to improve something you don’t fully understand.
A Managed Print Services strategy can begin with an assessment of your current print environment, including equipment, usage patterns, workflows, and service requirements.
This can help identify questions such as:
- How much is each device being used?
- Are some machines being overused while others sit idle?
- Is the equipment appropriate for its workload?
- Where are supplies being used?
- Are there opportunities to consolidate equipment?
- Which devices may need replacement or repositioning?
Greater visibility can help businesses make more informed decisions about their print environment instead of relying on assumptions.
2. Simplified Equipment Monitoring
Managing multiple printers and copiers manually can require significant administrative effort.
Remote monitoring can simplify that process by automatically collecting certain equipment information.
Offix currently uses remote monitoring technologies such as FMAudit and Canon imageWARE Remote. Depending on the equipment and solution, these tools can provide information such as meter readings, toner levels, usage data, equipment errors, jams, and other alerts.
That information can give businesses and their service provider greater visibility into equipment performance without requiring employees to manually check every device.
3. More Efficient Supply Management
Running out of toner at the wrong time can interrupt an otherwise productive workday.
Managed Print Services can help organizations keep a closer eye on supply levels.
Offix’s remote monitoring system can provide alerts when supplies are running low. For customers whose applicable maintenance plan includes supplies or auto-replenishment, that information can be used to support automatic toner delivery.
The important distinction is that automatic supply replenishment depends on the maintenance program selected. It isn’t automatically included with every MPS, lease, or equipment agreement.
When configured appropriately, supply monitoring can reduce the amount of time employees spend manually checking toner levels and placing orders.
4. Proactive Maintenance and Service
Managed Print Services can also support a more proactive approach to equipment maintenance.
Rather than relying exclusively on employees to notice a problem and report it, remote monitoring can alert a service provider to certain equipment conditions.
Offix’s current remote monitoring capabilities can report equipment errors, jams, and other alerts to its technical team.
This doesn’t mean MPS can prevent every equipment failure. Printers and copiers can still require repairs.
However, having greater visibility into equipment conditions can help service teams identify certain issues earlier and better manage preventative maintenance.
5. Greater Insight Into Printing Costs and Usage
Businesses may know what they spend on equipment or toner without having a clear picture of how their overall print environment is being used.
Managed Print Services can provide reporting that helps organizations better understand printing activity.
Depending on the software and configuration, businesses may be able to review information about:
- Device usage
- Meter counts
- Print volumes
- Equipment activity
- Supply consumption
- Fleet performance
Offix’s FMAudit solution, for example, provides usage visibility and allows businesses to generate reports based on their needs.
That information can help organizations make better decisions about equipment placement, capacity, service, and future purchases.
6. A More Optimized Printer Fleet
Not every office needs a printer at every desk, and not every department needs the same type of equipment.
An effective MPS strategy considers how devices are distributed throughout the organization.
A business may discover that it has:
- Too many underused printers
- Too few devices in high-volume areas
- Equipment that doesn’t match its workload
- Aging devices that require frequent attention
- Multiple machines performing overlapping functions
Reviewing the fleet as a whole can help businesses determine whether equipment should be consolidated, replaced, relocated, or reconfigured.
The goal isn’t necessarily to have fewer printers. It’s to have the right equipment in the right places for the work being performed.
7. Support for Print Policies and Document Workflows
Managed Print Services can extend beyond maintaining physical equipment.
Print management software can give businesses additional control over how employees interact with their print environment.
Depending on the solution, organizations may be able to implement capabilities such as:
- User authentication
- Secure print release
- Print tracking
- Usage reporting
- Printing rules
- Mobile printing
- Scan workflows
These capabilities can help businesses establish print policies and improve document workflows.
Available features depend on the equipment, software, network environment, and configuration selected.
8. Support for Document and Device Security
Printers and multifunction devices are network-connected endpoints that can process, transmit, and sometimes store business information.
Managed Print Services can help organizations better understand and manage these devices as part of their broader technology environment.
Depending on the equipment and software, organizations may have access to security capabilities such as user authentication, secure print release, network communication protections, device settings, and usage controls.
However, MPS should support a company’s cybersecurity strategy—not replace it.
Printer and document security should be coordinated with the organization’s IT team and broader security policies.
9. Easier Management of Multiple Devices and Locations
The value of centralized print management can become especially noticeable as an organization grows.
Businesses with several departments, offices, or locations may have dozens of devices from different manufacturers or acquired at different times.
Offix’s FMAudit monitoring can work with multiple equipment brands, including devices that were not originally purchased or leased through Offix.
That can give organizations a more centralized view of their print environment instead of managing every machine independently.
What Does Managed Print Services Include?
The exact services included in an MPS program depend on the provider and the needs of the organization.
A Managed Print Services program may include:
- Print environment assessment
- Device monitoring
- Meter collection
- Usage reporting
- Supply monitoring
- Preventative maintenance
- Service coordination
- Print management software
- Equipment optimization
- Fleet planning
Businesses should ask exactly what’s included before selecting a program rather than assuming every MPS agreement provides the same services.
Managed Print Services vs. a Maintenance Agreement
These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they aren’t necessarily the same thing.
A maintenance agreement generally focuses on servicing and maintaining the equipment.
Managed Print Services takes a broader view of the print environment and can incorporate monitoring, reporting, supplies, equipment management, workflow improvements, and other services in addition to maintenance.
Offix currently offers multiple maintenance options, including cost-per-copy and fixed-price programs, as well as customizable packages.
The appropriate combination depends on your equipment, print volume, business requirements, and service needs.
How Offix Approaches Managed Print Services
Offix works with businesses to evaluate their existing print environment and determine which combination of equipment, monitoring, maintenance, supplies, and print-management tools fits their needs.
Remote monitoring can provide meter information, toner levels, usage visibility, and certain device alerts. Offix can also monitor equipment that wasn’t originally acquired through the company, allowing organizations to incorporate a broader portion of their fleet.
Offix also offers customizable maintenance options for copiers, desktop and multifunction printers, wide-format equipment, mailing equipment, scanners, finishing products, and other office technology.
Take Control of Your Print Environment
Managed Print Services can give businesses a clearer understanding of how their printers and copiers are being used while simplifying equipment monitoring, maintenance, supplies, and reporting.
The right MPS strategy isn’t about adding unnecessary services. It’s about understanding your current print environment and finding practical ways to manage it more effectively.
Contact Offix today to learn how Managed Print Services can help your organization better manage its printers, copiers, supplies, service, and overall print environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Managed Print Services?
Managed Print Services, or MPS, provide a structured approach to managing an organization’s printers, copiers, and related print environment. Services can include equipment monitoring, usage reporting, supply management, maintenance, print management software, and fleet optimization.
What are the benefits of Managed Print Services?
Potential benefits include greater visibility into printing activity, simplified equipment monitoring, improved supply management, proactive maintenance, centralized fleet management, and better information for making equipment decisions.
Does MPS automatically order toner?
It can, depending on the program. Offix’s remote monitoring can identify low supply levels, and customers with qualifying maintenance plans that include auto-replenishment can receive supplies based on those alerts.
Is Managed Print Services the same as leasing printers?
No. Equipment leasing and Managed Print Services are separate. A business may lease or purchase its equipment and separately select maintenance, monitoring, or Managed Print Services based on its needs.
Can MPS manage printers from different manufacturers?
It depends on the monitoring platform and provider. Offix states that its FMAudit solution can monitor multiple brands, including equipment that wasn’t originally purchased or leased through Offix.