Five Ways To Choose The Right Printer To Meet Your Needs
The average office worker consumes about 50kg of paper per year. That’s almost 10,000 sheets of A4-sized paper. It is safe to assume that most of this paper originates in the printers at work.
What can you do to ensure that your printer for business is the best one to suit your needs? There are a variety of choices available, and you could be paying more for features your business doesn’t really need.
You’ll need to know the details of what is being printed in your office before you begin your investigation. It also includes the amount that printing is taking place, whether you need extra features and the ongoing cost of consumables, for example, printer toner.
The process of selecting the ideal business printer is simple and quick. We’re able to find the ideal printer for your office with a little help from you as well as some reviews from our customers.
Tip 1: Evaluate your printing needs first
Avoid delving into a catalogue or online store before you answer a few simple questions. The questions you ask can be answered by you, however it could be necessary to ask other employees at work to obtain precise answers.
Tip 2: Think about a multifunction printer
If your needs analysis for printing has shown that your office requires scanners or faxes, a multifunction device may be the best choice. Multifunction printers come with laser printers and come with flatbed scanners or sheetfed ones (good for high volumes of document scanning). A lot of models come with the ability to fax.
If you need to scan photos, documents, or handwritten notes, a multifunction printer with the capability of scanning is the best choice.
Tip 3: Consider paper handling requirements
Printers can generally manage paper up to A4 in size. You will need to check the specifications of your printer when you plan to print in A3. Also, take into consideration whether you will need to print on thicker (higher gsm) paper, labels or envelopes. Also, consider in the event that you require an additional layer to modular paper for various handling needs.
In a busy workplace where printing is frequent, no one has the time to refill the printer’s supply of paper, so look out for a printer with sufficient capacity for handling paper.
Duplex printing, commonly known as double-sided printing is a crucial printing feature that will help your office save time and money. Duplex printing could save your office 30 to 50% of the cost of paper and lower your storage needs. A machine that is capable of automated duplex printing is a great option, since manual double-sided printing could take too much time and can be cumbersome. Duplex printing is also a way to cut costs by using less paper.
Tip 4 - Research the colour, resolution and speed claims
The most effective way to evaluate the speed, resolution, and colour claims is to look into the specifications. The official website of a reputable printer vendor will let you compare specs side-by-side and make it simple to get a clear overview. You will also be able to check out details like security features, warranty information and print time.
Look out for printers that are compliant with international standards, such as the ISO 9001 quality standard or ISO 14001 environment standard. The most reliable business printers are also likely to have been awarded for their reliability design or being environmentally friendly.
Tip 5 - Weigh up the network printing
A group of mobile-friendly or network printers could be connected to each other simultaneously. The connection does not have to be made physically. Instead, printers can be connected wirelessly. This lets you print from your mobile device. Printers that are networked are the ideal method to meet the requirements of multiple employees in the office.
One drawback to printing on a printer that is network-connected is that multiple users trying to access the printer at once can delay printing tasks. If your workplace prints frequently, it might be worthwhile to consider several printers.