Copier features are an important consideration when purchasing a new photocopier or upgrading your existing equipment. Here are 11 of the most important features that any organization should look for when purchasing a photocopier.
Auto Duplexing
The ability to print on both sides of the paper in one project is called auto-duplexing. If the printer does not print on both sides of a single project, the user must copy the front page and print on one side. They must then reload the paper in order to copy and print on the second side.
It takes time and is often frustrating because many people load the paper incorrectly, resulting in the front and back of the project being printed on the same side of the paper.
By using the auto-duplexing feature, you can save time as well as waste paper and ink from mistakes. Make it the default setting, and more people in the office will use this feature, saving the company even more time and money.
Secure Print Release
Many people in an office setting will send documents to the multifunction printer from their office desktop or a remote office. They will then proceed to the office copy room to retrieve their printed item. Secure print release is an important feature that allows employees to send print projects from their computer to the printer while knowing that the printer will not print it until the employee releases it in person, at the copier.
Without Secure print release, missing documents are common because people pick up other people's prints when they pick up their own. Or the employee may need to print something sensitive that the entire office does not need to see.
For example, a manager printing a performance review does not require an audience other than the intended employee. A sales representative, for example, may need to print a contact list with their prospect's personal information. Sales representatives must be able to confirm honestly that all potential and existing customers have the right to privacy.
Secure print release is an important feature that allows employees to send print projects from their computer to the printer while knowing that the printer will not print it until the employee releases it in person, at the copier.
Secure print release means that the person can swipe their badge, enter their code, scan a QR code, or provide some other form of authentication to release their printing project. When the project is released, it prints while they are physically in the copy room picking up their project. It's a fantastic copy machine feature that helps every office develop good security habits.
Scan to Email & Scan to the File
Scan to email is another copy machine feature that quickly becomes indispensable in any office. Not every print job must be printed right away or held for printing (secure print release). Many projects, on the other hand, are already printed and must be scanned into a digital format. It is critical in this case that the multifunction printer has the ability to scan to email or a file.
Scan to email allows the user to scan their document and have it automatically sent to them as an email attachment. The employee can then forward the email or save the document in their preferred location.
If scan to file is selected, the person can save the scanned document to a company server folder for easy remote access or to allow multiple people access.
Both scanning to email and scanning to a file can save time. The traditional method is to remember to bring a memory drive to connect to the printer. While this is still useful, it is not the only option because it requires the user to return to their computer to save or email the file. Staff save time with this feature because they can scan and save or email in one step.
Optical Character Recognition
Multifunction printers and copiers can now recognize printed characters and convert them to digital text. It's a relatively new feature on the market known as optical character recognition.
With this feature, any scanned document can be converted into a searchable, editable file. This is especially useful when employees need to search or edit an image document containing text, such as a pdf.
This feature saves a significant amount of time because the user can simply scan a document instead of engaging in a back-and-forth email exchange to obtain the non-PDF file if one exists. It also saves some money for smaller businesses that don't have Adobe Pro - the software required to edit PDFs.
Collate & Staple
Collate and staple tasks are frequently delegated to an office secretary or intern, but it is not a productive use of their time. This is something that your copy machine can do as part of the print project, saving you time and money.
Collate is a way to organize a multi-page project so that each page is in the correct order, rather than printing all of the first pages, then the second pages, and so on. Instead, the copier will print, for example, pages one through four, followed by the next set of pages one through four.
And, of course, stapling means that the copy machine can finish the project by stapling pages one through four together, resulting in each packet being a completed project that is ready for handout or mailing when it is finished. There is no need to waste intern and other staff time on menial tasks with these basic copy machine features.
Print from Mobile
Mobile devices are not only permitted in the workplace these days; they are frequently essential to an employee's ability to complete their day productively. Many people check email during lunch and breaks, send documents while traveling, or use a mobile device instead of a computer while attending conferences, or using cafes to connect briefly with work tasks and people while on the road.
Because mobile devices are required, people must also print to the office copy machine while conducting off-site business. They may, for example, need to ensure that their coworkers have a document. Alternatively, they may wish to be efficient and print from their mobile device while driving so that the project is ready for them when they arrive on-site.
The ability to print from a mobile device is a modern time-saver that businesses simply cannot ignore, especially if they have employees who work both on and off-site throughout the day. However, let's face it: some employees may work on-site and still choose to print from their mobile device on their way from the breakroom to the copy machine, then to their desk in order to save a few minutes. Why would a business not want to facilitate that kind of efficiency?
Finishing the Document
We already mentioned the collating and stapling functions. They both fall into the category of finishing features, which many copy machines have. Depending on the needs of the company or team, additional finishing options can be beneficial.
Allowing the copy machine to punch holes in the document so it can be immediately added to a binder, saves time.
Folding a document so that it fits easily in a presentation folder, for example, can be beneficial.
Cutting and trimming a document to fit a custom paper size can be beneficial - and can save money on the unnecessary purchase of additional reams of various paper sizes.
Lamination is another huge time saver - even if someone only prints and laminates a few projects a year, having a copy machine that can laminate saves time and eliminates the waste of a poor hand-lamination project.
Finally, the ability to finish a booklet with spiral or other bindings is invaluable and adds the final touch to any professional document.
Finishing copier features may be overlooked by smaller businesses, but if it saves only a few hours or yearly work by hand, it's worthwhile to include this feature in your copy machine package.
Selective Reproduction
Selective reproduction is a newer and frequently underutilized feature. This means that the user can print only portions of the document. While it may not appear to be useful at first, this feature is invaluable for those who want to keep their office secure.
The selection feature enables the user to remove all sensitive information, such as printing or sharing only the most relevant sections of the document.
This is also a useful feature when the user wants to print a form without the names and dates, allowing people to fill out the document by hand. When the last form is completed but the office manager requires more forms with the editable space blank, this can be a huge time saver. Instead of recreating the entire document, they can simply print the relevant sections.
Copy Part of the Page
This feature, like the selective reproduction feature, allows users to copy a portion of a page without printing it. That means they may only need to copy the specifications of an item listed on the page, rather than the entire page, which may also include a note from a manager or sales rep.
Sorting Documents
One of the most common and often overlooked features of a high-quality copy machine is the ability to sort documents. When a user places a book, presentation, or any other project with multiple pages on the copy machine, the project should copy and print the pages in the order in which they are placed.
However, if you are in a hurry and discover that some of the pages are out of order, it can be stressful and time-consuming to go through the entire document to ensure that all of the pages are in order.
This happens more frequently than one might think. Everyone has dropped a project at some point, only to pick it up again out of order. Or we may receive a document that is out of order without realizing the provider did not properly prepare the pages.
When office equipment can sort the document for you, you save time and stress. Even if you put the document in the machine out of order, any good copy machine will check the page numbers and print it in order.
Changing the Size of Documents
There are several reasons why someone might want to change the size of a document, but these are the two most common.
Someone wishes to reduce the size of a document, such as condensing a legal-size document into a standard 8.5x11 inch page. This is most common when people do not want to invest in legal paper or do not want to spend time switching from legal paper to plain paper.
Someone wishes to enlarge a document. For example, if a document or image is too small to read properly, especially if someone has low vision, they may want to scale it up to 8.5x11 inches or larger legal paper.
In any case, this copy machine feature will surprise you when it is suddenly required and will become a value add that you are glad you included in your feature package.
Copier Apps
The ability of a copier to download and use apps, which is not often listed as an individual feature, can revolutionize your team's ability to customize the functions and features of the copier, transforming it into a workhorse.
Some copy machines include the ability to increase security, for example, by installing an app. Cloud functions can also be improved, allowing teams to share documents more securely. Users may also want to work with Airtable, Basecamp, Click-up, Dropbox, Evernote, and other third-party platforms that support copy machine apps.
The best part is that you only download what you need, so this customized experience saves hard drive space while allowing users to work according to their productivity standards and customs. That level of peak performance enhancement is difficult to match.
Final Thoughts
Although multifunction printers already provide a lot of functionality in copying, scanning, printing, and faxing, the ability to use copy machine features to make your teams and office as efficient and productive as possible while saving time and money is a no-brainer.
These are our favorite copier features, but if you want to learn more, please contact the experts at ALTECH. With just a phone call, we can connect you with the best copier for your specific needs.
To find out more contact us at https://wa.me/971565015608