How do you know when it’s time to upgrade your print hardware and what benefits you might realize from replacing an individual printer – or your entire printer fleet?

5 Reasons Businesses Should Upgrade Print Equipment
Just as with the computers that keep businesses running efficiently, printers are constantly being updated with new technology and features. Today’s multifunction printers offer businesses the combined capabilities of faxing, copying, printing, and scanning – all in a single unit.

Over time, even small businesses (SMBs) acquire multiple devices for each office function, often cluttering desks with a mixed population of desktop printers, copiers, scanners, and fax machines.

Here’s how you can transform your office printing solutions, improve productivity, and save money from upgrading your print equipment.

1. Benefit from Features You Need – But Don’t Have
Modern multifunction printers are loaded with technology that allows businesses to scan documents directly to electronic format. This saves an enormous amount of time in retyping materials into word documents, spreadsheets, or other useful formats.

Copy a document directly to email – including the use of distribution lists that are predefined and stored for reuse. This eliminates manual processes and enhances print security through electronic distribution.

2. Cost-saving
Print hardware including scanners, copiers, and fax machines take up valuable real estate in most offices. Upgrading to modern equipment replaces multiple devices with a single unit that saves space, provides new features, and makes your business more efficient.

This upgrade not only saves space and eliminates desk clutter, but there can also be significant savings in utility costs when replacing these older power-hungry units with energy-efficient units that incorporate green printing practices. This will reduce your environmental impact and demonstrate a green initiative.

Cost per printed page is reduced as well, with newfound efficiency in printing technology and supplies that provide more images per lifecycle than outdated print hardware.

Centralizing your supplier for maintenance, cartridges, and other consumables reduces operating expenses over dealing with multiple providers and service contracts.

3. Workflow Integration
Upgrading your print hardware provides new functionality that streamlines business processes. Workflow automates manual functions such as routing documents to the right resource for action or notification. Scanning a purchase order can route the document directly to the appropriate party for review and approval, and also send it to your supplier.

When you need access to critical documents from multiple locations or by several departments, scan the item once, routing it to all parties electronically, or to cloud storage for review and collaboration from anywhere.

4. Security Upgrades
Today’s printers incorporate multiple levels of security. This has become increasingly important to protect confidential information, especially for businesses that handle regulated information such as healthcare records or financial transactions.

When printing secure documents, controls can be implemented that prevent actual printing until the document owner is physically present at the printer and scans an ID card or enters a secure PIN to authorize printing. This reduces the potential for someone else picking up unauthorized documents or sharing them with other employees.

5. Print Output Monitoring
Many companies are not fully aware of just how much printing is done within the business, what is printed, and who is doing the printing. With modern multifunction printers and managed print services (MPS), data is captured to monitor exactly what is being printed, where, and by what individuals or departments.

Monitoring reveals additional ways to save printing expenses such as reducing the amount of color printing utilized or identifying excess copies that are not necessary.

What to Look for in a Modern Printer
Today’s printers have been transformed to take less space, use less power, and utilize supplies more efficiently. When evaluating the right printer for your office, there are several key factors to be considered:

Connectivity – if you need access to the printer from mobile devices, select a unit that facilitates wireless connections. High-speed Ethernet connectivity is also useful in most offices where the printer can be connected to a network.
Supplies – a significant portion of printing expense is in on-going supplies – toner, cartridges, maintenance kits, etc. Make sure you have a cost-effective plan for managing the acquisition and use of supplies. Dealing with a single supplier for all printer needs can contribute to cost savings.
Function – ensure that any printer being considered suits all your needs including wide-format printing, color vs. monochrome, speed, and services such as scanning or faxing.
Ease of use – if a printer is too complicated for general use by employees, it will not provide the cost savings and productivity boost you’re looking for. Make sure the printer is user-friendly, and that the provider offers at least initial training on its usage, as well as on-going service.
Dealing with a reputable printer supplier and installing recognized brand names in print hardware will maximize your cost savings while improving business workflow.

If you don’t have a cybersecurity plan in place for your printers and networks, then your company could be at risk for a security breach. Fortunately, hackers can be blocked from accessing your systems – if you know what to do or where to get help.

Hacking is most definitely on the rise – and everyone is vulnerable. In June 2020, for example, hackers got access to the systems of the printing company Xerox and threatened to leak stolen files unless a ransom was paid. Xerox is just one of many large companies targeted by ransomware thieves.

The Amazing Cybersecurity Story of 28,000 Printers Being Hijacked by White-Hat Hackers
The best way to illustrate the vulnerability of printers and multifunction printers is to prove it – and this was accomplished in the summer of 2020 by cybersecurity experts at CyberNews.

What did they do? The Cybernews white hat hackers used IoT (Internet of Things) search engines to scan for open printer ports. (White hat hackers are hackers who are using their hacking skills for good.) The team found a whopping 800,000 printers that had Internet-accessible network printing features enabled. This isn’t a guarantee that all these printers were hackable, but the organization calculated that probably 500,000 of them could have been targeted for hacking.

The cyberhacking team then targeted 50,000 printers out of the entire batch. They were able to hijack and print out a PDF document on almost 28,000 unprotected printers.

This is of course a huge problem. While these white hat hackers only used their exploit to print out a warning to the targeted printers, they could have done real damage.

Printing companies like HP and Canon have been working to make their products more secure. For example, HP has been taking aggressive steps to not only educate its printer users about security but to improve the security of its products. Canon has also put resources into amping up cybersecurity, particular for the medical field, which is at high risk for cyberattacks.

How Managed Print Services Can Help Stop Cyberattacks
One of the main problems is that no matter what cybersecurity measures are available on Xerox or HP printers, if you don’t utilize those options properly, your printers could be at risk from hackers. This is why it is helpful to have a cybersecurity expert managing your printing systems. The problem is, a lot of small businesses don’t have the resources to hire a full-time IT administrator who can keep up with all the latest threats from hackers.

This is where managed print services come in. With a managed print services solution, your printers will be taken care of by experts.

One of the most important features of managed print services is visibility. This means that printers are remotely monitored, in a secure fashion, to make sure that everything is functioning properly. Access controls can be put into place to ensure that the right people access the right documents from the right printers.

Access control is very important, because cybersecurity for printers isn’t just about open Internet ports. It’s also possible for hackers to get in via Bluetooth or WiFi.

But beyond that, printers can have sensitive information in their buffers, not to mention the sensitive information that could be on a printed document. With the right access controls in place, you won’t have unauthorized staff members (or anyone else) plucking confidential documents directly off the computer (or pulling the data out of the printer buffer).

For many SMBs, having a qualified tech staff take care of printer security through managed print services can make a huge difference.

It’s time to look at your spend for 2020 and forecasting for 2021. Part of your new IT budget should incorporate remote monitoring, what with so many people working from home.

How Does Remote Monitoring Work with Printers?
If you have workers who are telecommuting from their home office, but using company printing equipment, you probably want to use remote monitoring. Remote monitoring of printers will ensure that workers are only using printers in an authorized manner, that is, not abusing the printer for non-work activities.

While some businesses do allow employees to use printers for a small allotment of personal use, you don’t want people to go overboard and start printing up hundreds of flyers for their local bingo club.

The remote monitoring software will track printer usage. It can also potentially cap printer usage so people can’t print more than their allotment.

Remote printer monitoring also helps with maintenance. Paper jams, low ink alerts, and open printer doors can be instantly tracked, and a technician sent out if needed.

The Benefits of Remote Monitoring with Managed Print Services in 2021
In 2021, we expect that working from home will remain the norm, even if coronavirus lockdowns are lifted once vaccines are widely adopted. Many experts, including Bill Gates himself, are predicting that lockdowns could last into 2022. For this reason, businesses need to be prepared and have systems in place to support remote workers throughout 2021.

Managed print services can make this happen easily. With a managed print services solution, your entire printer ecosystem – even company printers used at home offices – can be managed remotely and securely. The benefits of remote monitoring include:

Better Security
Printers that are attached to the Internet can be security risks if they aren’t properly configured and administered. Remote printer monitoring can help ensure that printers are safe from hacker intrusion. Document confidentiality can also be ensured through managed services, especially through integration with a document management solution.

Cost Savings
Workers who abuse printer resources can waste company money by using up too much paper and printer ink. Note that not all excessive printer usage may be due to abuse, it could just be poor habits or an overreliance on print when digital files would work just fine. Remote monitoring of printers with managed services can stop the overuse of printers, printer paper, and ink.

Improved Efficiency
Printers that are constantly jamming up or not working properly waste time. Do you want your employees focused on trying to figure out why a printer isn’t working, or would you rather they focus on their main tasks instead? Printers that are properly maintained through managed print services will not work better more consistently. They will break down less frequently, and, if there is an issue, it can be fixed quickly by a certified technician.

Latest Printer Equipment
With managed print services, you are effectively leasing your printers in a full-service package that includes remote monitoring and support. What this means is that you will be able to provide your employees with the best in equipment without spending a bundle constantly buying new machines. This also means that as older printers become worn out (and old printers are also security risks), they can be easily replaced with newer models that provide speed, efficiency, and more security. This is a win/win for you and your time.