Print management isn't only about saving money
Posted by Tristam Wallace on Fri, Jun 10, 2011 @ 08:59 AM
I recently had the chance to talk with the staff at Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia (MTSA) and was reminded of something very important: saving money doesn't have to be the primary objective of a print management deployment.
MTSA is unique in some ways, but like many schools in others. The school has been around since 1950 and is the only single-purpose, regionally accredited, anesthesia-specific, graduate degree-granting school in the U.S. It has a small student population of up to 216 enrolled students in its 28-month program.
Even with a structured cirriculum and small population of students, MTSA still faced some common printing challenges. The process for student printing and copying required use of a specific swipe card that needed to be manually purchased and re-loaded at the library by the students. This process and the necessary technology had become outdated, and furthermore, created situations where students were unable to print during times when the librarian was unavailable – a common occurrence during weekends. In addition, it required the librarian to serve as a “card salesman”, which prevented her from doing more productive work. As a result, students were becoming increasingly frustrated with the painful process of having to continually purchase the copy cards.
To help solve this problem and deliver a better system for the students, MTSA made a bold decision -- stop charging students for printing that was necessary for them to complete their coursework.
Instead, they decided to allocate a set number of pages for each student to print or copy each quarter, depending on what year of school they were in. As a school with a set curriculum, it was easy for MTSA to determine the correct number of pages to allocate.
After discussing this new process with their office equipment provider, XMC, the school decided to implement Equitrac Express to handle the tracking and accounting of student printing. Equitrac Express allows MTSA administrators to assign a PIN number to each student and allocate the number of pages that each student can print or copy each quarter. Software was installed on the print server, the 2 MFPs to allow for walk-up copies, and on the desktops in the school’s computer lab as well as each students laptop.
With the software installed, students are now presented with a pop-up window when they print from a computer. They enter their PIN and retrieve the print job from the selected printer. For copying, students enter their PIN code at the MFPs control panel to unlock the copy function of the device. Each page printed or copied is deducted from the student’s account.
This new print and copy process is much more convenient for the students and has eliminated the problem of not having access to print and copy resources 24/7. And while students now have greater access to printing, the school has not had a single instance of a student exceeding their allotted print amount through abuse of the new "free printing" process.
An additional benefit of the software is the ability for the administration to quickly view detailed reports of print activity. As MTSA looks to refine their print and copy processes, this reporting will provide them with the ability to quickly assess opportunities to implement further control on print and copy.
For MTSA, providing print and copy services to their students in the most efficient, convenient way possible drove their decision to implement print management. It is a good reminder that there are many reasons to take a strategic approach to print/copy services and to deploy the technology to support that strategy. So whether you are looking to improve print workflows, make printing more secure, support a green initiative, or even just gain an understanding of your print usage -- print management can help deliver the results that you are seeking.