A common statement that I’ve heard hundreds of times in my 28 year career in the copier industry is “I can’t afford to have my multifunction copier-printer down for service”. Making sure that a  customer’s copier is up and running with minimal downtime is the most critical task that is required of any company that provides copying equipment and copier service. Many of the companies that provide business copiers can provide a service that will actually eliminate downtime before it happens. Yes, you heard it correctly; many copier service providers can indeed eliminate downtime in many cases before it happens. How does this work you may wonder; there is software that can be loaded on a customer’s computers that will actually communicate with the networked multifunction copier-printer. Adjustable settings can be programmed that will allow the copier to monitor when the parts and supplies in each copier are nearing replacement time.

Most potential events that will lead to a business copier being “down” are due to one of a number of components reaching the end of life. All color copiers have 4 individual image units, 4 individual toner units, a waste toner collection box, a fusing unit and a transfer belt. Each of these items has a specific life span based on number of copies-prints. When that lifespan is reached on any of these individual components the copier will shut down and ask the customer to contact their service provider in order to replace the expired part. However with monitoring software many copier service providers can ask the machine itself to generate a service call to replace these components BEFORE they reach the end of life. For example when a Magenta Image Unit reaches 95% life expectancy the monitoring software will automatically notify the copier service provider to enter a service request to replace that component so that the issue will be resolved without the copier ever experiencing any downtime due to an expired part.

Ways to Eliminate Copier Downtime:

Advantages of Copier Monitoring and Reporting Software;

Eliminate copier downtime by having service calls automatically placed before parts and supplies reach end of life status.

Eliminate emergency, unplanned service visits that can occur when copier parts fail unexpectedly. When service calls are proactively scheduled prior to a part or supply expiring service visits can be scheduled at a time that least impacts office productivity.

Eliminate the need to manually place orders for toner. The copier monitoring software will actually place toner orders before you run out of toner.

Eliminate the need to call in monthly copy meter counts. The copier monitoring software will actually send the monthly meter count directly to your copier service provider.

Create reports and spreadsheets that provide detailed summaries of copy, print and scan usage for each and every machine on your network and determine the costs of using each individual printer and copier.

In summary, the Remote Monitoring software will track critical components in your copier and notify your service department before these components fail eliminating downtime that can occur when a component expires.