Despite the fact that the internet has made the transfer of documents from one location to another ‘paperless’, the actual paperless revolution that was promised has never truly arrived …Instead, paperless technologies are now becoming widely used by businesses to complement traditional printing, not replace it.
Going paperless is a nice idea, but the reality is that in practical terms, it is just not reliable enough for most business needs.
In April of last year, the BBC ran a story (digitally) on the shift towards paperless office environments … and still conceded that the business world will never truly manage to achieve total ‘paper freedom’:
“Maybe we should be looking for a more realistic destination – “The Land of LESS Paper” perhaps?”
A fair point. And one that ties into the impracticalities of completely swapping paper for pixels …
See, in the event of a power-cut, dead battery or software loss or malfunction, documents that are stored online become instantly inaccessible, not to mention being made vulnerable to online theft, fraud and sabotage. However, paperless systems can indeed be very useful and many have now been incorporated into the design of multi-function printers. This means that with one piece of office equipment, you can enjoy the security and reliability of paper printing, copying and scanning, as well as the ease and efficiency of digital document management too.
So what exactly is a multi-function Printer?
Broadly speaking, a multi-function printer gives you the freedom to print, photocopy and scan documents from just one device. We say ‘broadly speaking’, because one of the great advantages of multi-function printers is that they come with a wide range of additional, optional features. This means that you can find a printer that does exactly what your business needs it to, without paying for features that you will not use. Almost all businesses can make use of the basic scan, copy and print functions and benefit from having all of these services in just one piece of equipment by cutting down on the amount of valuable office space that is tied up with machinery.
Using a single device not only speeds up efficiency, but it reduces the cost of energy consumption, reducing your carbon footprint and making your business more environmentally friendly. The improvements a multi-functional printer can bring to business efficiency, production and budget management, can be further enhanced with therange of other paperless technologies that are also available.
These technologies include:
- An environmentally-friendly sleep mode to limit energy waste and reduce bills
- Colour scans that can be delivered directly to your PC, network folders or email address
- Duplex (double-sided) copies, prints or scans which reduces paper costs and wastage by up to 50%
- Multi-functional printers can handle more than just paper and make it easy to print envelopes, transparencies, labels and cards
- With built-in network fax capabilities, you can send and receive faxes and transfer them as documents straight onto your network
- Printing can be done remotely via a wireless network, or directly via a USB connection
- Pin code access can be allocated to employees, which is invaluable for maintaining security and protecting confidential documents
Still, not every business will need all of the above. And so it’s a case of handpicking the best features for you, then selecting the best printer to match. If you’re struggling to do that (or if you’re getting lost in the technical speak) you can lean on the service of CopyLogic – a company dedicated to the printing industry. The experts can talk you through your options and help you install the right multi-function printer for your business needs.
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