FAQs

• Analyze the company’s printing needs: Providers of managed print services help analyze the print fleet, and implements appropriate equipment at competitive prices. The analysis will cover all aspects of a company’s printing needs like copying, scanning, faxing and printing.

• Eliminate inefficient devices: Providers can also help analyze data and pinpoint underperforming devices. These devices can then be replaced with devices that are more efficient.

• Minimize the number of local printers needed: Local printers are inefficient and costly. They usually only service one user which is not practical. With managed print services, the number of local printers in the office can be reduced.

• Never run low on supply: With an MPS program, you do not need to order toner cartridges by yourself. These services monitor your printers and will automatically deliver toner to your business when the toner levels in the machines are low.

• Read the user manual carefully: After purchasing your printer and whenever you encounter problems of any sort, always read the user manual to find relevant troubleshooting guidelines. It can provide valuable solutions to the printer issues you may be facing and save you a trip to the printer repair technician.
• Place your printer strategically: Printers should be positioned away from sources of heat emanating from computers. In addition, it may be useful to place your printer away from areas with high human traffic to prevent accidental damage.
• Clean the inside of your printer: It is insufficient to simply clean the external components of your printer. After all, it is the inner bits that keep it running, and they can get coated with a layer of dust over time. If you are ready to clean the inner components, do clean it with a lint-free cloth to avoid damage.
• Replace cartridges timely: When purchasing printer cartridges, always go for authentic cartridges. Placing generic cartridges in your printer can cause damage and end up costing you more down the road. Furthermore, do not wait for ink to run out completely before replacing ink cartridges. You should do this as soon as the alert flashes on the printer, and always follow the instructions in the user manual.

• You are paying unnecessarily: Landline systems are expensive as you need to pay for both the installation and the calls you make. This can rack up a huge bill and put a strain on financial resources, thus hindering the growth of your business when the money can be used elsewhere. VOIP is a lot cheaper as they allow your business to receive and make calls via the internet. This means that calls are free of charge regardless of where you are calling to.
• You find yourself missing many calls: There are several reasons for missing calls. For example, your company’s employees have too many calls to handle or too much time is wasted trying to connect clients to the right department. VOIP can help to enhance your employees’ productivity and the satisfaction of your clients by directly linking them to people who can help. 
• You desire flexibility: Landlines have very limited flexibility when your employees are out of the office. This poses as a problem for modern businesses with employees who are working from home or remotely from overseas offices. With a VOIP phone service, there is a lot of flexibility as you are able to receive office calls no matter where you are.

• Ensure application gateway is secure: Use an application gateway that can act as a proxy. This helps to protect the employee’s computer behind a firewall. This also allows the security team to better understand what is going on when computers are used at home, and what apps employees are using and more.
• Use multifactor authentication: For those who are accessing the most sensitive and key information of your business, ensure that they are using multifactor authentication. However, you need to also check that enabling multifactor authentication does not prevent anyone from working remotely. This should be tested with a small group first.
• Use HTTPS: Enforce a rule that HTTPS must be used on all sites to make sure that browsing of the internet is done securely.
• Ensure endpoint activity is tracked: As much as possible, ensure that enterprise tools needed to detect and protect from malicious activities on the endpoint are installed on all devices issued by the company. This includes endpoint protection such as DLP and EDR.
• Distribute home security tips to employees: Provide employees with a list of tips on how they can enhance their home network security. For example, they should install endpoint protection on their devices and use a secure DNS service for their network equipment and computers. 

• Checking from the printing device: How you are able to check the ink levels in your printer depends on what brand your printer is from and which model you own. However, most printers should be able to show or even print you a report about its supplies. This is usually a function that can be found on the device’s menu. If your printing device does not have a display, you should be able to generate a report when you press a combination of buttons. Check out the manual or machine user guide for more information about the combination of buttons you need to press.
• Checking from the device driver: You will also be able to check the printer ink levels through the device driver. Device drivers are usually found in the ‘devices’ or ‘printer’ section of your computer. Alternatively, you can log into the web interface if your machine is connected on the network. This can be done by inputting the machine’s IP address into a web browser. From the web interface, you should be able to see the printer ink levels.

• Using the USB cable, connect your printer to your computer. Turn your printer on.
• In the ‘Start’ menu, click the settings app.
• Then, click devices.
• From the menu, click ‘add a printer or scanner’.
• If your computer is able to detect the printer, click on the name of your printer. Instructions should appear on the screen. All you have to do is to follow the instructions and finish the installation and you will be done adding a local printer to your computer.
• If your printer does not appear, click ‘the printer that I want isn’t listed’ and then follow the troubleshooting guide.

• Enter the wireless setup on the printer’s panel. This can usually be found under the ‘setup’ or ‘settings’ section.
• Select your home’s wifi network. You should know the SSID of your home network. If not, hover your mouse over the wifi icon in the taskbar to find out.
• Key in the password of your network.
• You have successfully added your wireless printer. Under the ‘printers and scanners’ section, you should be able to find the printer automatically added.

Every business has documents, regardless of whether in physical form or online. It may be challenging to manage all the information from different sources. As such, businesses can turn to document management systems to manage these documents in order for them to stay organized. Here are some ways document management can benefit your business:

• Less need for storage space: With the rising costs of commercial property, it can get expensive to store documents. Document management solutions that are software-based can help minimise the need for physical storage place, freeing up commercial space for other use instead. Physical documents can be stored in vaults or warehouses.
• Easy to retrieve the documents: It is a tedious and time-consuming process to have to search for and get documents that you need. Document management systems can help to save time by retrieving files based on key words. Organized systems like index categories can also be applied to make the search easier. Furthermore, being able to retrieve documents remotely makes the process of retrieving documents very convenient.
• Improved security features: Document management system keeps the business’s documents entirely confidential, and leaves an audit trial about who has accessed and modified the document.
• Reliable backup system: Document management systems have data backup and emergency recovery plans. With the document management system, documents are easy to trace and track. Furthermore, since documents are stored centrally, the documents will not be misplaced. Since documents can be archived and digitized when they enter the system, they will not get lost. 

• Download a scanner app: Scanner apps are able to covert documents into pdf files. Without the scanner app, the in-built cameras in your phone are not able to convert the text into a pdf file. There are many applications available on the app store for you to download on your mobile device. Check out your app store for the scanner apps available for your phone.
• Place the document on a flat surface: Placing the document on a flat surface will ensure the scanned file turns out well, with all the information visible. You can place the document on a table or a desk, or even the floor.
• Open the scanner app on your mobile device: Instructions should appear on the screen when you open the app. The specifics will vary depending on the app you download. However, most apps will tell you to position the mobile device directly above the document, and to take a photo with the app’s in-built camera.
• You have successfully scanned a document with your mobile device: The document will be saved either as a PDF file or an image, depending on what you opt for. After scanning the document, you can send it to someone who needs it, upload to your laptop or just leave it on your mobile device for future reference.

• Decide on an Internet service provider: Most businesses find that their local provider is the best option. Bigger companies tend to go with business-focused providers.
• Get your network set up: Once you have decided on a provider, get Internet set up in your office. This can take days or even weeks. In all likelihood, there will be a modem and router involved in your setup. A modem converts Internet signal from the cable into a signal that your network can use, whereas a router connects all the devices in your office to the signal. Depending on your needs, you can choose either a wired or wireless router or both. Some small businesses find that a wireless router is sufficient, however most businesses go for both. Wired routers come with Ethernet cables to connect to each computer, so make sure each desk has space for a hard wire if you choose this option.
• Connect your computers: Now that your network is set up, it is time to connect your computers. If you have chosen a wireless network, the process is fairly straightforward: simply select your network and enter the password. For wired connections, you will need to connect the Ethernet cable to the router and each computer. 
• Add printers and other devices: For wired networks, you will also need to plug in your printers and other devices to the router. To connect a wireless device, follow the instructions in the setup guide of the printer.

• What are your company’s printing needs? Do you mostly print black-and-white documents, or do you require high-resolution colored printing for posters and flyers?
• What is your budget?
• Do you require wide format printing?

• You don’t need to keep the printer forever because you have the option of upgrading to the latest technology when the lease ends.
• Business owners deal with less ‘cost guesswork’ when it comes to wide format printer financing.
• Leasing large format printers can help save more money for the business in the long run.

• You can’t just cancel a lease agreement as there is an aggregate number of payments to pay if you buy out before the end of the term.
• In some cases, leasing the printer may be more expensive than buying the equipment outright.