Self-Service Printing

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In our technology-rich age, what is print management and how has it evolved from its earlier iterations? What does enterprise print management look like in an organization that’s well-positioned to meet future challenges?

To a large extent, the answer to those questions lies in self-service printing. This is an approach that empowers end users to handle basic aspects of print management themselves in a user-friendly but tightly managed fashion. By giving end-users more client print control, such as the ability to choose their destination printer or easily install a new printer, it lifts some of the burdens of responsibility from IT’s shoulders and even expedites routine print-management processes.

Many organizations embrace this idea but are naturally skeptical toward enterprise self-service printing and how it will play out on the ground. And those concerns are valid. For example, how can self-service printing capabilities be given to an entire workforce that might span multiple locations across the globe? Or, in a more extreme (but not unheard of) case: If a user doesn’t understand the distinction between the Internet and a web browser, how can they be trusted with any aspect of print management?

PrinterLogic’s scalable, streamlined solution is redefining what print management is and how enterprises can implement features like self-service printing in a way that’s intuitive, seamless, and reliable.

Our enterprise-grade print-management software—both the on-premises version and its cloud-based SaaS counterpart—includes a native self-service printer installation portal that enables users to locate and install authorized printers with a single click. All they have to do is visit a webpage that they can access through a URL or the Printer Installer client. This secure, centrally managed portal provides users with a consistent and straightforward installation experience directly through PrinterLogic’s direct-IP printing platform.

More confidence in client print control
One of the most popular features of PrinterLogic’s self-service portal is the ability for admins to upload customized floor plan maps for their organization. Once users have selected their location, floor, or department using the convenient tree view in the left-hand pane of the portal, the corresponding floor plan map will appear. Users can then identify nearby printers and install them—along with the associated drivers—just by clicking on an icon.

self-service-printing

Unlike standard multi-step printer mapping, this method is much more comprehensible to the non-technical user. It’s also close to airtight, because admins can use PrinterLogic’s centralized management console to select preferred printer drivers and carefully control which printers are visible to which users. That significantly reduces the risk of users accidentally choosing the wrong printer or the wrong driver.

Along with its added reliability, this added client print control has multiple benefits. Most importantly, it reduces the volume of calls to the help desk because employees no longer have to solicit dedicated IT support just to install a printer—even if they happen to be in a new location. Cutting out the middleman allows users to accomplish routine print-management tasks quickly, making things much more satisfying for the end-user and far more efficient.

Seeing the results of self-service printing in the bottom line
Ultimately, the efficiency of self-service printing is reflected in cost savings. Having eliminated a cumbersome print-management task, end-users, as well as admins, can be more productive.

Organizations like Guthrie, a non-profit integrated healthcare delivery system, and CENTRIA, a leading designer and supplier of architectural materials, reported that PrinterLogic’s self-service portal optimized printer installations in their large, distributed environments and helped the number of help-desk calls to plummet. Another PrinterLogic healthcare customer, Children’s Bureau, Inc., found that the self-service portal completely changed its end users’ “habits and their attitude toward printing.” Those factors contributed to PrinterLogic’s proven ROI and put these organizations in a better position to deal with growth and evolving environments.

The ease and efficiency of enterprise self-service printing is something your organization can capitalize on as well. Sign up today for a free 30-day trial of PrinterLogic and see firsthand how ceding more client print control to your end users can drastically cut printer-installation times, reduce the number of help-desk calls and save on the costs of print management.

Three Ways To Reduce Printing Costs

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Cutting costs and improving efficiencies are top of mind for any organization. But when it comes time to make changes, reducing printing costs often isn’t at the top of the list. It’s natural to address more prominent expenses like labor, equipment, or workspace facilities first. However, reassessing your organization’s printing process can provide immediate and long-term savings without a huge investment.

Don’t worry, we’re not here to share standard tips like ‘reduce toner usage’ or ‘print double-sided.’ Instead, we’re here to focus on the bigger drains on your time and resources.

Reduce Paper Waste from Printing

It’s common in the workplace to click ‘print’ only to forget about retrieving your document. This results in your print job being tossed in the trash (or hopefully recycling) by a coworker who’s annoyed with the stockpile of forgotten documents bogging down the community printer.

Whether it’s a coffee refill, lunch break, or an impromptu conversation with coworkers, distractions aren’t avoidable. But, implementing Secure Release Printing processes to reduce waste is very doable.

Secure Release Printing allows a printer to withhold a print job until an employee is ready to retrieve it. When ready, an employee will release their desired print job in person by swiping their badge, entering a user ID/PIN, or using a smartphone app, regardless of when they clicked ‘print.’

This feature can save organizations thousands of dollars per employee every year in paper, ink, toner, storage, copying, postage, disposal, and recycling costs.

Boost Your Print Security

Don’t worry, security guards on Segways aren’t necessary. We’re talking about the behind-the-scenes protection for your print environment. A prominent vulnerability across all fields and organizations is not properly securing your print infrastructure.

Printer servers are often overlooked as simple internal devices, which is why they’re an easy vantage point for cyber attackers. Because the print server is connected to all devices, it serves as a single point of failure. That makes it a high-value target, and vulnerabilities are being found more often than ever in print server and server spooling software. If hackers can get through to your print server, they potentially gain access to your network, confidential files, and your organization’s data overall.

Forbes reports the average cost of a data breach from 2020 was $3.86 million. In addition, BigCommerce reported the average cost of a data breach in 2020 for big business was more than $150 million. Whether your company is big or small, the price to pay for a vulnerable print network is costly.

Implement Central Management and Self-Service Printing

The purpose of the IT department is to ensure all technologies are running smoothly and to personally assist employees in properly using their devices. This often means fielding numerous helpdesk tickets for printing requests and repeatedly having to deal with driver upgrades and day-to-day management.

Without a streamlined print process, IT departments are bogged down fixing outdated problems like individually installing a printer on each employee’s computer, manually implementing updates, and addressing all employees’ printer connectivity issues in person. Today, these problems can all be solved using self-service printing portals and automatic deployments.

These features increase efficiency across the board by allowing automatic updates to be pushed network-wide and end users to download new printers themselves. That means IT employees spend their time working on more prominent, cost-effective work. Providing a centrally managed print process increases productivity for everyone in the organization and can mean significant cost savings to spend on other business ventures.

It’s time to take stock of your print environment and stop wasting money on old systems. Find out how a serverless print infrastructure can help you reduce printing costs today.

Enhance Remote Work Environments With Advanced Print Solutions

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It’s probably not surprising to hear that remote workplaces are working. Although a day in the office now includes pets as coworkers and business casual means a robe with slippers, working from home is a viable and efficient option for many companies these days.

Upwork reports over 1 in 3 U.S. employees will be working in a remote environment for the long run. To put this into perspective, the same reporting stated that prior to the pandemic, 78% of Americans were working in-person full-time. With this drastic and unforeseen change, IT workers are faced with finding printing solutions for remote employees. 

That leaves IT admins scrambling to find advanced print solutions to improve remote and hybrid work environments. 

Centralized Print Management for Remote Workers

With employees working from all over the globe, how are print problems and requests managed you ask? Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve IT making house calls. The answer is centralized print management. From a single pane of glass, IT admins can manage a company’s print environment system-wide.  

Gone are the days of IT having to manually fix every print-related issue in person on each individual machine. Even better, company-wide updates can be implemented simultaneously with centralized print management as well. 

Off-Network Printing for Hybrid Offices

Remote work doesn’t solely happen from a home office. Sometimes it’s from a cafe, on an airplane, at a stoplight, or even in someone else’s office. In our new normal, employees have the freedom to work on the go and move around as needed. 

Off-network printing offers employees the flexibility of sending print jobs to printers within their workplace’s network from anywhere while maintaining a secure connection. This also goes for employees living and working out-of-state from a company’s hub. 

Now that we’ve established how employees can print from anywhere, it’s time to address which devices can be utilized for off-network printing services. The answer is…ANY! Yes, any laptop and desktop, and even tablets or smartphones with the right applications, are compatible with off-network printing services. 

Secure and Touchless Printing for All Employees

And what good would off-network printing solutions be without secure retrieval processes as well. Secure release and touchless printing are other necessary components of a remote work environment. In this way, you can ensure that only the intended recipient is able to retrieve the documents when needed.

If sensitive documents, medical records, or confidential print jobs are being sent, an employee simply chooses the secure release printing option. Then the content can only be retrieved by swiping an I.D. badge or entering a user ID/PIN at the printer console. This way, you can print from home or on the go, but control when or who can retrieve the print job.

Touchless retrieval is another helpful option in which an employee can scan a QR code on the printer to select the print job they want to release. This option reduces the use of shared surfaces while maintaining a secure print environment.

With so much else changing right now, print management doesn’t have to be something your team is worried about. Serverless print solutions can improve and maintain a thriving remote work environment for any business while saving you money and offering more advanced features.