Printing is a huge expense for any business, including educational institutions. Many companies and academic organizations are not even aware of the total cost of printing or even the number of printers or other office equipment residing in administrative offices, classrooms, and support areas.
Over time, print hardware seems to multiply. Small desktop printers may be in use in many areas, along with scanners, copiers, and fax machines. Many may now be underutilized or not used at all. Some may have outlived their usefulness, while others can barely keep up with their workload.
An equipment audit encompasses the entire educational institution, evaluating:
All these factors result in a comprehensive picture of total printing costs and equipment expenses.
Many academic institutions experience downtime during vacation periods, and more recently due to pandemic virus concerns that have closed thousands of schools and institutions of higher learning.
This provides an excellent opportunity to engage a consultant knowledgeable in managed print services to conduct a thorough audit of printing needs and to evaluate business processes. It’s a perfect time to prepare and optimize your institution and print infrastructure for next year.
Educators need to control expenses. Controlling and managing print costs can result in considerable savings in time maintaining printers, reducing the number of printers with modern multifunction replacements, and saving on consumables such as maintenance kits, ink, and toner cartridges.
Education is a business that has the same needs for security and compliance as any other organization. The requirements for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other regulations come into play to secure personally identifiable information (PII).
Replacing outdated stand-alone printers with modern multifunction printers (MFPs) enhances security with features such as requirements to enter a PIN or scan secure ID cards before documents can be printed. This eliminates the possibility that sensitive documents can be viewed or picked up by unauthorized individuals before the person printing them arrives at the device.
Implementing managed print services offers many advantages to educational institutions to improve printing efficiency while reducing costs.
Visibility is a key benefit of managed print services. Once implemented, there will never again be a question regarding printing expenses, what printers are in use, or how they are used. Providers of these services can provide regular information on printer usage, consumables used, and maintenance required.
Virginia Business Systems (VBS) is a premier resource for implementing managed print services. We provide a total solution that provides high-quality MFPs from leading manufacturers. Managed print services from VBS will help your educational institution:
At VBS, we listen to our clients, then structure a print audit with a complete plan for print management and network infrastructure that supports the solution.
Contact VBS today to schedule a comprehensive print audit for your educational institution.