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Ten Things to Consider When Buying a Multifunction Printer: Article 5

October 1st, 2009 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 9 Comments.

How Easy Is It To Use?

Recap:

You’ve determined your requirements, calculated the total cost of owning and operation, listened to comments from third parties and looked at all the ways to connect the multifunctional printer to your network. What’s the next question to ask yourself? How easy is it to use?

Summary:

Whether your office is small with one or two users or large enough to require multiple units, people want the equipment that’s easy to use. You can teach people the functions of the machine but usually training is easily forgotten and users will rely on intuitive use.

As discussed in previous articles ease of connection and print driver installation are important factors and apply in this topic as well but the five things that should be considered are the display, driver, cartridge replacement, paper feed and trouble shooting.

Visit with your dealer or get a demo in before you buy, then look at these five:

1) Display:

The display should be large enough for fat fingers, easy to read and maybe more importantly, intuitive to follow. Functions, number of copies, and trouble shooting hints should be readily displayed.

2) Driver use:

If you have to click into the menu more than once to get to easy tasks like duplex printing, tray choices and paper settings, you’ve probably got the wrong machine.

3) Cartridge replacement:

It has to be done sometime, but is often the one thing a user doesn’t want to do. The cartridges and/or imaging components must be easily accessible and replaceable. Color devices are more complicated; sometimes requiring nine or more separate component replacement consumables. Make sure even your congressman could replace them without any advice or be prepared to train a key user. Oh, and it’s a good idea to have spares around.

4) Paper feed:

Whether original documents going in, or copies, faxes or print jobs coming out, it’s vital that the paper feed works correctly. Jams are the most frequent problem. Paper paths should be easy to access and jams have to be easy to clear. The original feeder should be labeled to let the user know whether to feed face up or down, sounds elementary but think about the time wasted collating or re-printing jobs because the paper was fed wrong. Paper trays must be easily marked, accessible and easy to fill; now that’s elementary.

5) Troubleshooting:

Sooner or later something will go wrong and that’s when troubleshooting comes in. Look for a device that has troubleshooting on the display showing the problem and the solution immediately. Some require running thru the menu at the device. The best workgroup devices will report the problem and the solution back to the printing user’s screen. For the harder problems, you’ll want easily accessible, on-line help from the manufacturer’s website listing issues and their remedy.

Next topic.  Know its Multitasking Abilities. Have any questions or comments about this article?   Visit us at DocuSense or post a reply

Previous articles:
1. Know your requirements
2. Know the Total Cost of Ownership
3. Know what third parties have to say
4. Know how easy it is to connect to an existing network

Upcoming articles:

6. Know its multitasking abilities
7. Know its bi-directional communication capabilities
8. Know the available device management, remote intelligence, and support
9. Know whether it provides the level of security and confidentiality you need
10. Know what software and solutions are available

Multifunction printers can help you streamline duplicated and cumbersome document processes and electronically organize, edit and archive your paper documents. With an MFP and a simple software application you can turn paper documents into electronic format and send to multiple destinations – email, document repositories, network folders, even remote printers – with a single scan.

Once you’re armed with the knowledge you’ve gathered by asking these questions, you’ll be prepared to make the right decision for your business.

Please contact us with any questions. Docusense 1-800-422-0080

Tags:document management, DocuSense Business Education, equipment cost, managing devices, multitasking, printer consumables, total cost of ownership.