How to Upgrade Your Office Copier for Free

office printer

As every businessperson knows, sometimes you need to spend money in order to save money. For example, you may invest in a high-efficiency furnace or heat pump to save on your heating bill over time. Perhaps you’ve switched to high-efficiency light bulbs or solar panels to decrease your hydro bill.

A new multi-function copier (MFC) can often lower a business’ overall monthly costs and add to its bottom line. In fact, the savings are often so significant, a business can get its copier for free. Here’s how:

1. Prints and copies made on a business-grade MFC cost about 75 per cent less than a standalone printer due to the expensive, low-yield toner cartridges most standard printers use. Direct all your prints to your MFC to save money.

2. Colour prints made on an MFC can save you between $0.10 and $0.50 per page – or more. If you use a colour printer, just do the math. The potential savings are huge.

3. No need for separate printers, scanners, fax machines and copiers taking up valuable office real estate (not to mention storage space for toner and a warm body to manage it) and, possibly, costly service contracts. An office-quality MFC will give you more useful features.

4. Print only what you need, when you need it with an MFC. Businesses that pay print shops to produce excess materials in order to avoid expensive second runs end often up tossing unused materials in the trash.

5. Similarly, modern-day MFCs may incorporate banner printing, saddle-stitch finishers, a hole punch feature and more. You may be able to completely eliminate outside printing and associated costs with the right MFC in place.

6. Staff can be trained on and utilize one MFC instead of multiple devices. Your office will run more efficiently, getting the most out of your business investment.

7. Print on both sides of the page, including incoming faxes – this decreases paper costs and increases filing space.

8. Do away with “cheap” fax machines that are expensive to operate. Add fax to your MFC so that all incoming faxes can be routed to email or file, then forwarded through your network to reach the correct recipient and be digitally filed. Junk fax is simply deleted without printing, and faxes can be sent directly from your PC. No printing required and no need to leave your desk.

9. Copier contract rates go up each year. By getting a new MFC, you start at the lowest rate again – and the new copiers generally have lower operating costs overall. By the way, personal-style printers don’t usually offer service contracts, adding to unnecessary landfill waste when they break down.

10. Do you charge clients for copies and prints? Instead of buying an expensive third-party tracking system or not charging for prints directed to a regular printer, you can utilize your MFC’s built-in codes to track and charge copies, prints, faxes and scans. Charge your client for all functions instead of just copies to produce an additional revenue stream, which may pay for a new copier by itself.

A knowledgeable and experienced copier representative can assess your existing office equipment and paper-flow requirements in order to determine if your office can get a new copier for free.

Jennifer Yeager is a sales manager with Steelhead Business Products, Vancouver’s premier copier company since 1973. Visit www.steelhead.net.