With the rise of remote-only or hybrid work, many businesses have struggled to provide employees with all the office amenities while they work from home. Somewhat surprisingly, printers have become one of those benefits. According to Bloomberg, when the Covid pandemic hit and people started working from home en masse, printers saw a huge uptick in sales. Even in the age of digital documents, office workers use as many as 10,000 sheets of paper per year. That means that reliable access to printing is still one of the priorities for any functional, modern business. And with that comes the potential of mobile printing. Read on to learn why you should utilize this technology.
Mobile Printing Spearheads Digitization
By introducing mobile printing into an office, you actively encourage employees to switch to more mobile systems. While large businesses might be able to justify the added cost of assigning separate printers to key remote personnel with large printing throughputs, this can easily eat up the equipment budget. Businesses that don’t have a significant chunk of their printing reserved for a department or a few people are better left served with a mobile printer in the head office.
Remote workers can fully utilize the printer when they come to the office. On some printers, you can even schedule the printing process for later, preloading all the documentation, and then initiate it when needed. Alternatively, workers can use a mobile app or email to print their documents from home and pick them up when needed or make them available to the rest of the team.
Mobile printers also improve team workflow, cutting down the waiting times for the printer queue during heavy traffic. Employees can initiate important printing tasks early before they come into work and have the paperwork waiting for them at the printer.
As a whole, mobile printing can spearhead the business to be less reliant on staying in a single office location and provide better interconnectivity between on-site and remote workers. Modern mobile apps allow for a seamless transition between office workstations and devices without losing functionality. This allows the business to thrive in a new mobile-friendly environment and employees can focus on their tasks from anywhere they’re located.
Mobile Printing Streamlines Equipment Requirements
Mobile printers can drastically reduce the need for printing equipment overall. A single mobile printer can replace a few remote printing workstations. This means that businesses have greater control over equipment costs, software requirements, and integrations.
Additionally, mobile printers allow a company greater control over what type of printer they use in their office. Devices that are compatible with mobile printing usually come with better workflow options and typically can serve multiple purposes due to higher print quality.
This means that a single, high-quality printer can effectively take the load of several devices, further reducing the need for separate equipment that a business might not use often.
Mobile Printing as a Cost-Saving Option
In a similar vein to reducing equipment requirements, mobile printers can help reduce the overhead cost involved in acquiring and maintaining office equipment.
The first part of the cost is direct. With fewer machines needed to satisfy the printing needs of the entire team, the business doesn’t need to expend its budget as much on purchasing or leasing printers.
Secondly, mobile printing can abate some of the monitoring and security costs associated with the printer. If you provide an employee with unlimited access to a printer at their home, chances are they will eventually use it for personal files. While this might not seem like a grave concern if it’s only done every so often, it can add up over the years. Implementing security protocols or monitoring software to limit the printer’s use can be expensive and ultimately counterproductive for morale.
Third, by reducing the fleet of printers needed to serve the office locations, you can save on inventory restocking and electricity costs for maintaining them. Additionally, a mobile-ready printer is usually more on the high-end in its class, meaning it’s more likely to be more energy-efficient by itself. Coupled with the reduced number of printers, the electrical bill alleviation might be small, but it adds up over time.
Improving Security
One of the biggest issues that modern remote-first businesses are facing is the matter of keeping their files safe. While it might seem counterintuitive, a majority of small and medium-sized businesses end up being the targets of malware and ransomware attacks each year. Attackers are trying to abuse every opening and weak point the business has, and printing can account for a few of those.
Luckily, mobile printing typically uses proprietary software that patches any security holes in the system as soon as it’s found. The software providers typically have a high standard of quality and security to ensure their systems don’t end up being the sore points in digital management systems.
Mobile printing by design also helps iron out some security concerns. For example, the printing workflow can be set up to require on-site authorization for any initiated printing task. This means that even if an employee can activate remote printing from their phone, someone in the office can monitor what is being printed or prevent confidential information from leaving the office in paper form.
Additionally, these security protocols can drastically reduce the odds of employees misplacing or losing documentation at home. This means that they become less of a security risk themselves and allow the company to focus its efforts on improving cybersecurity through technical means.
Improving Customer Service
If your business primarily works with customers on-site, mobile printing can be a godsend when there’s a query that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. The employees can use the mobile platform on their phones to issue urgent printing jobs without going to the specific device that is connected to the printer. This allows them to work efficiently and keep their attention on the customer. It also reduces the odds of customers getting impatient or frustrated that things are taking too long to finish.
Customer service also applies in the other direction. Mobile printers have far more mobile-friendly and remote functionalities. Since they can connect to a Wi-Fi network and are typically issued their own email address to be able to print from anywhere, a service technician can test the printer’s status or perform minor troubleshooting without being physically near the device. This expedites how quickly a printer can be repaired and lowers the costs associated with printer downtime.
If you need stellar mobile printing systems to take care of your business for you, use professional printer suppliers with years of experience in the industry. Businesses in New York, Totowa, Pennsauken, Edison, and Ft. Washington can leverage the expertise of Docutrend, a premier business technology provider for all things related to documents and workflows. Get in touch with Docutrend to discover how your business can become more efficient today.