The office printer: How to select, manage and save costs

Printers are among the biggest sources of frustration in offices. They fail to work, jam paper, run out of toner at the worst possible moment, and printing costs are often surprisingly high. Yet, choosing and setting up the right printer can save a company thousands of Kč annually and countless headaches.

Laser versus inkjet: Which is better for a business?

This is the basic question every company addresses. The answer depends on what and how much it prints.

For most companies we recommend a laser printer. It has lower page costs and is faster and more reliable. An inkjet printer makes sense only where large volumes of colour photographs or high-quality graphics are printed.

Network printing: One printer for the entire office

Not every employee needs their own printer. One quality network printer can serve an office with 5-15 people. Advantages:

• Lower costs: instead of five cheap printers, one high-quality unit with lower operating costs
• Simpler management: controller updates and toner replacement in one place
• Centralised monitoring: see how much is printed and who prints the most
• Fewer problems: one professional printer is more reliable than five home ones

A network printer connects directly to the company network via cable or Wi-Fi. Employees print from their computers without needing to connect anything with a cable.

Price per page: What to watch out for

The purchase price of a printer is just the tip of the iceberg. The real costs lie in the toner or ink. Printer manufacturers make their money mainly on consumables. They sell the printer cheaply, but the toner costs hundreds.

How to compare costs:

1. Find out yield of toner/cartridge: how many pages it prints (the figure is on the packaging or the manufacturer's website)
2. Calculate the price of a toner based on yield. price per page
3. Multiply by the monthly print volume. You will get monthly costs

Example: A toner costing 2 000 Kč with a yield of 2 500 pages equals 0.80 Kč per page. At 500 pages monthly, this amounts to 400 Kč per month. A cheaper printer with an expensive toner can end up costing more than a pricier printer with lower running costs.

Managed Print Services: Print as a Service

Managed Print Services (MPS) is a model where you pay for printing as a service. The provider supplies the printer, handles maintenance, replaces toner, and you pay only for the pages actually printed.

Advantages of MPS:

• Predictable costs fixed price per page, no surprises
• No worries about maintenance Toner is supplied automatically; service is included in the price.
• Professional equipment. You will receive a printer that you would not buy yourself
• Reporting: overview of the company's press operations

MPS is cost-effective for companies printing more than 1 000 pages per month. For lower volumes, owning a printer is cheaper.

How to save on printing

• Print double-sided, most modern printers feature automatic duplex printing. You will save 50% on paper.
• Set default printing to black and white. Colour printing is three to five times more expensive. Use colour only when necessary.
• Use the draft mode: for internal documents, a lower print quality is sufficient, which consumes less toner.
• Consider compatible toners Alternative third-party toners cost 30-50% of the price of originals. Quality is comparable with reputable brands.
• Digitise: not everything needs to be printed. Invoices, contracts and internal documents can exist in digital form only.

Most common printer problems and how to solve them

Printer not printing / unavailable, check that it is switched on and connected to the mains. Restart the print queue on the computer. If this does not help, restart the printer.

Jammed paper: usually caused by poor-quality paper, an overfilled tray or worn rollers. Carefully pull the paper in the direction of printing. If this recurs, it is time for service.

Streaks on the printout, with a laser printer, this usually indicates an empty toner or a worn drum. With an inkjet printer, try cleaning the print heads (a function in the printer's menu).

Slow printing, may be caused by a slow network connection (with Wi-Fi printers) or the printer processing an overly complex document. A cable connection is always more reliable.

Our recommendation for a small business

For an office with 5-15 employees, we recommend:

• One quality black and white laser multifunction device (printing, copying, scanning) as the default printer
• Connection via network cable (more reliable than Wi-Fi)
• Settings double-sided printing as the starting point
• If you occasionally need colour printing, a smaller colour printer as an addition

Estimated budget: 8 000-15 000 Kč per printer, 200-500 Kč monthly for consumables at standard print volumes.

As IT manager in Prague 1 We assist with printer selection, network configuration and ongoing management. So the printer simply works.