More and more businesses are taking advantage of managed print services. In this article, we cover the basics of how managed print services work, and how they can help businesses reduce their printing costs while also increasing their efficiency. If your business is heavily reliant on printing, scanning, or photocopying multiple documents every day, it is a prime candidate for a managed print package. 

In a managed print environment, you lease printers, scanners, or copiers from a third-party supplier who is responsible for maintaining and supporting the device as well refilling your ink and toner.

Why Should UK Businesses Start Taking Advantage of Managed Print Services? 

Managed print services allow businesses to spread the cost of expensive office hardware like printers and scanners over time, while getting expert support. Without managed print services in place, many companies end up doing a lot of extraneous printing which wastes resources and employee time. Advanced print management software keeps printing under control and lets a business see how their new printers are being used across their organisation. 

Years ago, only the largest corporations were able to take advantage of managed print services, but advances in technology and a reduction in hardware costs have meant that even small businesses which use a single printer can now also enjoy the benefits of managed print. 

Printing can be a huge expenditure, even for a small office, so it’s important that every page printed is generating value for your business. Duplicate copies, printing errors, and unnecessary colour printing can all eat into a company’s margin. Print monitoring software, which is a valuable part of a managed print solution, help address these issues. You can have full visibility over which devices and users are eating up your print budget and make adjustments to reduce this wasted printing. 

Print management provides a holistic view of your organisation’s printing environment and lets you optimise it so that it supports your business’s goals and budget. 

What Are Managed Print Services UK?

When you work with a managed print service provider, they provide you with a modern printer, scanner, photocopier, or multifunction device on a lease. The managed print engineers will install and network your new machine for you and are available to provide advice or technical support on an ongoing basis. 

Your new device’s status will be remotely monitored, with an automated ink/toner order placed when your machine gets close to running low. This means that you get new ink delivered straight to your door before you even know it needs replacing. 

The average employee costs a business £575 a year in printing costs and up to third of that may be wasted or duplicated. This is why managed print providers in the UK also offer print management software. This software will give you a comprehensive overview of how your print devices are being used across your business. It is easy to identify which machines, users, teams, or departments are using the device and this can make it easier to identify wasteful printing or duplicated tasks. This gives you an opportunity to remedy this either with additional training or buy changing policies around how printing is handled in your business.  

8 Benefits of Managed Print Services for UK Businesses

Deciding whether your company needs managed print services and how to get them depends on your business’s needs, but the benefits are clear. At Carden Managed Print we’ve helped businesses of all sizes to take control of their office printing. Here are just some of the ways businesses in the UK have benefited… 

  1. Cost savings 
    Leasing a printer, reducing wasted and duplicate printing jobs, and getting “just-in-time” ink delivery help you keep your printing costs to a minimum.
  1. Centralised control and visibility 
    Having full visibility over printer use in your business helps find inefficiencies and reduce wasteful print usage.
  1. Easy fleet scaling 
    Once a managed print solution is in place for one device, it is easy to scale this to more devices as your business grows. Managed print services can even control and monitor multiple devices in multiple offices simultaneously.
  1. Professional support and proactive maintenance 
    If printing is essential to your business, you don’t have time to wait for a repair. Over 99% of technical enquiries can be solved remotely by a support helpdesk and engineers can be dispatched to your site ASAP in there is a hardware issue.
  1. Efficient remote working 
    Print management solutions help office and remote workers to access the same devices. For example, scanning a document in at home and then automatically printing it at the office.
  1. Reduce environmental impact 
    Wasteful printing doesn’t just hurt your profit margin; it hurts the planet too. By reducing printer use and ensuring ink and toner cartridges are properly recycled, you’re doing your part to help the environment.
  1. Productivity improvements through workflow automation 
    Workflow automation is a key feature of many modern print devices and UK managed print solutions. OCR scanning helps categorise and file documents as you scan them, improving organisation and productivity in your office.
  1. Industry-specific solutions to meet demands 
    Every managed print plan in the UK is unique. Even if you have a specialist device you need, or are preparing prints for a specific industry, a managed print plan can still help improve your workflow and reduce your costs.

Want To Take Control Of Your Business’s Printing?

Hopefully, you can now see why so many businesses are taking advantage of managed print services in the UK. Managed print services are an easy and affordable option businesses have to simplify their printing and achieve greater efficiency with minimum risk.  

Moving your business to a managed print environment can  

If you would like to hear more about our different managed print packages or have any questions, speak to our team today.

Dave King

Author: Dave King

Dave King is a Co-Founder of Carden IT Group and now runs the UK division of the company, managing the sales, technical support and digital marketing teams. This includes, but is not limited to, high profile installations and upgrades of corporate networks.