There are many components that make an office highly productive and efficient. One of them that stands out the most is the ever so trusty office printer.
Indeed, an office printer is an indispensable device that all teams must have in their work offices. The right printer can produce top-notch prints of many sizes, featuring crisp lines and vivid colors. Aside from that, the everyday office printer possesses other helpful features like scanning, wireless printing, and so on – all of which help in boosting workplace productivity.
As an office manager, keep in mind the following: picking the right printer for your work office isn’t just about picking any machine off the printer store shelf. Instead, it’s all about finding a reliable partner that can handle your and your whole team’s daily printing and document management demands without a hitch.
To help you and other managers out there on how to choose a printer for office, the following points contain essential tips and considerations to ensure you pick the best printer for your office. Dive in below and make your printer shopping as straightforward as possible today.
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Know What Your Office’s Printing And Document-Handling Needs Are
In picking the right office printer scanner for your team, you need to understand what your office needs. Figuring out your workplace’s printing and document-handling needs would make the search for the best office printer much easier.
Answer the following questions. How many prints do you typically produce in a day? Do you need color printing, or will black and white suffice? Are your documents mostly text, or do you frequently print graphics and images? Finding the answer to these questions will help you narrow down your choices and pinpoint the type of printer that can handle your office’s printing workload effectively and efficiently.
Pick Wisely Between Inkjet And Laser Printers
When it comes to office printers, the two main technologies you’ll encounter are inkjet and laser printers. Which one should you pick for your office? Check out below a simple way to decide whether an inkjet or laser printer might be right for your office:
Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are said to be an ideal printer choice if you print a lot of colored documents, like charts and office presentations. They’re generally less expensive to buy upfront yet they can be more costly moving forward in terms of the amount of ink your printer will consume if you print frequently.
Laser Printers
Business experts agree that laser printers are well-suited for high-volume text printing, like reports and memos. They’re faster and more cost-effective per page than inkjets, especially when you’re dealing mainly with black and white documents.
Assess The Quality Of Print The Printer Can Produce
For offices, having professional-looking printouts of files is important. Hence, it’s paramount to look into the printer’s capability to produce top-of-the-line prints consistently and efficiently.
How to choose a printer for office? Keep in mind the following: the higher print resolution (measured in dots per inch or dpi), the sharper and more detailed images and text would appear on the final printout. Make sure to check the printer’s maximum resolution: the higher the dpi, the better the print quality.
Check Printing Speeds Too
A slow printing printer can cause a productivity and workflow bottleneck in a very busy office. To avoid your workplace facing any possible bottlenecks related to a slow printer, make sure that you check other printers with faster printing speeds.
Go through multiple printers and check each one’s listed pages per minute (ppm) rating. This is the official measurement of how fast a printer can produce prints. Keep in mind the following: a printer with a higher ppm rate means faster output – this is crucial during those busy periods when everyone needs to print documents for meetings or deadlines.
Check Out The Printer’s Connectivity Features
Connectivity allows for greater productivity and simplified workflows in the office. You can take advantage of better connectivity with your printer. Luckily, many printer companies offer printer products with various connectivity options that work teams like yours can fully maximize.
Look for a printer with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity to allow multiple users to print from different devices sans clutter-prone cables. In addition, look for added connectivity features like cloud printing so that your team members can print documents directly from cloud services, enhancing flexibility and efficiency in your office.
Take Into Account The Reoccurring Expenses Of Owning An Office Printer
Purchasing a printer isn’t a one-time commitment. If you purchase an office printer, you need to be prepared for all the associated costs that come with owning one.
To move forward, you need to take into consideration the cost of printer consumables such as toners or ink bottles and cartridges, as these can add up significantly over time. Plus, look into the printer’s energy efficiency and maintenance needs—both can impact your office’s operating costs moving forward.
Review Customer Feedback And Ask For Recommendations
Don’t just take the manufacturer’s word for it; look at what the actual printer users are saying. Reading customer reviews and asking for recommendations from fellow business professionals can provide insights into a printer’s actual performance in the office, reliability, customer service when it comes to concerns, and so on.
Try Before You Buy
If possible, see the printer in action prior to buying it. This can give you a real feel for its speed, print quality, and ease of use. Some stores might have demo units available, or you might be able to visit a showroom or an office that uses the printers you’re considering.
In Conclusion
Picking the right printer for your team is a business decision that deserves careful consideration. By understanding what your workplace’s printing needs are, taking into account the long-term costs associated with printer ownership, and so on, you can pick a printer that not only meets but exceeds what your office team needs.
