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Have you noticed your copier/printer bill rise recently?
You’ve already spent valuable time and money investing in the perfect copier for your business needs, and you continuously budget for service and supplies each month, so we understand seeing an unexpected rise in your copier bill can be alarming.
However, there is usually a simple explanation. This article explains the three most common reasons why you may see a rise in your current copier/printer bill.
1. Escalating Maintenance Agreement
The most common reason your copier bill will go up is the increase in your service plan each year.
Just like your car, as the machine gets older, service repairs will increase. This service increase will be reflected each year by the cost of the maintenance plan.
The cost will not increase drastically, but those who lease a copier should expect this each year.
Whether you have a maintenance plan or not, any copier/printer owner can likely attest to the increase in service needs as the years go on.
Why is it important to have a maintenance plan?
Without a maintenance plan, you are stuck finding someone to repair your machine on your own.
For most machines, this can be challenging and expensive. Not to mention, once the issue gets fixed, it will likely arise again in the future.
A maintenance plan provides you access to highly tenured service technicians, immediate phone support, and the assurance that you will always have a working machine.
If you lease a machine, the maintenance plan will automatically be added. If you purchased outright, we strongly recommend adding the maintenance plan.
Additionally, a maintenance plan delivers automatic toner shipments to your doorstep, eliminating the stress of finding and purchasing toner as need.
In short, the maintenance plan is essential because it saves you valuable time and money year after year.
2. Printing more than expected
A cost some companies don’t plan for is the cost per copy/print.
The maintenance plan’s starting cost is around $12 per month, plus your monthly usage (cost per copy).
Many people forget to plan for the cost per copy, leading to offices printing as much as they please each day. Then, at the end of the month, they realize they should be monitoring their printing consumption and budgeting accordingly.
Without print management software, it’s difficult to accurately monitor and budget for printing consumption.
While there are several different print management software to choose from, our preference is Y Soft.
Y Soft Print Management Safe Q Enterprise allows you to track which individuals or departments are overprinting and then take action to control costs.
From there, you can set printing limits for each individual or department, ensuring you never exceed your monthly printing budget.
Additionally, you can see what prints are registering as color prints. Sometimes documents like emails or PDFs with a tiny bit of color will print as a colored document. Since color prints cost more, this is a mistake you’ll want to avoid. Y Soft can set parameters on what programs are allowed to print in color.
For more information on how Y Soft can help control costs and manage your copier fleet, click the button below.
3. Added features/upgrades
This one may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning. If you traded in your current machine for upgraded equipment or added additional features, such as a high-capacity paper feeder, your bill will increase.
Before you disregard this last point, thinking you’ll never need to upgrade, you could need to trade in your current copier for a variety of reasons.
Reasons to trade in your current copier:
1. Your machine is old
Two signs that your machine is old, and it may be time for a new copier, include poor print quality and repeat service calls.
If your print quality is suffering, that’s a red flag.
Don’t assume low print quality means low toner. If you're utilizing a maintenance plan that provides high-quality OEM toner, the machine should always produce high-quality prints, even if the toner is low.
Additionally, if you’ve had the same service issue repaired several times, it might be time to say goodbye. Having a machine that’s frequently inoperable will only hinder your offices day to day operations.
If you’ve experienced one or both of these concerns, call your service technician and have them examine your machine.
2. Security
You’ve likely noticed firmware update notifications on your copier. Do not ignore these alerts.
Keeping the firmware up to date will ensure your documents and data are secure.
However, after a certain amount of time, older models stop receiving security updates.
Hanging on to a machine that no longer receives firmware updates is a security risk for your business.
If you haven’t received a notification in a while, call your copier vendor to check if it’s time to upgrade to a more secure machine.
3. Business growth
If it’s been years since you signed your copier lease, your business needs have likely expanded. Whether you have a growing demand for printed marketing material, or simply more employees are using the copier, you may need to reassess your current equipment.
Do not try to make a copier built for a team of 6 work for your recently expanded team of 12. Overworking your machine will only lead to high printing costs and an increase in service repairs.
If you haven’t assessed your current machine for quite some time, call your vendor to have them evaluate if your equipment matches your current printing needs and consumption.
These are just a few reasons why one might trade in their copier. Oftentimes, upgrading will provide more benefits to your business than holding onto a machine that is old or no longer meets your needs.
Keep in mind, unless you traded your machine in for the exact model, no additional accessories, your copier bill will go up.
When in doubt, call your vendor.
If you’ve noticed your copier bill go up recently, no need to fret, it’s likely due to one of the three reasons discussed today.
If you have additional questions about your copier bill, reach out to your vendor, and they can further assist you.
If you are a Strategic Technology Partners customer, call 800-569-0111 (option two) for service questions or assistance.
Related reading: Who to Call for Service | Meet Our Service Technicians
