Picture this: You have one phone number for your copier, one for your print management, and a completely different one for your service technician. Even worse, they all belong to different brands, creating confusion for you and your staff.
Additionally, budgeting each month for all these different brands has been a nightmare, to say the least.
If you had the same copier/printer technology, it’s more likely that you wouldn’t be experiencing these issues. Numerous phone numbers and messy budgeting aren’t the only reasons that we recommend keeping your brands consistent. Here are the top 6 reasons why you should stick to the same brand when it comes to your copier/printer technology.
1. One Vendor, One Invoice
No one likes paying bills. It’s a fact of life, and it becomes even more unpleasant when you have a jumbled mess of invoices all from different companies, and you have to spend valuable time sorting them to see how they fit into your budget.
When all your printing technology is the same brand, this means that you only have one monthly invoice to pay, instead of having to keep track of multiple bills from separate vendors.
This makes budgeting for your company significantly easier, and allows you to account for your printing/copying costs more efficiently.
2. Better Experience for You and Your IT Staff
Your IT staff is an important part of your team, and they’re typically the first person you go to when something technical is going wrong. Because of this, it’s important to keep things as organized as possible for them, and make their job easier instead of more complicated.
Finding support from a common vendor creates a better customer experience for end-users and IT support staff. If something goes wrong, there’s only one number to call that can take care of everything, instead of various different customer service contacts. This allows the IT staff to concentrate on mission-critical initiatives rather than chasing down printer and copier problems.
3. Consistent Brand Look and Feel
There’s something extremely satisfying about having a seamless experience when it comes to technology. Being able to switch back and forth from machine to machine and still have the same interface in front of you makes getting your work done notably easier, and that’s why it’s another reason why your copier and printer technology should belong to the same brand.
Most manufacturers choose to design consistent user interfaces for all of their products across the board. This means that having the same brand of different products gives your office a sense of consistency and easier manageability, and eliminates time wasted on switching over from machine to machine.
We all know the importance of having a cohesive and connected team that works together and transitions seamlessly, why wouldn’t you want the same for your technology too?
4. Easier to Train Users
Training staff can take a big chunk of your time and company resources. Nevertheless, it’s important, and that’s why we do it. Why not simplify the process for both yourself and your new hires?
When it comes to training your staff, having only one major interface to learn and interact with makes the training process significantly easier, and allows you to spend more time focusing on other important tasks, rather than having to train them on each individual machine’s interface.
5. You Can Use the Same Supplies
While this might not always be the case, the likelihood that you are able to use the same supplies in tight situations increases tenfold when all of your technology is of the same brand. It’s important to note that this should only be in cases of emergency because certain processes such as your auto toner shipments provide toners that are designated for certain machines. You don’t want the auto-shipments to get messed up by using a toner for the wrong machine.
6. A Common Print Driver
Having the same brand across the board for your copier/printer technology makes a world of difference when trying to connect your computers through the print driver. A common print driver maximizes your user's ability to take advantage of all the features that come with your copier/printer and allows them to be better accessed and utilized.
Don’t Make Your Life Harder Than It Has to Be.
As a whole, having the same brand of copier/printer technology throughout your office makes your life, your team’s life, and your support staff’s life significantly easier. It simplifies so many of the things we don’t notice until they become complicated, and makes you work more efficiently and cohesively.
No matter what field you’re in, maximizing your efforts should always be a top priority, for both your company’s sake and yours. Here at STPT, we utilize only Xerox award-winning products to keep our products and technology as consistent as possible.
Click here to see our awards for line of the year.
If you’re curious about finding a uniform interface for your office, our team is always available to answer any questions you might have regarding your current or future office equipment.
