When you think of productivity tools and initiatives, multi-function printers (MFPs) probably don’t top the list of things to consider.
In fact, the reputation of printers probably makes you think more of inefficiency and less productivity. But there’s a lot more to printers than paper jams, people not knowing how to use them and queues of people at each printer - if these are the problems you’re trying to solve, then it’s time to rethink your managed print services.
MFPs can actually be very helpful tools for a lot more than just printing and when the set-up and implementation is properly considered, can help employees increase their productivity.
MFP Apps and Services
Gone are the days when all a printer could do is print in colour or black and white. Now, they can scan straight to cloud storage, translate documents for you, convert documents to audio, scan receipts straight into expense systems and even allow you to print straight from CRM.
And these are just some of the many features and apps that can be used on modern MFPs.
The Xerox ConnectKey app library provides a whole host of apps that have been created with productivity in mind for office and home and hybrid workers and for every department.
To give a few examples:
The Xerox Audio Documents App allows users to transform hardcopy documents into MP3 files. In terms of productivity, this means employees can listen back through documents at their leisure.
The Xerox Easy Translator Service MFP App utilises state-of-the-art technology to provide instant, machine translations via your Xerox multifunction printer (MFP) and then provides your translated document via print and/or email. This saves time in the translation process as the information is translated automatically.
The Xerox Proofreader App allows users to scan or upload documents to the MFP, where the Xerox Proofreader Service gives users instant access to a powerful tool that checks for spelling, grammar, style, and plagiarism. This increases productivity by giving users more time back to focus on content, not corrections.
The Concur App increases productivity by optimising time-consuming expense processes by allowing users to scan receipts straight into the expense system using the MFP.
The Salesforce App helps users to quickly digitise documents and print documents from your Salesforce account - this increases the productivity of the sales team, allowing them to focus on more sales tasks and less admin.
See more of the ConnectKey apps available here: https://www.xenith.co.uk/print-services/software/xerox-apps
Home, Remote and Hybrid Working
While many employees in the UK are now enjoying the benefits of hybrid working and being able to work remotely on a more permanent basis, the challenges of working remotely have become clear in the last year, and devices are certainly on the list. Not just laptops, but printers.
People working from home still need to be able to print, especially if printing was often part of the processes they carried out from the office.
It’s not fair to think of home workers being less productive if they don’t have the same access to the tools to do the job, especially in this day and age where there are more options than ever to properly support hybrid working and along with it, remote and home working.
One of the key factors to productive working from home, and hybrid working generally, is consistency and ensuring that everyone has access to the same functionality whether from home or from the office.
We’re not suggesting that home and hybrid workers all get large MFPs shipped to their houses to live in the corner of the living room, but instead, there are home office printers available that provide the same great functionality as office printers on a smaller scale.
This comes back to the apps above. If everyone in the business has the same access to printing services and the apps available, then productivity levels can be kept high no matter where people are based. The systems become aligned and everyone can focus on what they need to be doing and can make the most of apps to increase productivity.