Public School System Uses Reform PDC For Efficient Printing And To Manage Output Costs
The Challenges
A prominent public school division that consists of over 25 separate schools and employs over 3,500 employees manages thousands of document related processes on a daily basis. Teachers
utilize the Ricoh MFP devices throughout the facility to complete all of their print, copy, and scan needs. With such a high volume of activity, users and administrators faced numerous
challenges. Teachers were required to print and copy at separate devices, requiring multiple trips to each device and inefficient use of their output devices. Print jobs were often
collected by another teacher and where constantly being misplaced. Time was spent waiting for available copy devices. Additionally, costs were high due to the large amount of printing
they performed.
The Solution
After assessing the situation, Ricoh proposed a complete solution to the school system. Ricoh implemented 90 MFP’s enabled with Reform PDC with the MOST, Reform Tracker, and Print To ME
features. The Reform PDC suite addressed all of the school’s issues by allowing them to use their MFPs more efficiently. With the Print To ME feature, the day to day activities of teachers
and staff were streamlined and simplified. Teachers could send their print jobs to the Ricoh MFP and retrieve them whenever it was convenient for them. They could walk up to any Ricoh MFP
on the network and access a list of all their print jobs from the MFP display screen. When they select a job, it is printed directly to the device. This feature allows common jobs to be
retained for future use and quantities to be adjusted at the time of need rather than ahead of time. Additionally, if there is a long line of others waiting to use the MFP or if the device
is unavailable or offline, the teacher can simply go to the next available machine to retrieve their print jobs. To enhance the process even further, the card authentication module was added.
Reform’s user maintained card access system allowed for additional security at the MFP. Teachers can use their identification cards in order to log in to the MFP and quickly access their jobs.
The Reform PDC solution also helped to reduce document costs. Since documents are produced once they are requested with Print To ME, personnel are less likely to abandon them at the MFP and
jobs are less likely to be collected in error by a peer. They also implemented the Reform Tracker feature which provides detailed reports on the usage activities of employees. With Reform
Tracker, administrators can evaluate the printing habits of teachers. With this information, administrators create set rules to control usage and plan budgets for volume spikes and heavy use times.
The total solution provides a number of benefits to the school system. Teachers can retrieve print jobs from any MFP on the network, rather than waiting in line. Identification cards are used in order to
long in to the MFP for enhanced security. Usage reports can be generated so that administrators can evaluate activity. Administrators can set rules in order to limit usage by user or device. Lastly, they
will realize a substantial decrease in costs now that they are able to analyze and control MFP use.
The Benefits
Access print jobs from MOST enabled MFPs on the network
Lower document output costs
Streamline log-in procedure at MFPs – combines ease of use with security
