DocuSense Blog

How much will your company spend for printing/copying per employee this year?

October 6th, 2010 by admin under Complexity Simplified. 1 Comment.

Over $800 yearly.   Those are “hard costs” which include, toner, acquisition costs, machine repair costs.

Here is how that is figured

 Surprisingly, hard costs are just a small portion of the true price of printing/copying; representing just 10% of the overall cost.  See the bigger picture by going to our previous article.

You can get help identifying and then managing this expense by calling DocuSense at 1-800-422-0080

Simplify your work, your processes, your life:  DocuSense – Complexity Simplified

Tags:administrative costs, equipment cost, managing devices, printer service.

Digital Copier Security: Is There a Thief in Your Copy Room? Article Two

June 14th, 2010 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 2 Comments.

What happens to your MFP once you trade it in and it leaves your building?

Last article we discussed why your MFP is a security risk when you trade it in. Once it leaves your building it is trucked to a warehouse for processing.

Here are the details:

• Your device will arrive at one of about 25 equipment warehouses across the country
• Once received, the warehouse will check the device to make sure it is complete and it powers up.
• The device is then typically shrink-wrapped and is now ready for re-sale.
• The length of stay for any device in the warehouses is between 2 to 8 weeks depending on model and features.
• 70-80 percent of all devices are exported overseas and export demand is growing.
• Once they arrive at the overseas port, most times this is not their final destination and they can be re-distributed/exported to any country in the world.

Bottom line:

If you thought your trade in MFP would be sold to some innocuous business like a pizza shop in Hackensack, NJ, you were mistaken. It most likely will end up in a foreign country where your information will be welcome and where there are no penalties for misuse or resale of any sensitive data.

Previous Articles:
1. How significant is the security risk?
3. Separating fact from fiction

Upcoming Articles:
4. What are manufacturer’s doing to correct the problem?
5. What can you do to protect your organization?

Want immediate help?  Contact DocuSense at 1-800-422-0080 or Digital Copier Security at 1-530.672.9300

Any comments or information about this article are welcome!

Tags:managing devices, Printer Fleet Management.

Digital Copier Security: Is There a Thief in Your Copy Room? Article One

June 5th, 2010 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 6 Comments.

Summary:

Multifunction printers and copiers (MFP’s) are indispensable office tools that can print, copy, scan and email. However, most MFP’s hide a dirty little secret: they can also store thousands of documents containing your data and it may not be secure.

An MFP is essentially a computer complete with one or more hard drives that store thousands of images; scans, copies, prints or emails that the device handled. It’s already a security risk left standing alone in your copy room or hallway. However, when you finally upgrade and after your old device leaves your building, the hard drive can be taken out, scanned and the documents you copied, printed, and emailed can be recovered and stolen.

How significant is the security risk?

• Each month, between 50 and 100 thousand MFP’s come off-lease and they are typically shipped to warehouses across the country for resale.
• Almost all of the devices now coming off-lease were manufactured prior to 2008 when security features like data encryption were not typically added to protect the images stored in their hard drives.
• Up to 85 percent of devices manufactured after 2007 still may not have the available security encryption option installed or the option is not turned on.
• An individual machine can contain up to five hard drives.
• Depending on their capacity, the hard drives can store thousands of your copies, faxes, prints, scans and emails.
• If you remove the hard drives in an attempt to secure your data before return, the machine will not be functional and you may be liable for the remaining buyout value of the machines, in most cases, thousands of dollars.
• Other sensitive data can be found in the machine’s RAM. (random access memory)
• The RAM can contain your network structure and settings, administrative email addresses, fax numbers and local address books.
• A recent sampling of four devices bought from a lease return warehouse netted thousands of unsecured documents containing medical and legal records, copied checks as well as social security numbers, names and addresses.

Bottom line:

Trade-in or sell an MFP with no security at lease-end and you are placing sensitive information in harm’s way. For more information see the stunning CBS investigation (about 5 mins) that ran last month.

Upcoming Articles:

2. What happens to your MFP once it leaves your building?
3. Separating fact from fiction.
4. What are manufacturers doing to correct the problem?
5. What can you do to protect your organization?

Want immediate help?  Contact DocuSense at 1-800-422-0080 or Digital Copier Security at 1-530.672.9300

Any comments or information about this article are welcome!

Tags:managing devices, office printing, Printer Fleet Management.

Ten Things to Consider When Buying a Multifunction Printer: Article 8

April 5th, 2010 by admin under DocuSense Newsletters. 6 Comments.

Know the available device management, remote intelligence, and support.

Studies show that IT professionals spend 15 percent of their time or more dealing with printer or copier problems. Makes sense for IT to have the tools to efficiently manage devices from their desktops. So before you buy that new MFP, be sure you’ll have access to software that will allow IT to remotely troubleshoot, update, install and configure your device or a fleet of devices.

Two outstanding device management software packages are worth mentioning:

1) Hewlett Packard’s WebJet Admin

2) Xerox’s CentreWare Web.

Available as free downloads, both allow IT professionals to manage their printers remotely; minimizing downtime.

Most importantly, be sure you trust the vendor’s quality of service. You’ll need it sometime when all the remote managing didn’t help and the device is down.

Does anyone have a story to share related to this?  Please write back!

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
5. Know how easy it is to use
6. Know its multitasking abilities
7. Know its Bi-Directional Communication Capabilities

Upcoming articles:

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:administrative costs, equipment cost, managing devices.

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.