A majority of activities in the legal industry involve the use of printed documents. The printing of contracts, deeds, litigation, agreements, leases and more all take place in a law office. With that said, it is only practical for law offices to take time to evaluate their printing activities.
According to research, the average law firm in the U.S. spends up to three percent of its yearly revenues on printing. About 30% of these costs are spent on ink or toner and equipment maintenance.
Of all the industries that perform extensive printing activities, the legal industry may be the last to implement digitization. This is partly because most documents involved in legal processes require hard copies. With the legal industry’s dependence on printed legal documents, it’s imperative to optimize the printing processes of law firms.
Here are the most practical solutions you can apply to reduce printing costs without sacrificing the efficiency of document workflow:
- Hire a managed print services provider to conduct an audit to trace the print workflow and determine areas or stages in the process that cause unnecessary costs
- Replacement or removal of inefficient printing/copying devices
- Formulation of print procedures or guidelines that work to minimize waste (e.g. reviewing drafts in digital form, etc.)
- Create a system to automate the replenishment of supplies
- Digitization of documents where possible – to facilitate safe and secure storage
Admittedly, it’s not easy to reduce the printing costs of law offices because they are required to use quality printing in their documents. But the implementation of changes recommended by a print management solutions provider can become a catalyst for the improvement of your printing efficiency. This can be translated into benefits when properly implemented.
Security Improvement
The security of documents is one of the most important aspects in the operation of a law office. Most of the documents you’re dealing with contain a wealth of information which includes sensitive financial details, court evidence, insurance data and other confidential information.
There’s a high degree of confidentiality of information contained in the digital files and printed documents of law offices. This can leave individuals and organizations vulnerable to data breaches which can ruin their case especially if the information goes to the wrong hands.
The participation of managed print services can help to curb security risks of files and documents in your law firm. One of the things MPS can do is hold print jobs in a queue and wait for a user to swipe a card or enter a pin number to authenticate ownership of the document. Once authenticated, the printer will be allowed to send a print out into the out tray. No printing will ever happen until the document owner releases it from the queue.
Cost Savings / Increased Revenues
Law firms can pass the cost of printing back to their clients. Hence, it should not be a financial burden to them. Problem is – who will bear the cost of energy and extended man-hours if your printer is too slow, outdated or inefficient?
Managed print services will be able to provide you with answers to this question after a print audit. Your unnecessary expenses associated with printing can be reduced or even eliminated with the removal of inefficient machines and replacing these with excellent devices. This can lead to the elimination of excessive ink or toner, energy and paper consumption, and termination of the cost of downtime as well as expenses associated with repairs.
The MPS approach of managing your print infrastructure can certainly help to give your law firm significant cost savings and increased revenues by way of improved efficiency of your printing devices.
Downtime Prevention
It’s not unusual for busy law offices like yours to be pressed with time because of deadlines to meet in connection with time sensitive cases. This is not the time for your printing or copying device to fail or your printing supplies to run out.
MPS for the legal profession can help you prevent these problems. Their structured solutions work to ensure that you will have an efficient printing infrastructure and continuous supply of consumables.
Greater Control of Your Print Environment
Improved device efficiency and enhanced security of information are the two major aspects of an excellent managed print services provider. But there’s another important factor that makes MPS for legal professionals more beneficial to your law office: Its capability to track all print jobs on each individual printing device. With the increased ability to oversee the printing activities of each device and user, you will be able to track wasteful printing and establish controls to minimize these activities. MPS can also allow you to set limits for users or printing devices and enable you to exercise control of your law firm’s consumption of paper and supplies.
As a system, managed print services are not fully intended to dramatically reduce print volume. Rather, it is designed to optimize print processes to help organizations like yours to print smarter.
We conduct a thorough assessment of your current print processes and recommend the implementation of necessary changes to make your print environment more efficient, your staff more productive, your costs reduced and your waste eliminated.
Contact us toll free at 1.844.633.3050.