Managed Print Services – you may have heard of it…

But what is it?

Managed Print Services is a term you may have come across if you’re in the office supplies trade.

Whether you’ve heard it mentioned in passing, seen it in a brochure or even if your office has Managed Print Services in place, you might be unsure about what it is, and what it can do for your business. So here’s our quick rundown.

Managed Print Services

In short, Managed Print Services (or MPS) is an integrated service designed to optimise and manage a company’s document and print output.

Whether you want to cut your office or business’s overall print volume, reduce your use of coloured ink or limit print by type of user, Managed Print Services can do it. If set up correctly, MPS can provide an impressive range of solutions. This makes it much more than simply a print and copying solution.

An MPS system is remotely monitored and managed by your supplier. They will keep an eye on the machine’s operating status and ink & toner levels, providing maintenance and restocking the system as and when needed.

How it works

Typically, MPS is a combination of three individual print services, and offered as an ongoing contract. The main elements are:

Managed Print Hardware

Before a Managed Print Services contract is put in place, the business’s hardware and print needs are audited to determine how is best for it to be managed. The supplier should be able to identify whether new machines are needed or if the existing ones can be used. The hardware, whether new or old, is then modified. It can now be managed remotely and then integrated into the network so it will work as you’d expect an office printer would.

Technical support & management

The second element of MPS is the ability to provide ongoing technical support of the devices. As well as this, the management of consumables such as paper, ink and toner. This works either by the device letting the supplier know that something’s wrong or, more recently, by anticipating and pre-empting the needs of the user. MPS systems have gotten much smarter at this. It allows them to identify and remedy issues before they start to cause a real problem to users.

Software

The real beauty of MPS lies in the software that brings it all together, making it much more than simply a printer support service. An effective Managed Print solution uses clever software to continuously monitor and optimise a business’s document output. Whether it’s through identifying and eliminating irregular printing activities, providing additional authentication for large volume prints or determining how a business can target cost reductions in it’s print.

Why choose Managed Print Services?

The best way of identifying whether your business could benefit from Managed Print Services is to look for these common signs:

• You have no visibility or control over the overall spend for print and copying and the month to month spend varies widely.
• There is a variety of printers, scanners and photocopiers around your office building.
• You have an excess of unused toner and ink or you are constantly placing orders for print supplies.
• Your printers take up a significant amount of management time – either for your office management or IT staff.

Many businesses have adopted managed print. The reasons for this are often as a way of guaranteeing lower print costs and improved efficiency for their business. Businesses can typically expect to save around 30% on their print costs, but the benefits go much further than that. Some additional benefits include:

• Reduced print waste.
• Lower energy consumption – MPS software is able to learn your usage schedule and conserve energy when not in use.
• Enhanced print security and visibility – including audit trails and added privacy settings.
• Eliminates in house print management time and reduces downtime.

Our Managed Print Service

We provide a comprehensive Print Management solution designed to reduce your business’s print costs and improve operational efficiency. Our print experts provide a consultative approach to understand your business’s print need.

Click here to find out how we can help your business.

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