PRINT.IT
19
PRINTERS
Any software or innovative practice
that makes an IT department more
efficient should be welcomed.
However, the impact of print
management often goes unnoticed
and uncelebrated.
Print management and document
capture solutions are often praised
for their ability to increase document
security and make organisations
more cost-efficient and productive
(see box). While these advantages
are clear, businesses should also
consider how these solutions can
free up time for IT staff to work on
more innovative projects.
While consolidating hardware is
important from a capital expenses
point of view, there are other costs
that factor into the total cost
of ownership for print services,
besides the printers themselves and
the consumables. These include
managing print servers, distributing
print drivers, servicing IT help desk
tickets and managing multiple
vendor contracts.
One issue that regularly takes
up time in IT departments is when
employees wish to print on local
printers while working in another
office. In many cases, this requires
workers to fill out an IT help desk
ticket to get access to the required
printer.
A comprehensive print
management solution should be
able to grant employees access to
any printer in the company network
without IT intervention. The benefits
for IT departments are immediate:
spending less time on processing
help desk tickets means staff can
turn their attention towards driving
further innovation in IT.
Scan workflows
Another example of how the
efficiency of IT departments can be
increased is by implementing a print
management solution incorporating
high-quality scan workflow
capabilities. These empower
employees to complete common
scanning tasks much more quickly,
by using scan workflows that have
pre-defined capture settings, optical
Implementing innovative software frees organisations to
spend more time on innovation, argues Nick Parkes, Regional
Sales Manager at enterprise office solutions provider Y Soft
Lifting the burden from IT
Easy roaming is one of the big
benefits being enjoyed by employees
of The Richards Group, following a full
implementation of YSOFT SafeQ at the
US advertising agency’s new Dallas
headquarters.
The print, copy and scan management
solution enables staff to print easily
and securely wherever they are. All they
have to do is go up to the closest printer,
authenticate themselves by swiping their
smartcard and then select the print job
they want to be printed.
The Richards Group introduced
YSOFT SafeQ after streamlining its
printer fleet from 120 devices to just
24 MFPs. If productivity was not be
affected by the reduced number of
printers, it was felt that employees
should have the freedom to print to
any printer from any device – notebook,
tablet or smartphone.
Managed print services solution
partner, Verity Group, recommended
the YSoft SafeQ Suite and YSoft SafeQ
Terminal Professional, a hardware
terminal with a card reader for
authentication and an integrated colour
touchscreen through which users can
manage, select and delete their print
jobs.
By selecting the entire suite of
modules, including Authentication,
Print Roaming, Rule-Based Printing,
Mobile Print, Scan Management, Credit
and Billing, Reporting and Mobile
Print, The Richards Group has also
been able to reduce costs, enhance
document security, increase workflow
productivity and meet sustainability and
environmental goals.
As Michael Cook, the system
administrator in charge of the project,
said: “It’s not often you can provide
users with greater flexibility and make
your print environment more secure. We
don’t have forgotten prints sitting in the
printer trays any more or one person
accidentally walking off with another
person’s printed document.”
Roam at will
character recognition, file name
protocols and automatic, secure
digital workflow delivery.
Core to any print management
system should be a commitment
to help employees process print
jobs themselves, with minimal need
for direct intervention from the IT
department.
Like any other department, IT
teams are under increasing pressure
to deliver value and innovation
in the face of restricted budgets.
Decision-makers need to factor this
requirement into their thinking when
choosing a print management and
document capture solution. With
the right solution in place, IT staff
will have a great deal more time to
focus on proactively improving their
IT infrastructure and finding ways to
make IT better for everyone.
Y Soft offers print management
solutions for both 2D and 3D
printers through its YSoft SafeQ
workflow solutions platform.
YSoft SafeQ solutions
encompass a wide variety of
capabilities, including integrated
print management and advanced
document capture, all of which
make print and scan workflow
processes more efficient, secure
and cost-effective. YSoft SafeQ can
be implemented by organisations
of all sizes, with tailored solutions
available to suit the needs of any
enterprise.
Nick Parkes,
Regional Sales
Manager,
Y Soft
