Color multifunction printers (MFPs) are designed to shoulder a heavy load in your small office – part marketing intern, part office manager and part administrative assistant.
They produce the materials you or your sales people use to dazzle your current customers and attract new ones. And they can help save time and money by printing only the documents you need, when you need them.
They can improve internal communications, whether you’re reminding employees to bring their softball mitts to the company picnic or to establish objectives for next year’s growth plan. And according to a Harris Interactive survey, using color increases understanding and retention which is important for both customer-facing and internal communications.
But where color multifunction printers can really shine is document management and administration. The bundled software available with most MFPs can boost productivity and enable some interesting scenarios for modernizing your small office. If you already have one and haven’t tried its software, I’d highly recommend it. Here are just a few examples:
- LAN Fax – faxing an electronic document? Chances are you’ve had to print a document just to run it through the fax machine with a cover letter. Save paper, skip the print, fax it directly from your computer by submitting it to your MFP just like a print job. The MFP will take it from there and fax the job.
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – scanning the document is step one, but how will you find it later? One way is through OCR, which can recognize the content of a PDF and make it more easily searchable. OCR software can also make it possible to edit scanned documents.
- Document Routing – have a structure in place for keeping scanned documents organized? Your bundled scanning software can help you set up easy shortcuts to get scanned documents properly filed.
Some color multifunction printers go even further, offering platforms for deeper integration with software packages that automate routing of documents for approval and handling of electronic forms.
This is by no means an exhaustive list – just a starting point if you’re thinking about ways to up the game in your office. If you’ve got your small office’s MFP doing any neat tricks, I’d love to hear about it!
