How Managed Print Services Work

Printing is a crucial aspect in most (if not all) businesses, however they will each approach this side of things very differently. The method you decide to go with will influence cost, level of responsibility as well as your company’s effectiveness.

Seriously considering your printing options is vital for ensuring the success and affluency of your business. However, it is common for companies to need outside help when choosing a print solution, since it is a mammoth and specialist task — this is where managed print services (MPS for short) come in.

What are Managed Print Services?

Managed print services (MPS) are offered by an outside provider to manage and/or optimize your company’s document output. However, they also analyze and consider all your options in terms of what devices (printers, scanners, faxes, and photocopiers) will be best for your business and whether or not what you are currently doing is actually benefiting you.

How do Managed Print Services Work?

These services work by providing solutions to any aspect of your printing processes that is hindering your progress, blocking productivity or wasting your money. But if you are wondering how they actually do this, then continue reading!

They Do It By:

• Adding up the cost of managing and optimizing your printers, their output and the various factors that support such devices and processes (staff, etc). They then work on outsourcing to cut down your costs by up to 30%.
• Performing a thorough first assessment of your present printing regime.
• Monitoring and managing your full output environment, no matter which brand of printer you use.
• Actively replenishing supplies before employees are affected.
• Recognizing and then solving any printing problems.
• Suggesting a plan of action to lower the number of printers you use.
• Thinking about the environment’s health and putting procedures in place to take care of it like printing less, recycling, lowering energy usage and much more.
• Consistently improving the processes to ensure the utmost money and time savings.
• Offering easy, secure printing access to telecommuters and mobile workers.
• Assisting with network management information technology integration projects, from platform support through to cloud-based scenarios.
• Training your staff to enable a smooth transition via change management.
• Turning slow, paper-based procedures (such as routing and approvals) into fast, automated, digital solutions.

What are The Benefits of Managed Print Services?

Analyzing Printing Needs

Your company’s IT department is most probably very capable of analyzing your printing situation, but it’s not really the best use of such a valuable resource, is it? Bringing in an MPS provider with experience in the analysis of all manner of print fleets is the best course of action. They will know about ways to consolidate printer fleets to ensure your business uses the proper equipment but at a price that doesn’t break the bank.

Reducing ‘Local’ Printers

The need and utilization of local printers is usually the first area to consider on the path to optimizing your printing environment. These are often highly inefficient and cost the company much more than you think; these printers tend to service just one user, they are not usually networked together, so this makes them less than efficient in the standard company landscape. It’s also often the case that each of these local printers has their own unique cartridge formats – which is a headache when it comes to procurement and inventories!

Streamline Placement

It may sound obvious, but most companies rarely position their printers in places that most employees can access. Ensuring proper placement will improve the workflow of your staff and maximize the use of each device. It’s amazing how much time is wasted by an employee having to walk across a building or, as is proving to often be the case, even having to travel to another floor to collect their printed documents.

Replacing Any Inefficient Devices

A managed print service provider can also help you to realize which pieces of equipment are not performing to specifications and replace them with printing devices that are much more efficient. An MPS provider is a specialist and they know the best equipment available for both your company’s requirements and its budget.

Automatic Supply Delivery

It takes up so much valuable time having to order cartridges for each individual printer. So why not enter into an MPS program? This will monitor and evaluate all your devices and actually carry out an automated purchase of toner / cartridges when it realizes that your printers are starting to run low. This ensures that your employees are not left stranded or waiting for cartridges before they can print out their documentation – hence reducing downtime.

Predictability

An MPS programme gives you the option to bundle your costs (and suppliers), thereby providing you with the chance to pay an ongoing affordable monthly amount. When you enter into a contract with an MPS provider, you’ll not have to worry about any unwanted surprise maintenance issues or unexpected printing costs, as all this will be taken care of.

Employee Training

The last thing you want your IT department to add to its busy schedule is having to train employees and sort out their printing problems. In any case, this is usually one of those jobs that gets put to one side, thereby causing considerable downtimes. An MPS provider can assist with employee training and also offer help desk assistance in the event of any printing issues.

Remote Printing Management

Mobile printing lets your staff print remotely off-site and from any device. Imagine how this could improve your business? If a member of staff doesn’t have to come into the office to print out important documentation and other employees don’t have to take time out of their busy schedules looking for the document to print for them, then you can see how this would help your company’s workflow. By supporting a mobile printing environment, MPS providers can assist you with setting up and management issues.

Managed Print Services Toronto

There’s a broad range of MPS solutions out there and they can all be adapted to suit your company’s particular requirements. An encompassing print solution will ensure that your IT department is focusing on the key issues, it reduces your printing costs, enhances productivity, and generally improves the efficiency of your printing landscape. Feel free to get in touch with our experienced and friendly team if you have any other questions.