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What to Look For in a New Office Printer

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Your business is as unique as the market and clients you serve. When it comes to office equipment, you need a printer individualized for your exact needs. There are many printers on the market, so determining which one is the right fit for your office can be difficult. We’re here to help you clear through the clutter.

It’s important to understand the role your printer needs to play and the frequency at which your business will use it. Businesses that print thousands of documents per month may value a machine with high printing speed and durability. A printer with high image quality and four ink wells may be more important for companies printing more colorful documents and images. 

Consider these factors before purchasing your next office printer.

Functionality

Most businesses opt for multifunction printers, or systems that can print, copy, scan and fax. Why? Small and medium-sized businesses need a printing solution that reflects themselves: efficient, versatile and reliable.

Budget

Size, imaging, speed and additional features affecting the price of a printer. When determining your budget for a new printer, it’s important to understand that the upfront costs could be compounded by the price of replacing ink. It’s common for inexpensive printers to have costly ink replacement fees. The reason: manufacturers make their money that way.

Leasing printers has become a popular option for businesses. Monthly leasing costs are easier to factor into a budget than the one-time cost of purchasing a multifunction printer. Leasing also allows companies to update their equipment as printer technology advances.

Quality

Your office printer will likely use an inkjet or laser printer. Inkjet printers use ink and are best for low-volume printing, while laser printers use toner and are suited for high-volume printing. Whichever you use, you want professional print quality. Both are measured in dots per inch — or DPI. Laser printers usually have between 600 to 1,200 DPI, while inkjet printer resolutions usually begin at 1,200 DPI.

It’s also worth checking if you can use third-party ink cartridges for your printer and if refilling cartridges is an option. Be aware that using unapproved ink cartridges might void your warranty.

Speed

If your office frequently prints reports or documents with multiple pages, you’ll want to pay attention to the printing speed on your new machine, measured in pages per minute — or PPM. Though printers will have slight variance in PPM for images and text, the measurement will allow you to determine what best fits your business’ needs.

Wireless Access

Most offices have on-the-go employees who want to print from laptops or cellphones. Printers with wireless or Bluetooth access provide more functionality. The feature also allows the machine to access a document management system. Users can use the printer to access electronically stored files without having to send the files through a computer.

 To learn more about print and technology solutions that best fit your organization’s needs, contact us here.

Everything You Need to Know About Hosted Communications

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When you think of a cloud, are you the type that envisions fluffy white water vapor trapped in the atmosphere? Or do you think of bits of data consisting mostly of old selfies and pictures of your pets whizzing around in a figurative holding space? For many businesses, the cloud means their lifeline to reach customers and operate on a daily basis.

Efficient and effective communication is essential to a company, internally and externally. Hosted communications systems — or internet-based communication applications — ensure that the process remains smooth.

Here are some of the benefits a hosted communications system can bring to your office.

Simplicity
 In a hosted communications system, the hardware and carrier services typically connected to a phone system are moved to the cloud, or data systems represented in various areas across the country. The clutter of traditional communication systems disappears. But hosted systems aren’t just for phone services. They encompass video, email, document and chat programs as well. With all those programs in one communications system, businesses have only one vendor that handles regular service and maintenance.

Security
Because the cloud is represented in multiple data centers, sensitive information is continuously stored. Disaster recovery is a cinch, and gone are the days of interrupted work because a phone line went down. Additionally, the data in a hosted communications system is encrypted, protecting against cybercrime.

“The security that we have with hosted communication is second to none,” said Doug Postel, Infomax’s IT director.

Accessibility
Ease of accessibility may be the best feature of a hosted communications system. The system can allow a group of employees to collaborate and edit a document in real time and facilitate a video or phone chat for employees working in different areas. Hosted communications systems are also key for offices that have employees working remotely. Cell phones can be added to communications systems so workers can answer calls outside of the office. If the call is sent to a voicemail, the message is transferred from the individual’s cell phone to the voicemail connected to the hosted communications system. Calls from cell phones through the hosted system also show up on caller ID as the business’ phone number.

“The mobility of the system is a significant benefit,” Doug said. “Very few business owners will tell you, ‘I don’t want to take a call if I’m not in my office.’”

A hosted communications system allows for better office collaboration and businesses are more accessible to customers.

“Chat functions are huge,” Doug said. “It’s vitally important for people to look at their business and say you don’t have to communicate with me the way I want to. As a business, I’ll work with you the way you want to.”

Cost effectiveness
 Because hosted phone communications consolidate services, maintenance and hardware, companies have only one monthly fee to one vendor. Additionally, companies get the exact number of channels they need. With traditional phone systems, companies paid for a set number of channels. If they needed to add additional channels, they had to purchase another large set instead of just one or two more channels.

“I don’t have a nickel and dime fee for upkeep or maintenance calls,” Doug said. “With the services that are in the cloud, I pay just for what I need.”

To learn more about how Infomax’s hosted communications systems, call us at 1-800-727-4629.

The Benefits of MPS are Many

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Managed Print Services (MPS) is a cost-effective, time-saving solution for all aspects of your printing environment. MPS is all about optimizing and streamlining your devices to meet the specific needs of your business. MPS brings a load benefits to your entire printing fleet, including printers, copiers, scanners, and fax machines.

Print fleet analysis
An MPS program will provide a full analysis of your current print set up. This detailed analysis will lay out a plan to manage your printer fleet. It may call for upgrades to certain devices, removal of redundant or unnecessary machines, or changes in print device locations. In the end, the result of this analysis will lead to an increase in efficiency in your office space.

Reduced print volumes
MPS will provide you with ways to cut back on unnecessary printing and wasted supplies, lowering your overall printing costs. Utilizing rules-based printing, you can route print jobs to the printer best suited for the job type, set printers to default to black-and-white printing, prohibit printing of emails and web pages, and default to duplex printing to automatically print on both sides of paper.

Security upgrades
We all know the importance of security when it comes to our data. MPS will ensure that your devices have built-in user authentication and activity tracking. An MPS program will also encrypt device data and add comprehensive permissions to make sure only authorized personal have access to sensitive information.

Increased efficiency and reduced equipment downtime
Increasing efficiency is at the core of every MPS program; it’s all about doing more with less. For example, remote printing allows your employees to print from off-site locations. For businesses with remote employees and road warriors, this is a great option to improve the efficiency of your workflows. You can also eliminate equipment downtime through automatic supply restocking when the machine starts to run low on ink or toner. This allows your workflows to keep moving without bottlenecks occurring due to lack of supplies.

If your printing fleet could use some fine tuning, an MPS program is the way to go. A print fleet analysis with Infomax Office Systems will help optimize your printer fleet to streamline workflows around your office. Contact us today to learn more about an MPS program for your business.

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Why Faxing Remains Relevant as Office Equipment

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We have email, which is fast and powerful. We have old fashioned snail mail, which remains reliable and tangible. But what about faxing? This venerable office technology is a classic that remains beneficial to businesses for good reason: it’s fast, easy, direct, secure, legal, and tangible. Read on for a few reasons why faxing is still a critical piece of office equipment for many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs)

The Original Push Notification
There you are, going about your day, when a document appears that needs attention. That’s right, faxes are the original push notification. When a fax is received and a physical document is printed, that document serves as notice and reminder to the recipient—this is an item to be dealt with. Don’t have the time to stop and check your emails all day? Let the faxes come to you.

Dependability
Fax machines communicate through direct connections over a standard telephone line. Internet service down? No problem. Fax machines make it possible to send documents even if the recipient doesn’t have high-speed Internet. Moreover, with faxing you don’t have to worry about file compatibility issues. All that’s needed to access your faxed document is your recipient’s eyes.

Security
Unlike email, there’s a very low risk of interception when sending faxes, which is why they’re ideal for documents that need to stay safe and private. Fax machines cannot be ‘hacked’ like your email server can, and incoming documents are also secure—not vulnerable to the hidden malware and viruses that can come with email attachments.

Legality
While changes are underway regarding the validity of digital forms of signature, signatures on faxed documents have long been accepted as official signatures—as good as the original. Finance, retail, legal, real estate, medical — all of these industries recognize the validity of a faxed signature. Sending signed official documents by fax is still the standard.

Fast, secure, reliable, tangible. With these benefits, no wonder there’s still an important role for fax technology in today’s small and mid-sized businesses. If you’re looking for attention-getting communications that are secure and legally accepted, fax just might be the tool you need. From dedicated fax machines to integrated multi-function devices, contact Infomax Office Systems today to get all the facts about fax office equipment.

It’s Time for New Office Technology

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Are your employees spending too much time on routine tasks? Is your office equipment constantly breaking down, resulting in bottlenecks in your workflows? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, it’s time to consider some technology upgrades within your office space. There is no shortage of revolutionary new office technology features out there that can help improve the efficiency of your daily workflows.

Here are some of the benefits you’ll realize by upgrading your office equipment and taking advantage of the advancements made in office technology in recent years.

Save time and money – New technology is designed with productivity and budgets in mind to save businesses both time and money. Everyday office tasks can be completed quicker than ever, giving your employees the chance to excel in areas that directly affect your core business rather than wasting time on mundane, manual tasks. For example, today’s copiers can do much more than make copies. They can e-mail, scan, fax, image archive, and much more. They also require significantly less upkeep than older devices, minimizing downtime and cutting back on maintenance costs.

Collaborate easier than ever – In order for businesses to succeed, it takes a team effort. Fortunately, today’s office technology makes it simple to collaborate regardless of location. Employees can work remotely, connecting to a central network from anywhere in the world via an Internet connection. Mobile integration technology allows employees to utilize smartphones, laptops, and tablets to email, video chat, conduct sales transactions, and much more.

Say goodbye to learning curves – New technology is designed to be user friendly. If your devices are too complicated for the average employee to operate, that’s a problem. Today’s software is simple, and much of it is customizable to your particular business. For example, you can set up monthly invoice requests to be sent out automatically to all of your regular customers. A small change like this limits data entry work, allowing your employees to get work done in other areas.

Today’s latest technology is designed to make your work life easier. Contact Infomax Office Systems to learn more about some of the exciting new office technology advancements that will positively impact your business.

Spare a Landfill: Recycle that Toner Cartridge

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That pile of empty toner cartridges can get pretty big, pretty fast in a busy office environment where a good deal of printing takes place. When it comes time to dispose of them, it’s essential to our environment to recycle those toner cartridges. Of the more than 500 million toner cartridges sold each year in the United States, an astonishing 350 million of those are sent to landfills. Considering it takes hundreds of years for the cartridge plastic to biodegrade, this is a problem that needs to be addressed in the name of corporate social responsibility. Fortunately, there are eco-friendly solutions that are readily available to businesses.

The many hazards of toner
Before we get into those eco-friendly solutions available to aid in recycling empty cartridges, let’s quickly go over how much damage toner can do to our environment. Toner ink contains toner dust, which can be carcinogenic. Among other health concerns, a recent study shows that the dust can cause issues with people’s eyes, lungs, and skin when in direct contact. If inhaled, it can lead to respiratory issues such as bronchitis.

Convenient solutions
Fortunately, there are options available for recycling your empty toner cartridges. The first option should be to find a local recycling facility. Infomax Office Systems has partnered with a number of vendors with locations that will accept toner cartridges for recycling. If you can’t get to a local facility on a regular basis, you can refill your cartridges. There are refill kits available to help you reuse your empty cartridges for as long as possible until you can get them to a recycling facility. These are simple solutions that can make recycling a routine part of your business and make your office a more sustainable one.

With so many empty toner cartridges ending up in our landfills, it’s essential that more businesses get on board with toner cartridge recycling solutions to help minimize the impact on our environment. For more information on how Infomax Office Solutions can assist with your recycling efforts and help you ‘green’ your office, contact us today!

Keep Your Team Connected with ConnectPlus

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Businesses have become increasingly dependent on technology to handle their day-to-day operations. Unfortunately, much of the technology we rely on is exceedingly complex, and employees with the knowledge, training, and skill set required to install, set up, and optimize our systems are hard to come by. Not to mention expensive. Few organizations can afford to keep someone on staff to keep their office technology devices connected, or to reconfigure equipment they already have in place.

Thankfully, Infomax Office Systems offers an affordable program to help keep all of your equipment connected. Our ConnectPlus program is a comprehensive service package for organizations that rely on interconnections between desktop PCs, networks, and imaging systems like printers, copiers, and multifunction printers (MFPs). ConnectPlus is a completely hands-off approach to your office technology, one that keeps your systems up-to-date and working together as efficiently and securely as possible, all for one flat fee.

When your systems are linked, as is typically the case in today’s high-tech office environment, you need each piece of equipment to perform as strongly as the next. There’s no room for a weak link in this chain, as it could result in unexpected and costly downtime, or inefficiencies in your business processes and workflows. ConnectPlus eliminates these headaches and hurdles, ensuring that all of your office technology devices are working correctly and economically, at maximum efficiency. Whether our service professionals are setting up new machines in your office or reconfiguring ones you are currently utilizing, ConnectPlus puts all of Infomax Office Systems’ invaluable resources at your disposal.

Our Connect Plus program includes:
• Basic Installation & Implementation Package
• Ongoing User Training on Document Output Devices
• Network Installation of Document Output Devices
• Ongoing Loading & Training on Print/Scan/Network Drivers
• Initial Software Enabler Installation and User Training (eCopy, Paper to Office, Essentials, PPDM)
• Installation of Remote Output Device Monitoring Software on Applicable Network Devices
• Ongoing Remediation Assistance for Print/Scan/Network Fax Issues
• Ongoing Assistance for any Infomax Provided Applications
• Unlimited Help Desk Phone Support.

Today’s businesses can’t afford inefficiencies or downtime when it comes to their office technology. Contact Infomax Office Systems today to learn more about how our ConnectPlus program will keep all of your office technology connected!

Are You Taking Good Care of Your Office Equipment?

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The old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The reasoning behind this axiom is that putting in a little bit of work to mitigate risk before a crisis strikes is preferable to the great deal of effort required to clean up the mess afterwards. This applies to your office technology, as well. You’ll be better served engaging in preventative maintenance and measures for your printers, copiers, fax machines, document shredders, and computers, rather than keeping your fingers crossed, hoping for the best, and reacting to a problem after the fact.

Why?

Companies rely heavily on their office technology to keep their workflows moving along smoothly. Regular preventative maintenance will help keep your office equipment in peak condition, ensuring it operates at maximum efficiency and that you get the highest return on your investment. By taking care of your equipment it will function as it was intended to and last longer. Preventative maintenance will save money compared to service calls to fix an ad hoc repair every time you have a device go down. In addition, you’ll save time and productivity lost due to downtime resulting from unexpected malfunctions or breakdowns that bring your workflow to a halt.

How?

What are some of the preventative measures you can take to keep your office equipment in top-notch condition? Regular maintenance, of course, is a no-brainer. You change your oil, rotate your tires, replace hoses and filters on your vehicles to help keep them running, why should your office technology be any different? Another way to take care of your devices is by frequently cleaning them. Dust your equipment regularly, using a fine brush on internal pieces such as paper trays and ink cartridge bays. Finally, position your devices properly. Place them away from high-traffic areas and extreme heat or cold.

Taking care of your office equipment will keep it in optimal condition, and more importantly, up and running. Infomax Office Systems’ ConnectPlus program can help keep your devices operating as efficiently as possible. Contact us today to learn more.

Essential Hardware Products for Every Office

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Regardless of the industry you’re in, there are a handful of essential hardware products the average office can’t operate productively without. Just as office furniture is a requirement in any workplace, office equipment is also a critical investment. If you’re planning on starting your own small business, here’s a checklist of the hardware products that will prove indispensable to you and your staff.

Computers – Modern computers not only provide you with access to your information, but are also essential components of business communication. Whether it’s a multi-user workstation, desktop, or laptop computer, purchase models from a reputable brand and buy the latest versions of software you plan to utilize.

Business Telephone Systems – Despite the myriad of different ways technology provides us to communicate with each other, much of business is still conducted these days over the old fashioned telephone. Whether your service is via Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) or your local phone company, be sure your system features the ability to transfer calls, place calls on hold, and accommodate voicemails.

Multifunction Printer – The multifunction printer (MFP) is often the workhorse of the modern office, enabling users to copy, scan, and fax as well as capably handling all of their printing needs. In addition, finishing options such as collating, duplex printing, automatic hole punching, folding, and stapling can save a tremendous amounts of time by automating previously manual tasks.

Document Shredder – Every business, small or large, is responsible for protecting the sensitive information it works with. Shredders are an effective yet affordable way to ensure the confidential information you handle doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

Wireless Router – The modern office requires Internet connectivity. A good wireless router will ensure high-speed connectivity while limiting the amount of wires running through your workplace.

When starting a new business it’s important to control your expenditures and maximize your startup budget by only purchasing what you really need. Stocking your new business with these essential hardware products will help ensure organization, efficiency, and productivity in your new office.

Out of Toner? What to Keep in Mind for Your Next Purchase

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The light is blinking. Your documents aren’t printing. The screen on your machine reads “Replace Toner Cartridge.” Every office has encountered a time where toner inconveniently runs out. If you’re still mulling over Managed Print Services (where we handle toner replenishment for you), make sure you don’t overpay for toner—your highest ongoing print-related cost. Read on for important information to keep in mind when making your next toner purchase.

OEM Cartridges
OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. An OEM cartridge is produced by the original company that made the printer and its accessories.
Advantages: Quality is assured, and in many cases, guaranteed.
Disadvantages: OEM cartridges are the most expensive; you’re paying for the brand’s name, experience, quality, and the peace of mind that comes with it.

Compatible Cartridges
Compatible cartridges are produced by a third party, not the original manufacturer.
Advantages: Expect similar quality and yield to OEM cartridges, but at a better price. Third-party cartridges have been tested and approved by the manufacturer.
Disadvantages: Some third parties have lower standards than others, so be sure to go with a reputable producer.

Remanufactured Cartridges
A remanufactured cartridge was originally Compatible or OEM, but has since been refilled or had components reused.
Advantages: Reusing parts makes for far cheaper cartridges and less waste.
Disadvantages: These cartridges may have lower yield and inferior performance compared to their OEM and Compatible cousins. Defective remanufactured cartridges can damage your printer and may invalidate your warranty.

Capacity Considerations
In general, high-capacity cartridges are your best bet. You pay a little more initially, but these cartridges typically produce twice the print volume at a lower per-page cost. This will save you time changing out cartridges and you can feel good about making the eco-friendly choice by using fewer raw materials.

By thinking smart and planning ahead you can be sure to get the best value and the best results from your next toner purchase. Call Infomax today to order your next toner cartridge.