Efficiency and productivity have always been top priorities in the business world, but as the world has become more and more fast paced, the requirements to keep up with your competitors have continued to rise. Digitization and automation have streamlined many business functions, and modernization of business machines have changed the way many businesses operate. This includes the once-simple printer, which has become more and more robust over the years to become a highly efficient multifunction device. If you’re in the market for a copy printer in Anchorage, AK, it’s important to know which advanced functions you should be looking for. Here are some of the top features we recommend prioritizing during your search for the right printer.
Print Speed and Volume Capacity
The amount of printing that your printer can actually do remains one of the most important features that it can offer. So, one of the first specifications you’ll want to look at is its PPM output, or pages per minute. For a business with high-volume printing needs, you should look for a device that offers at least 30 PPM, though 50 PPM is preferable. If you don’t actually print a lot of pages, you can settle for a little slower output, but keep in mind that there will be more waiting around when you order big print jobs.
Additionally, make sure you pay attention to the printer’s monthly duty cycle; this number represents the number of pages the printer is designed to handle per month. Choosing one with a duty cycle that exceeds your expected number of pages per month can help prevent unnecessary wear and tear and, therefore, early printer failure.
Print Quality and Resolution
Now that we’ve talked about quantity, let’s talk about quality. Businesses that print almost exclusively text documents may not need to worry about their printer’s resolution too much, but if you intend to print any graphics or images, print resolution is a crucial factor. Print quality is measured in dots per inch, or DPI. Standard business documents should be done on a printer of at least 600 x 600 DPI. But for those graphic-heavy pages, you’ll want a printer that can provide 1200 x 1200 DPI or higher.
It’s also important to note that laser printers tend to provide sharper text printing, while inkjet printers tend to create more detailed images. So, if you’re putting out a lot of pages that have images on them—especially detailed ones like photographs—inkjet may be a better choice. For most businesses, however, the crisp text and sharp lines of laser-printed pages is preferred.
Scanning Capabilities
So far, we’ve only talked about making sure your device has the printing functionality that you need; now, it’s time to talk about the other things it should be able to do. First on the list should be scanning. Because most businesses like to digitize their documents, you’ll want to be able to scan in any physical documents you receive so you can maintain a digital copy. Key scanning features to look for include the following:
Optical Character Recognition (OCR): This converts scanned text into editable and searchable documents; without it, scanned documents are recognized as a single image.
Duplex Scanning: This allows your scanner to scan both sides of a document to save the time of opening the scanning surface and flipping a page over.
Scan-to-Email and Scan-to-Cloud: Rather than scanning to your computer and then having to choose where to send or save a file, you can seamlessly scan and email a document, or scan and save it to places like Google Drive and Dropbox.
High Resolution: As with printing, you want your scanner to create crisp, clear images. Look for a scanner with at least 600 DPI.
Automatic Document Feeder and Duplexing
Both of these features improve the speed and efficiency of your device. An automatic document feeder, or ADF, is essential for those businesses that need to scan or copy multi-page documents; without it, you’d have to feed each page into the machine manually. Make sure your ADF has a capacity of at least 50 pages to further improve efficiency.
Duplexing, also known as double-sided printing and scanning, significantly reduces paper consumption and costs. We briefly mentioned duplex scanning above, but make sure your device can do double-sided printing as well. Better yet, automatic duplexing will improve productivity and support a more sustainable, cost-effective workplace.
Connectivity and Integration
Today’s world is all about staying connected, and your printer needs to be a part of your office’s connected workflow and business network. Make sure that it has both Wi-Fi and Ethernet options for more seamless printing and sharing among many users, and that it can print from mobile platforms like Apple AirPrint and Google Cloud Print, so that employees can print from smartphones and tablets too. A USB input allows for direct printing from flash drives, and cloud integration lets you print directly from and scan directly to multiple cloud services, improving remote sharing of your documents.
Security Features
Cybersecurity should be a top priority for any business, and while you might have invested a lot into protecting your computers from cyber threats, many business owners overlook the need to protect their printers as well. Many modern printers have advanced security features built in, including things like user authentication, data encryption, secure print release, and more. Be sure to explore the security features of any device you’re considering so you can verify whether or not it’s up to your security standards.
Let Us Find the Right Printer for You
At Arctic Office, we are experts in helping business owners like you find the right printer to fit your unique printing needs. Give us a call or stop by our showroom to see our wide range of available business printers in Anchorage, AK. We can help you find an efficient, reliable, secure device with all of these features and more. Contact us today to learn more about the printers we have available.
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