Managed print solutions (MPS) are services provided by third-party companies which involve taking care of an organization’s print and copy needs. They can also offer top-quality copiers, printers, and all-in-ones. This service allows their clients to focus on other things that matter. For schools, the priority of every educator, up to the school admin, is student learning.
School staff must never have to waste so much time attending to printer problems or fulfilling supply orders because ultimately, students will feel that impact. Because printing is an essential function in the US school system, schools try their best to keep up with the most current print technology while keeping within their budget boundaries.
Managed print solutions can help educational institutions achieve that goal and minimize many issues with a problematic print environment. This article will discuss how schools can benefit from print management solutions in detail.
1. Cost Savings And Simplified Budgets
Tighter budgets are challenging school districts. This spurs the need to scrutinize each line item expense. One area where schools can make changes is in their printing environment.
Having print management solutions in place results in a fixed monthly billing based on the school’s supply needs. MPS also involves replacing outdated and faulty printers with newer and more efficient units. Though this may seem counterintuitive, installing new equipment will eventually result in cost savings as early as three months.
The fixed monthly costs of a school’s printing environment mean that school administrators and planning committees can correctly estimate actual future print costs, so they can spend only according to what they need. This results in a more simplified school budget that is easier to approve. The school quickly eliminates unnecessary overhead expenses while ensuring that supplies are immediately on hand whenever teachers or students need them.
2. Reduced Carbon Footprint
In recent news, the world’s largest iceberg has broken off Antarctica. Studies indicate that the breakup of ice shelves in the continent was linked to warmer temperatures, both in the atmosphere and in the seas. Collapsing ice shelves ultimately contribute to global sea-level rise. And this is the reason why trends in organizations need to change.
Schools need to implement environmentally friendly policies and practices to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute meaningfully to the fight against global climate change. Unfortunately, most schools don’t realize that when printing is left unmanaged, unnecessary waste and energy usage can negatively impact the environment.
Many might think that launching a green initiative in schools requires major restructuring and planning. On the contrary, a few simple changes can drastically improve a school’s environmental impact. One effective way is investing in print management solutions.
Having a third-party MPS provider manage and optimize a school’s printing environment can help reduce waste and energy consumption costs by eliminating unnecessary extra printers and replacing power-intensive printers and copiers with more energy-efficient units.
This simple change will drastically reduce a school’s carbon footprint, turning it into an eco-friendly institution.
3. Consistency And Better Accessibility
A single school district operates multiple campuses, each having its own fleet of printers and copiers and thousands of users. More often, this fleet has a lot of inconsistencies in brands, ages, and operating instructions. These inconsistencies make using each unit a challenge because, most likely, different brands and different models are configured differently, which might require various brand-specific technical knowledge to fix.
Print management solutions automatically create consistency with a school or school district’s printing devices under it. MPS providers will assess the existing fleet to determine the next course of action, including eliminating unnecessary devices and replacing some with newer units or different brands.
Having consistency in a printer fleet also maximizes accessibility and productivity because it’s easier for printers of the same brand or even model to be linked across different locations via the network. Teachers and even students can send print jobs remotely over the internet. These print jobs can then be retrieved from any printer by logging in securely with credentials.
With MPS, the user experience will improve, and the burden on IT staff will be minimized, which leads to the next point.
4. Less Burden On IT Staff
The use of computers and other technology is essential in classroom learning. A school’s IT staff already has a lot on their plate as they try to juggle the different IT needs of classrooms and administrative offices.
More often, too much of a tech support’s time is spent dealing with printer issues such as paper jams and network connection issues, and that’s on top of toner and ink cartridge requests. And when all that time is taken up by printer servicing, it means other more critical IT equipment takes a back seat like servers, network devices, and school computers. And when this equipment also starts acting up, the inconvenience can detract from students’ learning.
Print management solutions allow for alerts to be sent to the provider whenever an issue arises. The MPS provider can then take action and fix any problems on time. This results in reduced downtime, reduced maintenance, and more time for IT personnel to focus on bigger ticket priorities such as their routine maintenance on critical IT equipment like applying software updates and security patches.
5. Enhanced Security
All schools manage confidential records, and protecting these sensitive student data is a major concern for administrators. That goes the same for proprietary course materials. Schools that have a fleet of shared printers are often the ones that face this vulnerability issue.
When documents containing confidential data are left on printer trays, this opens opportunities for anyone to get their hands on that data. Moreover, most unmanaged printers are vulnerable to hackers who are looking to exploit unsecured network printers.
Having a managed print service in place, users have the convenience to print from anywhere but hold that print job in queue until it can be retrieved using a PIN code or a card to authorize the print job. Other security features can include end-to-end encryption, digital signatures, and watermarks, all of which are designed to mitigate security risks in school districts.
Conclusion
Investing in the right Managed print solutions can immediately help educational institutions reduce costs, improve accessibility, create consistency, maximize productivity, and ensure the security of sensitive data.
These benefits can make a significant difference in various educational environments, from K-12 schools to even tech schools and universities. If you want to partner with a Managed print solutions provider to invest in your faculties and students’ productivity, contact OneDOC today at 1.844.633.3050 to experience the many benefits of print management solutions first-hand.