Key Takeaways
- Managed Print Services can give businesses greater visibility into printing activity, equipment usage, supplies, and service needs.
- An MPS strategy can help identify inefficient or underused devices and opportunities to better manage printing expenses.
- Remote monitoring can simplify meter collection, supply management, and equipment maintenance.
- Print management solutions can also support document security through features such as authentication and secure print release.
- Offix begins its Managed Print Services process by evaluating the existing print environment and developing a solution around the organization’s needs.
Printing may seem like a small part of everyday business operations, but managing printers, copiers, toner, maintenance, and service across an organization can quickly become complicated.
Businesses may have too many devices, equipment that doesn’t match actual usage, inconsistent supply ordering, or limited visibility into how much they’re printing.
That’s where Managed Print Services for modern offices can help.
Managed Print Services, or MPS, take a broader approach to managing an organization’s print environment. Rather than looking at each printer individually, MPS considers equipment, usage, supplies, service, costs, and workflows together.
What Are Managed Print Services?
Managed Print Services help organizations monitor and manage their printers, copiers, multifunction devices, and related printing activity.
The exact services depend on the provider and solution, but an MPS program may include:
- Print environment assessments
- Device monitoring
- Usage reporting
- Supply management
- Preventative maintenance
- Equipment optimization
- Print management software
- Cost tracking
- Workflow recommendations
Offix’s Managed Print Services process begins with an assessment of the customer’s existing print infrastructure. This helps identify current equipment, usage patterns, and potential opportunities for improvement. Offix Managed Print Solutions
1. Gain Better Visibility Into Your Print Environment
It’s difficult to manage printing expenses without understanding how equipment is actually being used.
An organization may have several printers spread across departments, but that doesn’t necessarily mean each device is appropriately sized or efficiently utilized.
Managed Print Services can help businesses evaluate:
- Which devices receive the most use
- Which equipment may be underused
- Overall print volumes
- Color versus black-and-white printing
- Equipment performance
- Supply requirements
- Service needs
This information can help businesses make more informed decisions about their print fleet.
Instead of replacing equipment simply because it’s old or adding devices whenever a department requests one, organizations can make decisions based on actual usage.
2. Simplify Supplies and Equipment Monitoring
Managing toner and supplies across multiple printers can become time-consuming.
Employees may order toner too early, keep unnecessary supplies in storage, or discover that toner has run out only when someone needs to print an important document.
Remote equipment monitoring can help simplify this process.
Offix uses remote monitoring capabilities to collect information such as meter readings, toner levels, and certain device alerts. Depending on the applicable maintenance plan, automatic toner replenishment may also be available.
This can reduce the amount of manual oversight required from employees while providing better visibility into equipment status.
3. Take a More Proactive Approach to Maintenance
Waiting for equipment to fail before addressing a problem can lead to unnecessary disruption.
Managed Print Services can support a more proactive approach by helping organizations monitor equipment and identify maintenance needs.
Offix emphasizes preventative maintenance as part of its service approach rather than relying solely on break-fix service.
Regular service and monitoring can help organizations keep equipment operating as intended and identify potential issues before they become larger problems.
That doesn’t mean downtime can always be prevented. However, having an established service and maintenance strategy can make equipment management more predictable.
4. Identify Opportunities to Control Printing Costs
Managed Print Services aren’t simply about finding the cheapest printer.
A more useful approach is understanding the total print environment.
Printing expenses can include:
- Equipment
- Toner
- Paper
- Maintenance
- Repairs
- Color printing
- Supplies
- Software
- Employee time spent managing devices
An MPS assessment can help identify areas where resources may not be used efficiently.
For example, a business may discover that several low-volume desktop printers could be consolidated, while another department actually needs a higher-capacity device.
The goal is to match equipment and resources to actual business needs rather than making assumptions about where costs should be cut.
5. Support Print and Document Security
Printers and multifunction devices are connected technology and should be considered as part of an organization’s broader security strategy.
Depending on the equipment and software selected, businesses may have access to capabilities such as:
- User authentication
- Secure print release
- Administrative access controls
- Device security settings
- Data encryption capabilities
- Print activity tracking
Managed Print Services can help organizations evaluate compatible print management and security capabilities as part of their overall print environment.
However, MPS shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for an organization’s cybersecurity program.
The appropriate security controls depend on the organization’s equipment, network, policies, workflows, and security requirements.
6. Optimize the Printer and Copier Fleet
Office technology needs change over time.
A printer that was appropriate for a department several years ago may now be handling far more—or far less—volume than expected.
Businesses may also accumulate equipment as they grow, move offices, or add employees.
Managed Print Services can help identify opportunities to right-size the fleet.
That may involve:
- Relocating equipment
- Consolidating devices
- Replacing inefficient equipment
- Adding capacity where needed
- Standardizing certain devices
- Removing equipment that is no longer necessary
The objective isn’t simply to reduce the number of printers. It’s to create a print environment that better reflects how the organization operates today.
7. Support More Efficient Document Workflows
A print assessment can also reveal opportunities that extend beyond physical printing.
Some processes may still rely on printing, manually routing, scanning, and storing documents even when a digital workflow could be more efficient.
Modern multifunction devices and document management solutions can help organizations incorporate scanning, digital routing, and electronic document storage into existing workflows.
This doesn’t mean every process should become paperless.
Instead, businesses can determine where physical documents remain necessary and where digital processes may reduce unnecessary steps.
8. Make Print Management Easier to Scale
As an organization grows, managing printers individually can become increasingly difficult.
New employees, departments, locations, and devices can create a more complicated environment.
A centralized print management strategy can make it easier to understand how equipment is being used across the organization and plan for future needs.
This can be especially helpful for businesses with multiple offices or a larger fleet of printers and multifunction devices.
The Offix Approach to Managed Print Services
Offix starts by evaluating the customer’s existing print environment rather than immediately recommending new equipment.
The assessment can help identify current equipment, printing requirements, usage, and opportunities for improvement.
From there, Offix can develop a solution that may incorporate:
- Printers and multifunction devices
- Remote equipment monitoring
- Maintenance
- Supply management
- Print management software
- Usage reporting
- Fleet optimization
- Document workflow solutions
The specific combination depends on the organization’s existing equipment and business requirements.
This allows Managed Print Services to be tailored to the customer rather than applying the same solution to every office.
Build a Smarter Print Environment
The importance of Managed Print Services goes beyond maintaining printers.
A well-managed print environment can provide businesses with better visibility into equipment, usage, supplies, maintenance, and printing expenses.
It can also help organizations make more informed decisions about which equipment they need and how their print environment should evolve.
Offix works with businesses to assess their current print environment and develop solutions based on their equipment, workflows, and operational needs.
Contact Offix today to learn how Managed Print Services can help your organization better manage its printers, copiers, supplies, and document workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Managed Print Services?
Managed Print Services help organizations monitor and manage printers, copiers, multifunction devices, supplies, maintenance, usage, and other aspects of the print environment. The exact services depend on the provider and selected solution.
Can Managed Print Services reduce printing costs?
MPS can help identify opportunities to better manage printing expenses by providing visibility into equipment usage, print volumes, supplies, and maintenance. Actual savings depend on the organization’s existing print environment and the changes implemented.
Does Managed Print Services include toner?
It depends on the service agreement. Offix offers maintenance options that can include supplies and automatic toner replenishment. Businesses should review their specific agreement to understand what’s included.
Can Managed Print Services improve document security?
MPS can support a broader print-security strategy through compatible technologies such as user authentication, secure print release, and print management software. Available capabilities depend on the equipment, software, and configuration selected.
Does a business need to replace all its printers to use Managed Print Services?
Not necessarily. An MPS assessment should begin by evaluating existing equipment and determining what can continue to meet the organization’s needs. Recommendations may involve keeping, relocating, consolidating, upgrading, or replacing devices depending on the environment.