Supplies & Maintenance

When looking at printer specifications, you’ll likely see two numbers that look like they describe the same thing: monthly duty cycle and recommended monthly print volume. They, however, don’t. Knowing the difference can help you choose a printer that fits your workload and avoid unnecessary service calls, downtime, and early replacement costs.

In the more than 40 years we’ve been helping organizations match office equipment to their real printing needs, we often help people know which number they should actually use.

The short answer: A printer’s duty cycle is the maximum number of pages or images it is designed to produce in a single month. Its recommended monthly print volume is the workload it is designed to handle consistently. For everyday use and printer selection, follow the recommended monthly print volume.

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A printer problem can slow down your workday, but not every issue needs a service call. Some problems can be resolved with a few safe troubleshooting steps. However, if you’re experiencing unusual noises, recurring errors, or internal component failures, you’ll usually need a trained technician.

In this article, we’ll use our 40+ years of experience in printer maintenance to answer four common printer service questions and explain what you can check yourself, when to call for help, and how ongoing service support can prevent larger problems.

Have you ever picked up the phone at work and felt unsure whether the person on the other end was actually who they claimed to be?

It’s happening more often than most businesses realize. In fact, Americans receive an average of 9 scam calls per week, and businesses are frequent targets. From our experience, we’ve had customers reach out to us after receiving suspicious toner calls, unsure whether they were legitimate or not. Many of these scam calls are even coming from bots.

Toner scams aren’t new, but they are getting more convincing. And if you don’t know what to look for, they can scam your business out of hundreds or thousands of dollars.

In this guide, we’ll explain how toner scams work and the warning signs to watch for so you can protect your business with confidence.

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Mobile printing has become more accessible than ever, with most organizations now integrating mobile printing workflows into their modern workplace initiatives.

If you’ve ever needed to quickly print an email, photo, or document from your phone, you already know how valuable this capability can be.

At Strategic Technology Partners of Texas (STPT), we get asked this question all the time: “How do I print from my phone?” The good news is that mobile printing is usually simple once your devices are set up correctly.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to print from your iPhone or Android device, what apps you may need, and what to do if your phone can’t find your printer.

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If you've ever worked with an office printer, you’ve likely experienced the frustration it can cause.

Printers are necessary in most workplaces, but they’re often misunderstood or misused in ways that can drain money, slow teams down, and create avoidable headaches. These mistakes aren’t always obvious, but over time they can lead to increased downtime, rising repair costs, or a printer that feels like it aged ten years in one.

At STPT, our technicians see these issues every day across businesses and organizations of every size. In this guide, we’ll share the top printer mistakes we see everywhere, why they matter more than most people realize, and how small adjustments can make your printer last longer, run better, and cost less to operate.

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