Supplies & Maintenance

Ever wondered what’s truly covered in your printer service agreement? Even if you think you understand, many new and longtime customers still find themselves asking questions. In fact, it’s one of the most common questions we hear.

Maybe your printer needs service, your toner is running low, or you receive your monthly invoice and aren't quite sure what you're paying for. Those questions are completely understandable. Knowing exactly what’s in your service contract makes managing your printers easier and stops you from guessing about what's covered.

Over the 40 years we’ve been helping businesses keep their printers running efficiently, we've found that many questions about our Base Service Plus Cost-Per-Copy (CPC) Plan don't come from the service itself. Instead, they stem from simply not knowing what to expect.

This guide explains exactly what's included, what isn't, how the billing works, and whether the CPC Plan is the right fit for your business.

A printer goes down in the middle of a busy workday.

When a printer goes down in the middle of a busy workday, it can cause serious disruptions. An office manager can’t print an invoice, a teacher can’t print classroom materials, and a healthcare office can’t scan a document.

The priority in this case is to get the printer issue resolved as quickly as possible so work can resume. But who do you call: IT or a print vendor?

Often, when something goes wrong with a printer, many organizations immediately contact their IT department, even when the issue may be better suited to a printer technician or hardware repair.

While printers are physical devices with moving parts, they're also connected to networks, cloud services, email systems, and security protocols. As a result, it isn't always obvious who should handle the problem.

If your Xerox AltaLink B8200 Series copier is displaying a "Replace Drum" message or your print quality has started to decline, you may be wondering whether replacing the drum is something you can do yourself. The answer is yes. However, it's important to do it carefully.

Unlike toner replacement, a drum is a more critical imaging component inside your copier. Improper handling can affect print quality or even damage the new drum. That's why following the correct procedure matters.

At Strategic Technology Partners of Texas (STPT), we've serviced thousands of Xerox printers and copiers throughout North Texas over the last 40+ years. Drum replacements are a routine part of maintaining production and office devices, and our technicians have performed this procedure countless times.

Your printer flashes a "Low Toner" warning just as you're preparing an important report. Now you’re wondering how many pages this cartridge should have printed, and why it is already running low?

If you've ever compared toner cartridges, you've probably seen terms like 2,500-page yield or high-yield toner listed on the box. But what do those numbers actually mean? More importantly, how do they affect your printing costs and purchasing decisions?

At Strategic Technology Partners of Texas (STPT), we've spent 40 years helping businesses get the most from their printing environments. With toner costs being high, customers want to better understand toner yield. While it seems straightforward, several factors influence how long a cartridge actually lasts.

Most offices eventually end up with an awkward pile of empty toner cartridges, old drums, worn-out supplies, and sometimes even an outdated printer no one knows how to dispose of.

The problem is that toner cartridges are not like soda cans or cardboard boxes. Toner cartridges contain plastic, metal, electronic components, and leftover toner powder. So, most curbside recycling programs won’t be able to process them properly. If you throw toner cartridges away in a regular trash can, they can end up in landfills, where they’ll sit there for hundreds of years.

Thankfully, many businesses today are becoming more conscious of sustainability. Schools, healthcare organizations, law firms, and small businesses across North Texas are paying closer attention to their printing waste, energy use, and ways to improve environmentally responsible office practices.