How to Choose Solutions Printing?

Business printing looks like a small task but sometimes it can cause a lot of frustration. It’s not only about the expenses that occur but also about a lot of other things that are going on in the printing. You have to deal with all the technical things, toner, papers, and also guide your employees to use the printer. The real problem starts when the tonner runs out or you face some technical glitch in the printer. That’s why you need a corporate printing solution for your business.

There are various print services that you can go to. In this guide, we are going to see how you can choose the right printing solution for your business.

Types of Print Services

We will first understand some of the popular types of print services that you can get for your business. Later on, we will jump into how you can choose the best service as per your needs.

There are three main solutions from which you can choose:

• Managed Print Services
• Buying a Printer
• Leasing or Renting a Printer

1. Managed Print Services

One of the most popular and recommended business print services you can go with is the managed one. Here, the managed print service provider manage all the technical things for you. All you need to do is use your printers and leave the rest of the things on them. Whether you are facing any technical issue or you want more toner, they will handle all the things for you.

In a managed print service program, the team handles and manages the printing service. All of your printers will be connected. In this way, you can print anything from any corner of your office. Whether it’s about replacing your printer or you want to update it, the company will help you do it.

In simple words, having managed service is the same as having a virtual assistant. Whenever there is a problem, the device will notify them about it. They will fix the issue remotely if possible. However, if the issue can’t be fixed remotely, the company will one of the team members to fix it for you and you won’t have to worry about anything.

2. Buying a Printer

The next option you can go with is purchasing a printer. Depending on your needs, you can go with any printer you want. There are several types of printers available. For instance, if you want specialized printing, you can choose one of the printers. Buying a printer can be a great option but you will have to pay more costs as some of the printers are expensive.

3. Leasing a Printer

One of the print services to avoid expensive costs is leasing or renting a printer. Sometimes, you might come across a client where you will need a specialized printer. Assuming the project is short, it would not be possible to purchase a new printer. In such cases, you can lease a printer. Nowadays, all the printers are available for lease whether you want it for short-term purpose or long-term, you can rent it instead of buying it. So, you should also consider leasing a printer as one of the possible print solutions.

Which service is best for you?

Now that you know about the printing series, let’s get into which corporate business solution is best for your business. These are a couple of questions that you need to ask yourself before you choose one of the print services.

Is your staff qualified to handle the basic technical things of the printer?

If you need to train them, it is always a better option to go with the managed print services instead of training your staff to run the technical device. However, if they are already qualified, you can buy a printer or lease one (more on it later).

How often you need to use the printer?

If you have to deal with a lot of printing, managed service is the option for you. However, if the printing project in only for the short-term, you should consider leasing a printer. It will save you a lot of money as you are not investing money in buying the product.

If your printer stops working or is facing some technical glitches, how will it affect your current daily routine?

Just in case, the printer stops working in the middle of the work-day, your productivity decreases a lot. In such cases, you should consider managed services. As the team will fix all the glitches and issues with just one call.

Are you constantly running out of toner or papers?

When you own a printer, it surely involves a lot of management. You need to make sure that there are enough toners and papers. You can consider managed service here.

How much money you can spend on the printing services?

If you don’t have enough budget, consider leasing a printer. Leasing a printer will cost you less and you can get your work done with ease.

Still, confused?

For most of the businesses that deal with a lot of printing, managed service will be the best option for you. However, as mentioned above, if you need it for a short time, you can also consider leasing a printer. Renting or leasing a printer will affordable as compared to the managed service. However, if you don’t want to deal with the technical issues, you can also go with the managed service.

Buying a printer is the best choice only if your staff already knows how to handle technical things. If that’s not the scenario with you, you can go with another type of print services to save money.

So, lastly, it is up to you which print services you would like to go with. You can generally contact the company and they will suggest you the best printing solution as per your requirement. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to decide because of the unique and custom requirements. So, in such cases, the printing solution provider can help you.

Are you still confused about choosing the best corporate printing solution for your business? You can contact us with your requirements and we will help you out. Tell your requirements and our team will suggest the best possible option for you.

If you are currently on the lookout for a Managed Print solution, please visit our sister company Docucare (www.docucare.ie) who specialise in Managed Print Services for SMEs. Before you do, here is some general information so you know what questions to ask them!

What is a managed Print Solution?

If your business or school currently prints a high volume of high-quality colour pages each month and the cost of toners is beginning to weigh, it may to time to consider investing in a Managed Print Solution. A Managed Print Solution is an extension of the idea of investing more in your device in order to achieve the lowest possible running costs. In a Managed print solution, you enjoy the benefits of a powerful high spec device but also the peace of mind of full service and maintenance

The main benefits of a Managed Print Solution are as follows;

• Reduced costs
• Service and maintenance
• Remote monitoring
• Monthly reporting

Choose a Reputable machine brand

While there are many brands in the photocopier space, there are 4 brands which have dominated the market for decades and can be considered the true market leader. If you choose a device from these brands you can be sure of a well built, high quality product. These are

• Konica Minolta (AKA Develop/Olivetti)
• Ricoh
• Xerox
• Canon

Brand new versus pre-owned machines

• Be aware if you’re receiving a brand new or previously owned machine. It may be cheaper to go with a pre-owned machine but chance of down time much greater. If supplier offers a machine that can be taken back at short notice without any penalty, it’s more than likely a pre-owned machine.

Hidden Costs

• If supplier uses an external leasing company, ask about hidden costs such as admin fees and buy-back fees on completion of lease
• Ask about annual cost-per-copy price increases built into the service agreement. This is a common hidden cost with many suppliers
• Ask about colour page coverage and how this affects the cost-per-page. This technical point can prove very costly if not addressed in advance.

Page Allowances versus Pay-per-page

• If your service provider is asking you to commit to a minimum no of pages printed each month, ask about rebates at years end if you have not exceeded your allowance
• Page allowances can be useful as you know exactly how much you’ll spend on printing each month, but not if you are being charged for pages you aren’t printing
• Ask about and do not accept punitive page rates for pages printed in excess of allowance. After all, why should you be penalised for printing more. In any other business you prices get reduced the more you use someone’s services.
• Straight up pay-per-page service agreements offer better transparency

Study the service agreement closely

• Ask your service provider what happens exactly at end of service agreement? Does it automatically roll into a new agreement? Do you own your device outright at end of lease/service contract?.
• Ask about the Service Level agreement in relation to turnaround time on service-call outs. 4 hours or less is preferable

Comparing Quotes

• When getting quotes, always provide as much accurate information as possible regarding your print usage on existing printers, your IT set up, your print requirements etc.
• Study all quotes and compare by calculating the total cost of ownership of each deal.
• Make sure all companies who quote are given same brief with same parameters. Otherwise very difficult to compare quotes as every company structures their deals differently

Inkjet Technology in MPS

• Inkjet technology is now quite common in the MPS industry, but not among the main market leading brands
• Inkjet machine can offer a low cost-per-page but these machines will not offer the same crisp vibrant colours you are guaranteed with the colour laser devices on offer form the big 4 OEMs
• Very important to discuss the implications of printing high colour coverage pages on inkjet machines, both in terms of technical issues and cost implications

General

• Make sure your supplier only uses original brand supplies. Many supplies cut their costs by using sub standard generic supplies. They are happy to make more service call outs if necessary but this only benefits the supplier, not the customer.