Multifunction printers are essential pieces of technology in offices across the country. They handle everything from copying to printing, faxing, and scanning. Keeping these printers in good working order is the key to having streamlined productivity.
Preventative maintenance can improve operations and help reduce unexpected costs. Here’s what business owners should know about maintaining a multifunction printer.
Businesses Rely on Multifunction Printers to Accomplish Workflows
Even in our online world, businesses still rely on multifunction printers to get the job done. Multifunction printers can save on costs, improve the ease of access to your documents, and act as an important technological backup and cybersecurity measure.
Printing with a third-party, off-site printer is an expensive process. There are built-in overheads, including the shipping costs, the printer’s mark-up, and the extra time it will take your company to get the documents you need. A multifunction printer streamlines this entire process and reduces the overhead to simply the maintenance of the printer itself.
Electronic documents may be faster to send, but paper documents are still used in every industry. Many people still find them easier to mark and read. Paper documents can also help lower costs because you won’t need to purchase a new tablet for each employee when you can rely on the printer you already have.
Technology is also an important point to consider on its own. Physical copies of documents play an important role in backing up your digital copies. If a hard drive fails or you lose access to the cloud, you still want to have copies of your vital documents to continue business as usual.
There’s also a cybersecurity concern at play. Physical documents are the most secure way to store information. They can’t be hacked or accidentally emailed and must be physically accessed to be read. One of the most tech-savvy ways of keeping your most vital data is to simply print it and then place it into a secure file.
Workflows Suffer When You Overlook Regular Service & Maintenance of Your Multifunction Printers
Maintaining your multifunction printer is essential for keeping your business goals on track. Your multifunction printer is one of the most used tools in your office and plays a role in everything from internal communications to the next big contract.
Following are some of the significant reasons you need to keep your multifunction printer well-maintained.
Reduce Downtime and Improve Productivity
The reliable multifunction printer improves the productivity of your office. When you know that physical copies of documents, scans, and the other features your multifunction printer provides, you are going to work as expected. You can continue building and growing your business. Keeping this technology up and running is one of the quickest and easiest things you can do as a business owner to improve your productivity.
Prevent Sudden Breakdowns and Costly Repairs
Multifunction printers can suddenly break down if they’ve not been maintained. These unexpected failures can result in costly repairs as well as significant disruptions to your day-to-day operations. Routine maintenance prevents sudden breakdowns by spotting problems while still minor and implementing fixes when they are quickest and cheapest.
Retain the Value in Your Technology
Each asset you buy for your company is an investment. Your multifunction printer is one of the most used tools in your office and a financial asset you can maintain. Whether you’re changing your operations or upgrading to a new multifunction printer model, a well-maintained printer will retain more of its value than a neglected one.
An Essential Security Measure
Much of the technology we rely on today is connected to the internet. This is also true of the humble printer. Routine maintenance also provides an additional layer of cybersecurity protection for your company.
Printers that are not well maintained are more susceptible to cybersecurity attacks. It might not seem like your printer is that vulnerable, but hackers can use connected printers to steal copies of scanned documents or as a launching point to infect the rest of your systems.
Tips to Care for Your Devices between Service Visits to Ensure Workflows Remain Constant
Your team can perform a few simple tasks to maintain your multifunction printer better. These basic steps cover everything from essential cleaning to common mistakes to avoid.
Share these five steps with your team to help improve the functionality and longevity of your multifunction printer.
- Clean the scanner glass using a non-abrasive cloth, such as a microfiber cloth and glass cleaner. Remember to spray glass cleaner onto the fabric and never directly at the printer.
- Load the paper following the manufacturer’s instructions. Taking a few extra minutes to ensure that paper is loaded correctly can prevent a time-consuming jam. You should also check for and remove any metal objects like paper clips, staples, and fasteners.
- Shut your printer down if it’s not going to be in use for long periods. This will help reduce mechanical wear.
- Let your printer warm up before printing. It will need to run the calibration and warm-up cycle once it´s turned on. Let the printer complete this process to ensure it runs smoothly.
- Use high-quality toner and paper. Higher quality supplies give you better results and reduce the wear on your multifunction printer.
Multifunction printers are still one of the most important pieces of technology for companies in any industry today. Maintaining your printer not only helps your operations but can also help save you money. Reach out to On Demand today to get the professional assistance your Houston company needs to keep your multifunction printers up and running.