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Friday, April 27, 2012

Cloud Printing: Is it worth it for your office?

By John Pickering


Every office will need to do some printing from time to time. Important documents. Papers that need to be signed. Letters that need to be mailed (instead of emailed). As businesses grew and technology advanced, office workers began to get their own printers. With everyone able to print right at their desk, business could speed up more than ever.

Now we have access to even better technology. Printers are faster than ever. They can be wireless which means less to hook up when the printer is initially purchased. And now they can even operate on a cloud system - everyone in the office could use the same printer if they wished because they would all have access to it. A cloud system can offer great things to a business that understands how to use it to its fullest advantage.

Print anywhere, anytime.

Cloud printing - like wireless printers - takes the wires and physical connections completely out of the equation. By putting a printer on a cloud system and giving employees access to it, anyone can use it to print anything at any given time as long as the operating computer is up and running. Depending upon how your system is set up - you could make it a closed system specific to your business or use something like what Google offers - you could be across the globe and still print something for your office.

Did someone forget to print out an important document while at work? An employee with the document on their computer at home can simply get on and print using the cloud system. This cuts down the time it takes to put it into an email, wait for the email to arrive on another employee's computer at work, and then for them to print it. Just one click and it's sent off to the printer at work where another employee can simply pick it up.

Saving Company Funds

One of the biggest advantages when it comes to cloud printing is that a company no longer needs to purchase a printer for every employee. Consider this: If you have an office with 30 employees and each one will need printing capabilities, and the printers you want cost $100 each, you need to be willing to spend $3,000 on printers (plus tax). Not only will you need to invest in the actual hardware, but you will need manpower to install these printers to each employee's computer. This takes time and money. If the printers aren't wireless, than you need people to connect them as well as install the software.

Now imagine a cloud printing system. One printer alone for 50 employess isn't likely to be a logical choice (you would probably end up with a line after a while), so how about 4 printers? You can install these four printers on as many computers as you want, but remember that the main computer it is associated with must be on at all times in order for people to access the printer on the cloud system. With all four printers on the cloud, anyone can access them whenever they like. And that means only $400 in expenses for you - a savings of $4,600! And less time for installation as well - especially if the printers are wireless!

Is cloud printing for your company?

Only you can decide if cloud printing is worth it for your company or not, but it's definitely something that you should consider. Some may argue that it requires employees to take time to get up and walk to the printer's location in order to retrieve their documents, but this can be a good thing as it is not healthy for people to remain sitting for excessive amounts of time. You can also choose to use as many printers as you like in order to place them strategically throughout the office for quick document retrieval.

Whatever you decide, cloud printing is certainly something to talk about. Companies interested in saving money and speeding up business need to look to the future for ways that technology can help - and cloud printing is already here.




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