The Datamax Thinking Blog

With print rules, you can establish different rules for different roles within your office so that they can meet their legitimate printing needs.

As we interact with information more and more online (PC, tablets, and phones); we still need to print documents to paper. The question becomes not if you need to print, but how do you print documents to:

• Improve print efficiency – and productivity of employees
• Save money
• Meet any green initiatives

Printing rules, combined with an office-wide print strategy and policy, will help you achieve all three of those goals. Printing rules are based on conditions and consequences and designed to create effective user printing behavior. These rules are set using print management software. With print rules, you can establish different rules for different roles within your office so that they can meet their legitimate printing needs.

Even if you're not interested in the positive environmental impacts; most of these tips will help you save money and/or become more productive too.

It’s not easy being green.

We all know Kermit the Frog’s lament, “It’s not easy being green.” While I can’t relate to the struggles of a small amphibian (and there aren’t any Martians around to ask), we’ll have to take Kermit at his word.

As mobile computing outpaces traditional PC computing, the need to print from any device at any time will become more important.

The biggest barrier to printing from mobile devices, according to research from InfoTrends, is “technical connectivity problems to the printer.”

Many office workers don’t print from their mobile devices because they don’t think they can.

What if I were to tell you that’s not actually a problem? As everyone says these days, there’s an app for that – at least in the business world. There’s an app for printing from smartphone devices. A quick caveat here; for personal printing at home, connectivity and printer support does vary widely. That said, for office workers wanting to increase productivity by printing needed documents directly from phone or tablet, you can. After all, as work becomes un-tethered from a specific office location (and location within the office), not everyone will have immediate access to a networked PC and printer.

Printing in color can improve the action you want taken on the documents you use for business.

In Western culture, white symbolizes “purity” and “cleanliness” (or taken to extremes, “sterility” or “coldness”), while in traditional China white is the color of mourning. Black cats are seen as a sign of bad luck or a bad omen in the West; but are a symbol of good luck in Japan and most of England. Color has meaning (and, yes, the color scheme in McDonald’s is designed to get you to eat more!).

When it comes to communicating with your office documents, a little color can make a big difference. Consider these two statistics:

Before you start looking, you should do a little preliminary research. Ask yourself, what is most important for the work you do?

Choosing a printer can be a challenge given the breadth of options available on the market today. There are as many printers as there are businesses, and there is a perfect machine out there for your unique needs. Whether you're a small business owner, work from home or employee hundreds of people, DataMax can help you find the right device.